Telstra has been awarded ‘Best Practices - Service Provider’ at the bi-annual TM Forum Management World conference in Nice, France. The award recognises Telstra’s innovative use of the TeleManagement (TM) Forum’s technical standards to develop a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for Telstra’s Operating Support Systems (OSS) transformation.

Telstra’s Executive Director IT, John McInerney, said that Telstra had developed a flexible solution that adopted and extended the standards available from the TM Forum.

“Considering the size, complexity and schedule of our transformation what we have achieved, through the adoption of SOA and the use of the TM Forum standards, is significant. There are substantial operational benefits to be gained from this work,” John said.

Accepting the award on Telstra's behalf, Michael Lawrey, Executive Director Network & Technology and a member of the TM Forum Board of Directors, said the award validated Telstra’s significant contribution to TM Forum industry standards and reflected growing international interest in Telstra’s transformation.

“This win is testament to the hard work of our people in continuing to find new and innovative ways to evolve industry standards with significant business benefits including increased flexibility and reduced operating expenses. Innovation and efficiencies such as this are helping Telstra to successfully work through one of the most complex and ambitious telecommunications transformations in international corporate history,
Martin Creaner, President and Chief Technology Officer of the TM Forum, said that Telstra’s submission was a clear highlight amid solid competition.

“In order to promote best practices it is critical that Service Providers request and implement industry best practices to provide the motivation and market for standards based products and processes to be implemented. This year we have seen some major and highly ambitious projects in the finalist category and are thrilled that Telstra has won this prestigious category.” Martin said.

Winners of the TM Forums Excellence Awards were selected by an independent panel of judges, comprising leading industry and subject matter experts, analysts, and media representatives.

TM Forum Awards media release:

• Awards Evening - Creates Stars on the Cote d’Azur (www.tmforum.org)