Cloud Connect Portal for BICS Leased Line Services

Executive Summary 

Goal: Streamline leased line provisioning by automating manual processes and improving customer experience. 

Solution: Develop a Cloud Connect Portal leveraging Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) principles, integrating multiple OSS/BSS systems for seamless order processing. 

Benefits: Reduced provisioning time, enhanced customer experience, minimized manual intervention, and enabled white-label capabilities for reselling. 

Services Delivered: Design and experience, Advisory and innovation, Software engineering, Cloud and infrastructure services 

Client Background 

BICS is a global voice and data service leader, providing innovative messaging, roaming, connectivity, 5G, IoT, and cloud communications solutions. Headquartered in Brussels, BICS serves over 2,500 enterprise and telecom operator customers across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. 

• Location: Belgium
• Cooperation period: 2010 - present
• Industry: Telecom
• Employees: 500+
• Website: www.bics.com 

Business Challenge 

The global rush for cloud adoption fuels the demand for leased lines – private circuits offered by telecom carriers, which enable direct low-latency connectivity between the customer’s premises and the data centers of cloud service providers.

As cloud connect services and capacity management are trending in the telecommunication industry, BICS aimed to extend its reach within this domain. However, the provisioning of leased lines is inherently complex and time-consuming, as it involves RFQ processing, order feasibility checking, manual routing, connection testing, and activation of an existing line or deployment of a new one.

Initially, BICS required a few business days or even weeks to cover all the related tasks – from order processing to line activation. Furthermore, to make leased line orders, customers had to constantly be in touch with BICS employees. Hence, the fundamental challenge for BICS was to streamline the entire cloud connect provisioning lifecycle while improving customer experience.

Consequently, BICS came up with an ambitious idea to develop the Cloud Connect Portal – an advanced solution based on the Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) and Software-defined networking (SDN) approaches, which would:

• Provide secure and seamless cloud communications for customers across the globe
• Automate manual processes on all stages of the leased line provisioning services
• Enhance customer experience by making leased line ordering ultimately simple and swift

Solution  

As a global IT service provider with 20+ years of experience in telecom projects and a long-term partner of BICS, Infopulse, now part of Tietoevry Create,  took the lead in the development of the Cloud Connect Portal.

The leased line provisioning lifecycle of BICS involves three correlated OSS/BSS systems – a capacity management tool, an internal project management system, and a solution that monitors the health of the leased lines. Our team customized and fine-tuned these systems to serve as the backbone for the Cloud Connect Portal. In addition, Inmanta, an intent-based service orchestrator was involved, which automates manual leased line processes and accelerates the connection of BICS network to the hyper-scalers.

The interface of the Cloud Connect Portal was designed with a strong focus on UX/UI. The solution combines a fresh pixel-perfect design with a seamless user journey, where the steps required to order a leased line were reduced to a bare minimum.

In just a few clicks, BICS’ customers can access an intuitive order form to select:

• The preferred Point of Presence and cloud service provider – Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, or Oracle
• Leased line type (protected/unprotected, diverse routed)
• The required bandwidth – 50/100/200/300/400/500 MB/s or 1/2/5/10 GB/s Ethernet
• Contract terms, ranging from 1 day to 12 months

After filling out the form and placing contact information, the customer can add comments in case the leased line order requires specific arrangements. Once the order is processed, the customer receives a notification about the line activation and the billing start date.

To address BICS’ aim for the expansion of leased line services, the Cloud Connect Portal was designed as a white-label solution. Telco customers of BICS can access the portal, tailor the interface to their brand, and resell the leased lines to the end customers – banks, retailers, or other companies who require low latency connectivity between their on-premises facilities and data centers of hyper-scalers.

Technologies

• React
• Java
• JavaScript
• Oracle Database
• REST APIs

Business Value 

The Cloud Connect Portal became a new powerhouse for the leased connectivity services of BICS. By modernizing and aligning multiple internal systems and providing an easy-to-use interface, the solution helped BICS reach new heights in operational efficiency and service delivery excellence.

To summarize, by harnessing the capabilities of the Cloud Connect Portal, BICS managed to:

• Optimize time, costs, and resources through the automation of manual processes across all stages of the cloud connect provisioning services
• Reduce the quote-to-bill time, which previously involved 7 employees and 3+ days of consolidated work, to just 1 minute
• Facilitate order requests and enhance customer experience with a renewed intuitive interface
• Exclude redundant communications and management efforts by providing direct access to the portal for customers
• Drive new revenue streams by offering a white-label version of the portal for telecom companies

Tietoevry Create team and BICS plan to continue enhancing the Cloud Connect Portal. The next project stage involves API integration capabilities, as well as a bandwidth upgrade, and cloud-to-cloud connectivity.

Last but not least, after engineering the solution, Infopulse (now part of Tietoevry Create) was shortlisted for the 2022 Network X Awards – a prestigious annual event that recognizes innovation and excellence across the Telecom industry. The Cloud Connect Portal made it to the finals within the “Outstanding Cloud Automation Solution” category, along with other projects by major industry leaders, including Enterprise Web, Nokia, and ZTE.

“From the very start, Tietoevry Create played a crucial role in the development of the Cloud Connect Portal. Their skilled and flexible team took full responsibility for the project, ensuring high-quality software development tailored to our needs. Thanks to their expertise in telecom projects, we created an outstanding product that enhances our leased line services and boosts operational efficiency.” 

— Ievgen Martsin, Cloud Connect Portal Product Owner, BICS