TM Forum Community

Hello.

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map

What goes into a Resource inventory are Managed Entities. You don't need to include things you do not manage.  Everything can be decomposed into constituent parts however we generally do not need every screw to be managed.

So you need to ask the question: What other systems need the information stored for this item?

A cloud native function (CNF) may be performing a role in the network, for example a 5G Core SMF. An SMF is represented as a ResourceFunction in inventory with relationships to other network functions (i.e. UPF). It is important to know the topology of the network functions in a well managed network. Assurance systems use the inventory to understand that a failure on an N4 interface effects the SMF and UPF it connects. Alarms on the SMF and UPF, and the transport used to accomplish N4, are all related.

Now we could stop there, however we can also represent the software application which provides the SMF in the inventory.  A ResourceFunction may be provided by InstalledSoftware as a managed entity with information describing software aspects and related hosting platform. Now we can know more things, like the relationship between performance metrics on the UPF with the hosting platform (i.e. k8s cluster). If the hosting platform is also in inventory we could also know the hardware underlying it.  And so it goes.

See TMF730 Software and Compute Entity Management API.

I wouldn't suggest that TM Forum assets replace anything in IT management, just that we want a management continuum and not a hard break between network  and IT.

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map

Thanks for the answer. One clarification please. What is contained in https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map/production/TMFC052

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map

Stanislav

Vance's response is pretty comprehensive and topics like this are coming up in the ODA Production team

However I was wondering if you had some spec-fic use case of the features you are looking to realise as part of the scope of 

'It and Network Infrastructure '  for example by Network Infrastructure are you thinking of physical line plant such as fibre ducts and / or Data Centre  networks?  and for what kinds of features applications?

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map

At this point we want to understand where the systems responsible for: 
Accounting for hardware IT assets;
Accounting for software IT assets.
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map/production/TMFC052?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map/production/TMFC012?

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map

I suspect Vance may have a good insight on some of these topis too.
TMF052 is solely a proposal for a future component and the description is provisional and I know Vance has expressed some concern about the current description which I expect will surface in both the ODA Production Component and ODA Component calls over the next month.

TMFO12 resource inventory I pretty well specified but its specification is focused on Physical Logical inventory needed to support operational processes of Fulfilment configuration and assurance. Resource spec  in the inventory can be extended with specification to meet the requirement for asset management by adding to Resource Specification. So I suspet this is the best stable based to extend form 

However this topic of resource assets have come up in two discussion 

Inventory of the Future  which is on hold as the Editor was unable to continue see current draft at
IG1341 Inventory of the Future - Vision Document (E2E-548) - End to end ODA - TM Forum Confluence

A  discussion in E2E ODA on requirements for Asset management in 2022-06-09 ODA Transformation Guides: Solution Design Guide and Cloudification Meeting Notes - End to end ODA - TM Forum Confluence

and a old deliverable 

GB993 Asset Management: Best Practice Use Case Descriptions R16.1.1

As we are defining candidate ODA Production components in the ODA production all Thursday  at 10:30 BST UK . Getting your requirements for asset register /inventory into this discussion  would be very valuable and timely.  Perhaps you could input a short description  into next week's call even if you are unavailable for that call ? 

At this point we want to understand where the systems responsible for: Accounting for hardware IT assets;Accounting for software IT assets.
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map/production/TMFC052?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map/production/TMFC012?

What features should be retained in IT and network infrastructure management and unlike TMFC012 Resource Inventory v2.0.0?
https://www.tmforum.org/oda/directory/components-map