![Page 1: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Zain Kuwait & RAIDAssurance In The Time of Transformation
Zaid K. Alothman
WeDo Worldwide User Group, 10th Edition
May 2015
![Page 2: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Contents
1. Zain Kuwait Overview
2. The Transformation Challenge
3. The Implementation and Role of RAID
4. What’s Next? Lessons, More Challenges, and Future Plans
23/07/2015Zain Limited2
![Page 3: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Overview of Zain
![Page 4: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Zain Group Overview
23/07/2015Zain Limited4
Operating in 8 MENA countries
Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
and South Sudan
Workforce of over 7,000
employees
Providing a comprehensive range
of mobile services to over 46.1m
active customers, generating
USD $4.3 billion in consolidated
revenues(Customer Base as of 12th May 2015, Revenues As of Dec
31st, 2014)
![Page 5: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Zain Kuwait Overview
23/07/2015Zain Limited5
Group’s flagship operation, established
in 1983
The first operator in the region
to launch nationwide:
• 2G GSM in 1994
• 3G UMTS in 2007
• 4G LTE in 2012
• 4G LTE-A in 2014
Customer base exceeding 2.9m with
6% growth in the last 12 months,
generating ARPUs of $36 USD
Leading customer market share of 35%
Efficient operation with EBITDA
margin of 50%
![Page 6: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Kuwait Mobile Telecom Environment
23/07/2015Zain Limited6
221%Penetration Rate
3Mobile Operators
LTE-ANew standard access
technology
500 GBData Package Offerings
35%Of Revenue is Data
(Zain KW, Q1 2015)
80%Of Broadband is Mobile
2013Mobile Number
Portability Launched
2014Independent TRA Established
$2.6bnService Revenues
(2014)
![Page 7: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The Transformation
Challenge
![Page 8: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Limited Coverage and automation
• ETL of basic network subsystems
• No prepaid charging or VAS coverage
• Ad-hoc, no automated validations
Slow To Cope With Changes
• Turnaround time of 3-5 months for new streams
– e.g. LTE transactional information
• Once solution is provided, two to three UAT cycles until cleared for production
• Usual response was: “Launch now, RA to check later”
• Most products launched without RA verification and approval Losses, errors, and less than ideal customer experience
Revenue Assurance Before RAID
23/07/2015Zain Limited8
Performance
• Transactions recorded 2+ days after actual occurrence
• Data integrity doubted and verified several times before issue confirmed further delays
• Manual file checks, house-keeping, and database maintenance
![Page 9: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
The Challenges
23/07/2015Zain Limited9
Prepaid Charging System Replacement
Mediation System Replacement
Provisioning System Replacement
Order Management System ReplacementBilling System Replacement
CRM System Replacement
100+ New Consumer Products
Dunning System Replacement
Introduction of VoLTE
Network/VAS Subsystems UpgradesGMSC Migrations
Packet Core Migrations
International Voice Gateway Migration
30+ Corporate/B2B Product Launches
RA Usage Assurance Tool
RA Subscription Assurance Tool
RA Rating Validation Tool
No Customer Impact
No Revenue Loss
![Page 10: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Expectations of new solution
23/07/2015Zain Limited10
Expanded controls and coverage for all revenue streams
Reduce steps of finding anomalies to a minimum
Traceability of issues and reporting of findings and process errors
Automation of routine checks requiring no/little intelligence
Move Revenue Assurance from reactive to proactive
Find issues within hours, not days/weeks
![Page 11: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
WeDo RAID
Implementation
![Page 12: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Implementation Plan of WeDo RAID
23/07/2015Zain Limited12
Phase 1 - Usage Control
Full visibility over possible discrepancies of customer usage from 17
Zain network elements covering all critical Voice/Messaging/Data
services
“Switch to Bill” coverage
Project duration: 7 months - Completed in Apr 2014
Phase 2 - Platform Integrity
Guaranteeing customer profile consistency on 80 control points
across different Zain network platforms to reduce possible revenue
leakages
Project duration: 5 months - Completed in Nov 2014
Phase 3 – Rating Validation
Automated validation of usage charging via ‘virtual’ rating system to
reconcile with actual Zain postpaid and prepaid rating systems
Scoping ongoing - Planned for production by end of Q3 2015
![Page 13: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
RAID in the Technology Transformation
23/07/2015Zain Limited13
Data integrity during migrations
Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration
Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration
window full data integrity maintained after migration
Usage Assurance of new network elements
Project: Ericsson EMA Provisioning, Nokia R4/SIP Migration,
Ericsson Charging System Migration
Inter-system validations ready before migrations
Issues found within hours post-launch minimal errors and losses
![Page 14: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
RAID as a Revenue Assurance Tool
23/07/2015Zain Limited14
Automation of Routine RA checks
• 97 daily checks are fully automated
• RA Analyst no longer needs to perform manual data gathering and
cross-system verification
• Focus on issue capture, reproduction, follow-up, workarounds and
permanent fixes
Automation of Financial Reconciliations
• Revenue share partner reports troubleshooting in minutes
• Discrepancies fell from 8% to <1% in 6 months from production
• Revenue, interconnect, and international gateway reconciliations
require no technical expertise
Quick Adaptation to Network Evolution
• WeDo Technologies’ experience with leading technology providers
Semi-Plug-n-Play integration
• Turnaround time to develop new loadings 3 weeks on average
![Page 15: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
RAID as a Revenue Assurance Tool
23/07/2015Zain Limited15
~$7.6m USD(2014 RA exposures)
Interconnect &
Roaming
VAS
Profile Integrity
Revenue Reporting
Rating/Billing
Infrastructure
Products
![Page 16: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
What’s Next?
![Page 17: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Challenges and Lessons during Transformation
23/07/2015Zain Limited17
• The Frequency of Change
• Overlap, Overlap, Overlap
• SME availability
• Reference Data Accuracy
• RAID for Ad-hoc usage
queries
Challenges
• Agility is Paramount
• Get Enterprise-level Support
• Repeat Fine-tuning process till
perfect• 234 changes on RAID to date
• False positives < 0.5%
Lessons
QueryDB (QDB) Project
• Detailed records parsed by RAID transferred to QDB
• Designed to ensure flexibility in queries while ensuring single
reference data maintenance, and no performance impact to core
RAID functionality
![Page 18: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
RAID Project Enhancements :: QueryDB
23/07/2015Zain Limited18
Fetch CDRs
Apply loading rules
Output CSV QDB
![Page 19: Zain Kuwait & RAID - WeDo Technologies 2015... · Project: Ericsson Charging System Migration Capturing errors with data model transformation within the migration window full data](https://reader030.vdocuments.mx/reader030/viewer/2022040403/5e8bd9c90c5e67245e204f30/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
What’s next for RAID?
23/07/2015Zain Limited19
Expand Automated Coverage
• Payment channels reconciliation (Billing vs Oracle Financials)
• Inventory reconciliations for handsets, devices, and SIM cards
• Integration with Test Call Generators for automated testing and call
verification
• Integration with VAS Content Management System for VAS partner
reference data updates
Complete RAID 7 Project
• Implement and complete Rating
Validation Module
• Integration with Product Catalog
Solution
RA Analyst Developer Training
• Perform changes in-house with
WeDo Support validation
• Accelerate adaptation time to
technology changes