Communications Platforms Trade Association Officially Launched

TMCnet Contributing Editor

Communications platform providers have felt an industry-wide void in terms of true industry standards for compliance and interoperability. That is soon to change. Twenty telecom leaders have come together to form the Communications Platforms Trade Association or CP-TA, set to launch today.

The CP-TA is formed by Adtron, Artesyn, Continuous Computing, Diversified Technology, ESO Technologies, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, Intel, Kontron, MontaVista Software, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Pentair-EP, Pigeon Point Systems and Wind River.

As an association of communications platforms and building block providers, the CP-TA is dedicated to accelerating the adoption of SIG-governed, open specification-based communications platforms through interoperability testing and certification. Through industry collaboration, the CP-TA plans to drive a mainstream market for Open Industry Standard Communications Platforms by certifying interoperable products.

Shlomo Pri-Tal, CP-TA Chairman stated that the organization brings together industry leaders who are collaborating to establish a true standards-based ecosystem that will deliver interoperable products from multiple vendors.

Pri-Tal noted that the main focus of the CP-TA will be certification, the essential “third element” required to realize the full benefits of an open, standards-based communications platform. The CP-TA is working closely with PICMG, the Service Availability Forum and the SCOPE Alliance, completing their processes to realize this interoperability vision.

According to Norm Bogen, Director of Networking at In-Stat, interoperability is today’s hurdle to realizing the market potential of the open standards communications platforms industry. By addressing these issues, the CP-TA fills a gap in the industry. In the end, customers will be able to benefit from the lower integration costs and faster time to market that these products provide.

The communications platforms industry has developed a rich set of open specifications in order to build modular communications platforms. The industry has been unable to move to the next level of interoperability due to the number of optional requirements and inconsistent interpretations of mandatory requirements.

The CP-TA is set on driving the creation of the mainstream market for open industry standards communications platforms by certifying hardware and software building block compliance to interoperability test requirements. These requirements will be developed along with detailed test procedures and supported by industry-harmonized automated test suites and benchmarks.

Existing open specification from the SA Forum, PICMG and OSDL as well as system-level profiles from SCOPE will be used as a foundation for the test requirements. CP-TA will also host periodic Interoperability Plugfests to provide a confidential environment for the CP-TA community to harmonize the execution of automated test suites in addition to offering a true multi-vendor environment for enhanced interoperability testing.

CP-TA-certified building blocks and base platforms consistent with SCOPE profiles are intended to help network equipment providers simplify the selection process, increase supply chain flexibility, increase predictability of successful integration and reduce lifecycle management costs.

Service providers should be able to realize faster time to market with new, innovative services in addition to receiving the ability to increase the flexibility and scalability of their network.

The industry is greatly supporting the launch of CP-TA. Brian Partridge, Senior Analyst, Communications Network Infrastructure, Yankee Group, noted that interoperability gaps are the number one reason TEMs (or telecom equipment manufacturers) aren’t reaching the mainstream market for standards-based communications platforms.

Tim Kober, SA Forum President contributed that all of the communications standards bodies share the same commitment to enhancing building block interoperability and the SA Forum will coordinate activities with the CP-TA and other organizations in order to move the industry forward.

Manufacturers are also looking for products that are better, cost effective, reliable, safe and high performing. The creation of the CP-TA will help in the advancement and availability of products that can meet these descriptions.

As price has become a major competitive advantage – or disadvantage – for many suppliers, open industry standard communications platforms will contribute greatly to manufacturers of all sorts, providing a more level playing field.

Consumers may be the biggest benefactors of the CP-TA as they will be able to enjoy more competitive pricing offers from their service providers. Consumers will also likely see more choices in terms of products as the time-to-market will be significantly shorter and manufacturers will be better positioned to respond to demand trends and grasp more of that market.

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Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.