Enhanced Telecom Operations Map®

(eTOM)
The Business Process Framework
For The Information and Communications Services Industry
Addendum P: An eTOM Primer

Release 4.5

GB921 P

Version 4.6.1 November 2004

 TeleManagement Forum 2004

Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Table of Contents

NOTICE .......................................................................................................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................2
TABLE OF FIGURES AND TABLES ......................................................................................................................4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................................................5
WHAT IS ETOM? ......................................................................................................................................................6
WHERE DID ETOM COME FROM?......................................................................................................................8
HOW DOES ETOM WORK?....................................................................................................................................9
PROCESS DECOMPOSITIONS ........................................................................................................................................9
PROCESS FLOWS .......................................................................................................................................................16
WHY USE ETOM? ...................................................................................................................................................22
WHEN CAN ETOM HELP?....................................................................................................................................23
WHO IS USING ETOM? .........................................................................................................................................24
SOME IDEAS ON USING ETOM ..........................................................................................................................27
ADMINISTRATIVE APPENDIX............................................................................................................................31
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................................31
ABOUT TELEMANAGEMENT FORUM ........................................................................................................................31
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ...........................................................................................................................................32
DOCUMENT LIFE CYCLE...........................................................................................................................................32
TIME STAMP .............................................................................................................................................................32
HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY...........................................................................................................................................32
HOW TO COMMENT ON THE DOCUMENT....................................................................................................................33
DOCUMENT HISTORY ...............................................................................................................................................33
SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN THIS VERSION ................................................................................................................33
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................34
RELATED OR SOURCE DOCUMENTS ..........................................................................................................................34
ETOM BUSINESS PROCESS FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................................34

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Table of Figures and Tables

Figure 0: Process Decomposition......................................................................................................... 9

Figure 1: eTOM - the Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® .............................................................. 11

Figure 2: The eTOM Operations (OPS) Processes ............................................................................ 12

Figure 3: Level 2 Operations (OPS) Processes.................................................................................. 13

Figure 5: The eTOM Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) Processes........................................ 14

Figure 6: Level 2 Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) Processes............................................. 15

Figure 7: The eTOM Enterprise Management (EM) Processes ......................................................... 16

Figure 8: Process Flow (partial example only)................................................................................... 17

Figure 9: General Interaction Diagram for DSL Fulfillment............................................................... 18

Figure 10: Process Interaction Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Pre-Sales) ............................... 18

Figure 11: Process Interaction Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Ordering) ................................ 20

Figure 12: Process Dynamics Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Ordering).................................. 21

Figure 13: Recent Reports on eTOM Adoptions (SPs) ...................................................................... 24

Figure 14: Recent Reports on eTOM Adoptions (Vendors, SIs, etc) ................................................ 25

Figure 15: Examples of Important Industry Links ............................................................................. 26

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Executive Summary

This document stands as a further Addendum to the "Enhanced Telecom Operations

Map® (eTOM) The Business Process Framework for the Information and
Communications Services Industry", GB921 Version 4.0. It assists new readers and
users of eTOM by providing an introductory view of some of the concepts, goals and
structure of the eTOM work.
It should be read in conjunction with the main GB921 document, and other Addenda
(see GB921 for details).

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

What is eTOM?

The telecom industry is facing unprecedented churn and the struggle to remain
profitable in the face of more competition, higher customer expectations, falling
market share and growing price pressures. The industry has a need to clearly define
and understand the business processes involved in order to tackle these issues. It
also needs to reach a consensus on the common process view for equipment
suppliers, applications builders and integrators to build management systems by
combining third party and in-house developments.
The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (or eTOM for short) is an ongoing TM
Forum initiative to deliver a business process model or framework for use by service
providers and others within the telecommunications industry. The goal is to set a
vision for the industry to enable it to compete successfully through the implementation
of business process-driven approaches to managing the enterprise. This includes
ensuring integration among all vital enterprise support systems concerned with
service delivery and support.
The focus of the eTOM is on the business processes used by service providers, the
linkages between these processes, the identification of interfaces, and the use of
customer, service, resource, supplier/partner and other information by multiple
processes. The TM Forum eTOM Business Process Framework is a reference
framework for categorizing all the business activities that a service provider will use, in
a structured manner that allows these to be addressed at various levels of detail.. For
such companies, it serves as the blueprint for process direction and provides a neutral
reference point for internal process reengineering needs, partnerships, alliances, and
general working agreements with other providers. For suppliers, eTOM outlines
potential boundaries of software components to align with the customers' needs and
highlights the required functions, inputs, and outputs that must be supported by
products.
A particular strength of eTOM as a business process framework is that it is part of the
TM Forum NGOSS (New Generation Operations Systems and Software) program
and links with other work underway in NGOSS.
So, eTOM defines a telecommunications Service Provider business process
framework. This means that it is oriented to SPs in the telecommunications sector
(although it has been found to be useful in other areas also), and it aims to provide a
business-oriented view of the SP enterprise. This view is useful for planners,
managers, strategists, etc, who need to view the enterprise in business terms, without
immediate concern for the nature of the way that these business needs are organized
or automated within the business. Therefore, eTOM emphasizes issues such as
process structure, process components, process interactivity and the business roles
and responsibilities to which these relate. In defining these aspects, eTOM also
provides a basis for setting requirements for system solutions, technical architectures,
technology choices and implementation paths, but it is neutral towards the particular
way that these requirements are met.

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Thus, eTOM can be considered to have two faces: one oriented towards the
business, customer, products, etc, and one towards solutions, systems and
implementations supporting the business.
It should be recognized that through the TM Forum work, eTOM represents an
industry-consensus on the Service Provider processes, which has been harmonized
across the global scene and is based on Member contributions. It is allowable, and
indeed expected, that this will mean that eTOM must be tailored and/or extended for
use within an individual company. In particular, eTOM does not seek to constrain the
way that the processes fit into a specific organization. An advantage of this positioning
of eTOM as a framework, rather than a directly-implemented specification, is that
differentiation amongst eTOM users is not restricted, which is vital to allow
specialization and competition. In addition, as already mentioned, eTOM does not fix
upon particular routes to implementation and is thus valid in many different
environments with varying levels of automation, technology, etc.
So, eTOM is a framework, not a final implementation specification. It will typically be
customized and extended by users for their own business needs, but provides a vital
common reference that is industry recognized and represents a de-facto, and now
through ITU-T an official standard within and between companies on business
process definition.

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Where did eTOM come from?

Work on business process modeling by the TeleManagement Forum (formerly the

Network Management Forum) began in the early 1990’s with the Service
Management Automation and Reengineering Team (SMART) that gathered
worldwide Service Provider views and distilled an initial Business Process Model. This
work grew in the Telecom Operations Map (TOM) during the mid-90’s leading to the
stabilization and publication of TOM in its final form towards the end of that decade.
The TOM work gained wide industry support, but the scope of the TOM model did not
cover the whole of the SP enterprise and only focused on the main Operations
processes embodying the traditional telecoms activities around Fulfillment, Assurance
and Billing (FAB). Increasingly, the complexities of interworking in the deregulated,
competitive telecoms market required a complete enterprise view, and new business
demands triggered by the internet and electronic commerce generally, led to a move
to expand TOM to address this wider perspective.
Thus, eTOM – for enhanced TOM – was initiated as a work program led by TM
Forum as we entered the new Millennium. Initial releases of eTOM were provided to
TM Forum members during 2001, and then a TM Forum Approved version of eTOM –
GB921 v3.0 – was released in mid-2002. This was welcomed and adopted widely,
and so further work to cement agreements, incorporate industry feedback, and extend
the level of detail described resulted in further intermediate versions and then a new
TM Forum Approved version early in 2004. This version – GB921 v4.0 – was also
submitted under a liaison agreement to the ITU-T, which acts as the premier world-
wide body with a remit under the United Nations for setting international
Recommendations in the telecommunications sphere. This eTOM version was
adopted by ITU-T in toto and has been published in parallel as their formal
Recommendation M.3050, with exact alignment on the content with TM Forum’s
GB921 v4.0.
Throughout this history, the eTOM work has benefited from wide involvement from
the global telecommunications industry, as well as academia, government agencies,
etc. As it has evolved, the core has shown it can stand the test of time, and it is now
regarded as the pre-eminent vehicle for expressing and discussing business
processes in and around the Service Provider domain. The work continues, with an
increasing emphasis now that eTOM has established a clear and agreed view of the
business process framework itself, on applications of eTOM and guidance to
prospective and existing users on how to gain maximum benefit from the eTOM in
their own businesses.

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How does eTOM work?

Process Decompositions

Process decomposition is a structured approach to analysis of a business through

consideration of the enterprise’s business processes and their internal structure. The
basis of the concept is illustrated in Figure 0. Here we see a representative process
element, Process X, which might provide a specific area of capability within an
enterprise – say, handling of customer orders, for example. When analyzed, it is
decided that the contained functionality, behavior, etc associated with that process
can/should be sub-divided into three lower-level process elements. Note that typically
such a “decomposition” is partly evident from the analysis of the detail captured within
the process concerned, and partly is the result of design decisions, where judgment is
used to make the most appropriate partitioning for the situation under consideration.

Process X

Process Element
- Process Element
- Process Element
-
X1 X2 X3

Process Element
- Process Element
-
X21 X22

Process Element
- Process Element
-
X211 X212

Figure 0: Process Decomposition

Each of the decomposed processes, X1, X2 and X3 can be further decomposed – X2
is shown as decomposed into X21 and X22 – and this can be continued – X21 is
shown as decomposed into X211 and X212. Note that not all “branches” of the
decomposition “tree” necessarily lead to “leaves” (i.e. final process elements) at the
same level of decomposition. This will depend on the scope and content of the
processes involved.
The process decomposition approach has these general characteristics:
• It defines components of a process that perform part of that process
• It provides insight into the structure and content of process areas (or
groupings)
• It reveals finer detail at lower levels, as decomposition proceeds
• It can be continued to as many sub-levels as are needed

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• The aim is to provide a complete analysis of the process under

decomposition - i.e. the sum of the components equals the totality of the
original process
• It represents a static perspective of process
• It does not mandate any flow relationship between the process elements
Note that the process elements derived through process decomposition may be
applied in various ways within process flows. There may be many process flows
(representing, say, enterprise-specific applications) that can be built using the
common set of process elements specified within the eTOM Framework. There is
further discussion on process flows later in this section, including the process flow
diagrams that arise and are used in this work.
The process decomposition for the eTOM Business Process Framework (see Figure
1) begins at the Enterprise level and defines business processes in a series of
groupings. The eTOM framework uses hierarchical decomposition to structure the
business processes according to which all of the processes of the enterprise are
successively decomposed. Process descriptions, inputs and outputs, as well as other
key elements are defined. The eTOM Business Process Framework represents the
whole of a service provider’s enterprise environment. The Framework is defined as
generically as possible so that it is organization, technology and service independent.
At the overall conceptual level, eTOM can be viewed as having the following three
major process areas:
Strategy, Infrastructure & Product covering planning and lifecycle management
Operations covering the core of operational management
Enterprise Management covering corporate or business support management

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Customer

Strategy, Infrastructure & Product Operations

Strategy & Infrastructure Product Operations Fulfillment Assurance Billing
Commit Lifecycle Lifecycle Support &
Management Management Readiness
Marketing & Offer Management Customer Relationship Management

Service Development & Management Service Management & Operations

Resource Development & Management Resource Management & Operations

(Application, Computing and Network) (Application, Computing and Network)

Supply Chain Development & Management Supplier/Partner Relationship Management

Enterprise Management
Strategic & Enterprise Enterprise Risk Enterprise Effectiveness Knowledge & Research
Planning Management Management Management

Financial & Asset Stakeholder & External Human Resources

Management Relations Management Management

Figure 1: eTOM - the Enhanced Telecom Operations Map®

The eTOM Framework (see Figure 1) shows seven end-end vertical process
groupings, that are the end-to-end processes that are required to support customers
and to manage the business. Amongst these End-end Vertical Process Groupings,
the focal point of the eTOM framework is on the core customer operations processes
of Fulfillment, Assurance and Billing (FAB). Operations Support & Readiness (OSR) is
differentiated from FAB real-time processes to highlight the focus on enabling support
and automation in FAB, i.e. on-line and immediate support of customers, with OSR
ensuring that the operational environment is in place to let the FAB processes do their
job. Outside of the Operations process area - in the Strategy, Infrastructure & Product
(SIP) process area - the Strategy & Commit vertical, as well as the two Lifecycle
Management verticals, are differentiated. These are distinct because, unlike
Operations, they do not directly support the customer, are intrinsically different from
the Operations processes and work on different business time cycles.
The Framework also includes views of functionality as they span horizontally across
an enterprise’s internal organizations. The horizontal functional process groupings in
Figure 1 distinguish functional operations processes and other types of business
functional processes, e.g., Marketing versus Selling, Service Development versus
Service Configuration, etc. Amongst these Horizontal Functional Process Groupings,
those on the left (that cross the Strategy & Commit, Infrastructure Lifecycle
Management and Product Lifecycle Management vertical process groupings) enable,
support and direct the work in the Operations process area.
Overall, eTOM is comprised of the Business Process Framework and the Model. The
eTOM Model graphically illustrates the business processes required for operating

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service provider enterprises. It lays out these processes first from a high level
perspective, and then drills down to increasingly detailed levels of understanding. The
eTOM Business Process Framework describes in text what the model describes
graphically.
So, eTOM is structured in three main areas (known as Level 0 processes):
Operations (OPS), Strategy Infrastructure and Product (SIP) and Enterprise
Management (EM). Each contains more detailed process components at Level 1,
Level 2, etc as the processes are decomposed. This hierarchical decomposition
enables detail to be defined in a structured way and also allows the eTOM
Framework to be adopted at varying levels and/or for different processes. The Level
number is an indication of the degree of detail revealed at that level - the higher the
number, the more detailed are the process elements described there.

Operations
Operations Fulfillment Assurance Billing
Support &
Readiness
Customer Relationship Management

Service Management & Operations

Resource Management & Operations

(Application, Computing and Network)

Supplier/Partner Relationship Management

Figure 2: The eTOM Operations (OPS) Processes

Operations (OPS - see Figure 2) is the heart of eTOM and much of the original TOM
work has carried through into OPS (the GB921 documentation contains an
explanation of the mapping from TOM to eTOM). The “FAB” processes (Fulfillment,
Assurance, Billing) provide the core of the Operations area, The vertical Level 1
processes in FAB represent a view of flow-through of activity, whereas the horizontal
Level 1 processes (CRM, SM&O, RM&O, S/PRM) represent functionally-related
activity, Both views are valid and the model supports both to accommodate different
uses made of the processes. As a separate issue, OSR (Operations Support &
Readiness) has been separated from FAB to reflect the separation between “front-
office” real-time operations (in FAB) from “back-office” near real-time or even off-line
support processes. This split may not apply in all organizations (in which case, the
OSR and FAB processes can be merged) but is necessary to allow for the important
situation where they are handled separately.

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Operations
Operations Support Fulfillment Assurance Billing
& Readiness
Customer Relationship Customer Interface Management
Management Selling
Problem Customer Billing &
CRM Marketing Order QoS / SLA Collections
Support & Fulfillment Handling
Handling Management Management
Readiness Response

Retention & Loyalty

Service Management &

Service Service Service Service &
SM&O Operations Configuration Problem Quality Specific Instance
Support & & Activation Management Management Rating
Readiness

Resource Management & Resource Resource

Resource Trouble Performance
RM&O Operations Provisioning Management
Management
Support &
Readiness Resource Data Collection & Processing

Supplier/Partner Relationship S/P S/P Problem S/P S/P Settlements

Management Requisition Reporting & Performance & Billing
S/PRM
Management Management Management Management
Support &
Readiness Supplier/Partner Interface Management

Figure 3: Level 2 Operations (OPS) Processes

In Figure 3, the OPS area is shown with Level 2 processes visible. Note, in general, a
Level 2 process is part of a vertical, and also a horizontal, Level 1 process. Hence,
Level 2 processes can be reached in the process hierarchy by either path (to reflect
the different interests and concerns of users). However, whichever path is used, as
shown here, there is a single, common set of Level 2 processes. In some cases, a
Level 2 process is “stretched” across several vertical Level 1s (e.g. Resource Data
Collection, Analysis and Control in RM&O). This is because the process concerned is
needed in several vertical Level 1s (e.g. for Resource Data Collection, Analysis and
Control, the data collected from the network (say) can represent usage data for Billing
but can also support fault handling or performance assessment in Assurance).

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Fulfillment (L1)
Resource Management & Operations (L1)
Resource Provisioning (L2)

Allocate & Deliver Configure & Activate

Resource (L3) Resource (L3)

Collect, Update &

Test Resource (L3) Report Resource
Configuration Data (L3)

Figure 4: An example of Level 3 Operations (OPS) Processes

This mechanism of decomposition can be extended as required. In Figure 4, we see
an example of the Level 3 process elements within a single Level 2 process element
– Resource Provisioning. Full descriptions of decompositions to Level 3 for this and
other processes are included in the GB921 documentation.

Strategy, Infrastructure & Product

Strategy & Infrastructure Product
Commit Lifecycle Lifecycle
Management Management
Marketing & Offer Management

Service Development & Management

Resource Development & Management

(Application, Computing and Network)

Supply Chain Development & Management

Figure 5: The eTOM Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) Processes

Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP – see Figure 5) has a similar structure to OPS
with corresponding vertical and horizontal Level 1 processes. In the verticals, Strategy
& Commit covers the processes involved in forming and deciding company strategy
and gaining commitment from the business for this. Infrastructure Lifecycle
Management covers control of the infrastructures used in the business – the network

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

is the most obvious, but also IT infrastructure and even the human resources of the
company. Product Lifecycle Management covers the products themselves – note that
eTOM distinguishes Product (as sold to Customers) from Service (used internally to
represent the “technical” part of the product, i.e. excluding commercial aspects such
as tariffing, T&Cs, support, etc) and Resource (physical and non-physical
components used to support Service).
The horizontal functional groupings in SIP are aligned with those in OPS, so that if
desired the processes included can be considered to link across smoothly from the
SIP domain to the OPS domain, if this is relevant to some aspects of business
behavior in enterprises.

Strategy, Infrastructure & Product

Strategy & Commit Infrastructure Product
Lifecycle Lifecycle
Management Management
Marketing & Offer Management Product & Offer Product Marketing
Development Communications
Market Product & Offer Marketing Product & Offer & Retirement & Promotion
Strategy & Portfolio Planning Capability Capability Delivery
Policy Delivery Sales Development

Service Development & Management

Service Service Service
Strategy & Capability Development &
Planning Delivery Retirement

Resource Development & Management

Resource Resource Resource
Strategy & Capability Development &
Planning Delivery Retirement

Supply Chain Development & Management Supply Chain

Supply Chain Supply Chain Development
Strategy & Capability & Change
Planning Delivery Management

Figure 6: Level 2 Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) Processes

In Figure 6, the SIP area is shown with Level 2 processes visible. As with OPS, a
Level 2 process is part of a vertical, and also a horizontal, Level 1 process (but note
that all SIP processes fit this pattern, and there are not exceptions as in OPS).

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Level 0
Enterprise Level 1
Management
Level 2

Stakeholder
Strategic & Financial & Enterprise Enterprise Human Knowledge
& External
Enterprise Asset Risk Effectiveness Resources & Research
Relations
Planning Management Management Management Management Management
Management

Strategic Business Corporate Process

Financial HR Policies Knowledge
Business Continuity Comms & Management
Management & Practices Management
Planning Management Image Mgt & Support

Security Community Enterprise

Business Asset Organization Research
Management Relations Quality
Development Management Development Management
Management Management

Enterprise Fraud Shareholder Program Workforce Technology

Procurement
Architecture Management Relations & Project Strategy
Management Scanning
Management Management Management

Group Enterprise
Audit Regulatory Workforce
Enterprise Performance
Management Management Development
Management Assessment

Insurance Facilities Employee

Legal
Management Management & Labor
Management
& Support Relations Mgt

Board &
Shares/Secur.
Management

Figure 7: The eTOM Enterprise Management (EM) Processes

Enterprise Management (EM – see Figure 7) is shown in a different view – this is a
typical hierarchy diagram as provided from process analysis and modeling tools used
for eTOM. The top box is EM itself (Level 0), the next horizontal row shows the Level
1 processes in EM, and the columns below each Level 1 box shows Level 2
processes within that Level 1 process.
Now, with this overall view of the process structure to Level 2 (and descriptions for all
these process elements, as well as for Level 3 process elements, are in the GB921
documentation), it is important, however, to note that this view of the processes
provides very little insight into how the processes interact. To gain this valuable
additional perspective, we must look to process flows.

Process Flows

Process decompositions provide an essential insight into the process definition and
content. To understand further how the processes behave, process flows can be
developed that examine how some or all of the processes support some larger, “end-
to-end” or “through” process view across the enterprise. Such process flows are not
constrained to bridge across the entire enterprise – they can have any scope that is
considered meaningful and helpful to analyze - but typically such process flows
involve a broad area of the enterprise processes, and thus of the eTOM framework.

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Thus, process flows examine some specific scenario in which the processes achieve
an overall business purpose.
To begin with, though, Figure 8 shows only a fragment of a process flow, where
several eTOM Level 2 OPS processes can be recognized, and labeled linkages
between these indicate the nature of the transfer that arises in operation. In this case,
we can see that part of handling a customer order is shown.
Order
com pleted
Custom er Custom er
Request Order
Order
Selling
Handling

Request
Service Service
Activation Activated

Service
Configuration
&
Activation

Request
Resource Resource
Activation Activated

Resource
Provisioning

Figure 8: Process Flow (partial example only)

The process flow approach has these general characteristics:
• It analyzes a typical (specific) scenario
• It provides insight into the behavior and interaction amongst processes
• It chooses to model the flow at an appropriate level of process detail
• It can use process decompositions (and vice versa) to enhance/refine
detail
• The aim is to provide only an example of the process flows - i.e. only
some of the possible interactions are described in each scenario
• Thus, it typically provides a partial view of process behavior (because
flows are based on specific scenarios)
• It represents a dynamic perspective of process
In applying this approach for eTOM process flows, it has been found that a number of different flow-
related diagram types have proved useful, considering the variety of interest (business and technical,
high level and detailed design) that need to be addressed.
First is a general positioning type of diagram that provides only limited insight into the flow, but helps
focus attention on the general area of eTOM involved.

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Customer
Strategy, Infrastructure & Product Operations
Strategy & Infrastructure Lifecycle Product Lifecycle Operations Support Fulfillment Assurance Billing
Commit Management Management & Readiness
Marketing & Offer Management Customer Relationship Management
Sales Customer Interface Management
Development
Selling
Market Product & Product & Offer Marketing CRM
Customer Billing &
Strategy & Offer Portfolio Capability Capability Support & Problem
Marketing QoS/SLA Collections
Policy Planning Delivery Delivery Readiness Order Handling
Product Marketing Product & Offer Fulfillment Management Management
Communications Development & Handling
Response
& Promotion Retirement

Retention & Loyalty

Service Development & Management Service Management & Operations

Service Service Service &
Service Service Service SM&O Service Problem Quality Specific
Strategy & Capability Development & Support & Configuration & Management Management Instance Rating
Planning Delivery Retirement Readiness Activation

Resource Development & Management Resource Management & Operations Resource

Resource
Resource Trouble Performance
Resource Resource RM&O Management Management
Development & Resource
Strategy & Capability Support &
Retirement Provisioning
Planning Delivery Readiness
Resource Data Collection & Processing

Supply Chain Development & Management Supplier/Partner Relationship Management

S/P Problem S/P S/P Settlements
Supply Chain Supply Chain Supply Chain S/P Reporting & Performance
S/PRM & Billing
Strategy & Requisition Management Management
Capability Development & Support & Management
Planning Management
Delivery Change Management Readiness

S/P Interface Management

Supplier/Partner

Enterprise Management ? Info & Comm

System Support ?
? Work Task
Assignment ?

Strategic & Enterprise Planning Enterprise Risk Management Enterprise Effectiveness Management Knowledge & Research Management
Strategic Enterprise Group Business Process Enterprise Program & Enterprise Facilities Knowledge Technology
Business Security Fraud Audit Insurance Research
Business Architecture Enterprise Continuity Management & Quality Project Performance Management & Management Scanning
Development Management Management Management Management Management
Planning Management Management Management Support Management Management Assessment Support

Financial & Asset Management Stakeholder & External Relations Management Human Resources Management
Corporate Community Shareholder Board & Employee &
Financial Asset Procurement Regulatory Legal HR Policies & Organization Workforce Workforce
Communications & Relations Relations Shares/Securities Labor Relations
Management Management Management Management Management Practices Development Strategy Development
Image Management Management Management Management Management

Figure 9: General Interaction Diagram for DSL Fulfillment

Figure 9 shows an example of this diagram - a general process interaction diagram –
for a scenario based around DSL Fulfillment that is covered in the GB921
documentation. This shows some of the process interactions that arise for this
scenario, but does not give any detailed insight at this level into the behavior. It is still
useful for a high-level view, though.

Customer
contacts retailer Sales Proposal
received By
Customer

Customer Relationship Management Customer Interface Management

Customer Customer Customer Customer

Sales Inquiry Need Need Alternative Profile Contact
Marketing
Routed Clarification Clarification Solution Sales ProposalRetrieved Recorded
Fulfillment Res ...
Requested Provided Offered Offered
Retention &
Loyalty Order Handling
Feasibility
Selling
Requested
Feasibility
Assessment
Completed
Service Management & Operations
Design &
Technology
Selection Request

Service Configuration & Activation

Resource Resource
Reservation Reservation
Resource Management & Operations
Requested Confirmed

Resource Provisioning & Allocation to Service Instance

Check External
Supplier
Solution
Supplier/Partner Relationship Management
Pre-Order initiated
S/P Buying S/P Purchase Pre-Order
Order
Management

Figure 10: Process Interaction Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Pre-Sales)
The next diagram type, shown in Figure 10, is developed directly from a process
analysis and modeling tool (rather than a general drawing software). Here we are
working with Level 2 process elements but other Levels can be used depending on
the detail required. This diagram type positions the eTOM processes in relatively the

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

same way that they can be seen on the eTOM model diagrams (see, for example,
Figure 3 earlier), which assists with recognition and avoids confusion. Each process
only appears once, and so sequencing of the interactions is not explicit in this diagram
(it is on the process dynamics diagrams later).
An important element in flow diagrams of this kind is that of “swimlanes”. These are
areas in the process flow diagram, containing typically several process elements that
contribute to the overall process flow, which scope a useful area of attention to assist
the user. In this example, the swimlanes have been drawn to represent the four
horizontal functional process groupings of the Operations area of the eTOM
Framework, since the scenario involved is focused in the Operations domain. In thi
sarrangement, all the process elements in a specific swimlane in the diagram (e.g. in
the loweset swimlane for Supplier/Partner Management & Operations) are
components of that horizontal functional process grouping. It should be noted that
swimlanes (despite their name) need not be only horizontal, although this is a
common choice for clarity, and is the approach used in eTOM process flow
diagrams.
The process flow in Figure 10 addresses the pre-sales stage of Fulfillment (other
phases are documented in separate diagrams, for convenience). It kicks-off from the
Marketing Fulfillment Response process stimulating a customer to make a service
enquiry (in fact, in eTOM terms the customer buys a product, as service is reserved
for the internal technical capability that supports a product). The Customer then
contacts the retailer (external event) and the enquiry is routed through Customer
Interface Management to Selling (sales enquiry routed). Note that interactions
between processes (like sales enquiry routed) are events, and are not intrinsically
information transfers. Thus they can be considered to represent transfer of control.
After any necessary clarification with the customer, Selling requests Order Handling to
check on the feasibility of satisfying the product request, and this leads to a design
being developed for the product instance required, and checks through Service
Configuration & Activation, and then Resource Provisioning & Allocation to Service
Instance, that this can be done. This may also involve interaction with a supplier via
S/P Requisition Management, etc. Eventually, if all is well, a sales proposal is offered
or an alternative solution offered.

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Order Completion
Customer places Order Notification

Customer Relationship Management Customer Interface Management

Design
Order Confirmation by
Confirmed Customer Completion
by Customer Retention & Loyalty Engineering Design Advised to
Priority Requested Accepted by Customer
Priority Advised Customer Billing &
Requested Customer Order Collections
Processing Requested Order Handling
Management
Selling

Internal
Service Management & Operations
Design Service
Requested Order
Initiated Service Details
Design Service
for Billing
Completed Activated

External Supplier
Selection Required Service Configuration & Activation

Internal Internal Resource

Service Details
Capacity Work Order Resource Activation Resource
Resource Management & Operations for Assurance
Requested Capacity Initiated Provisioning Requested Activated External
Reserved Completed Resource
Activated
Resource Provisioning
Customer
QoS/SLA
Management
Supplier/Partner Relationship Management
External Component Requested
S/P Requisition External Order
Management Issued

Figure 11: Process Interaction Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Ordering)
Figure 11 is also another example of this diagram type, for the main Ordering phase
of Fulfillment. It kicks-off with the Customer placing an order, and then tracks through
Selling, Order handling, and the service and resource layer processes that actually
configure the product instance. As the product instance is brought into service, there
are external interactions with Billing to set up charging for this.
However, even though interactions are labeled in these diagrams, sequencing and
dependencies in the flow are still not explicit. For this, we need to generate another
kind of diagram.

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Cu s tomer A w aiting Order Conf irmation

r equests SP
of f ering
A w aiting Des ign

Cu s tomer Order
Co n f irmed R es ource
A w aiting res ourc e A lloc c ation A lloc ated

C u s tomer Interf ac e
C u s tomer
Ma rket M a n a gement
R e ques t
Product &
Serv ice
Cu s tomer

S e lling O r d er Handling

C u s t o mer Order Initiated

Pr iority Pr iority
R e quested A dv is ed

D e s ign
r eques ted
R e tention &
Loy alty

Serv ic e

Serv ic e S erv ic e D e s ign

C o nf iguration & C o nf iguration & C o m p letion
A c tiv ation A c tiv ation

Ex ternal Res ourc e

C o mp onent A lloc ation
r eques ted r equested

Res ourc e(A p

p lic ation,
Co mp uting
and Netw ork) R es ourc e
Pr o v is ioning

Su pplier/ S / P Requis ition

Pa rtner M a n a gement

Ex ternal Order R es ource

Is s ued A lloc ation

Figure 12: Process Dynamics Flow Diagram for DSL Fulfillment (Ordering)
Figure 12 represents a process dynamics flow diagram, showing the process
dynamics explicitly. Each process typically appears several times, on each occasion
providing a specific step in the process flow sequence. As there is therefore typically
different functionality employed on each appearance, this diagram can provide insight
into the decomposition of the Level 2 process into Level 3 processes. It shows
equivalent information to the Ordering process interaction diagram of Figure 11, but is
more technically complete and is a better basis for further design.
Developing process flows in this way is a valuable source of insight and additional
detail to validate process decompositions, and to address specific areas of business
priority for eTOM application.

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Why use eTOM?

eTOM makes available a standard structure, terminology and classification scheme

for describing business processes and their constituent building blocks
eTOM supplies a foundation for applying enterprise-wide discipline to the
development of business processes
eTOM provides a basis for understanding and managing portfolios of IT applications
in terms of business process requirements
eTOM enables creation of consistent and high-quality end-to-end process flows, with
opportunities for cost and performance improvement, and for re-use of existing
processes and systems
eTOM use across the industry will increase the likelihood that off-the-shelf
applications will be readily integrated into the enterprise, at a lower cost than custom-
built applications

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When can eTOM help?

The eTOM Business Process Framework can be used as a tool for analyzing your
organization’s existing processes and for developing new processes. Different
processes delivering the same business functionality can be identified, duplication
eliminated, gaps revealed, new process design speeded up, and variance reduced.
Using eTOM, you can assess the value, cost and performance of individual
processes within your organization.
You can facilitate your relationships with suppliers and partners by identifying and
categorizing the processes you use in interactions with them. In a similar manner, you
can identify the all-important customer relationship processes and evaluate whether
they are functioning as required to meet your customers’ expectations.

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Who is using eTOM?

A natural question that arises is to be aware of where eTOM is being used in the
industry and how it is benefiting those involved. This is a difficult issue to address due
to commercial confidentiality and sensitivity on strategic information about company
directions. However, a number of organizations have declared a position on this
publicly, and the general interest and support for eTOM is now very high and so we
would hope to see increasing public information available on this. The two main
groups of eTOM users are (1) Service Providers and (2) Vendors, System Integrators,
etc. It is worth noting that there is private information on a much larger number of
organizations applying eTOM in their businesses, and a much larger number again of
organizations that are using eTOM but who have not yet made contact with TM
Forum about this (and which are therefore discovered by chance).
One important source of information is the conference event associated with
TeleManagement World. Figures 13 & 14 below show information on SPs and others
who have reported there on their eTOM usage.

eTOM is a reference guideline in the definition of the

Vodafone worldwide IT Enterprise Architecture.

eTOM is used to map functionality of existing systems

and discover redundancies.

Telstra enhanced the core eTOM Framework to create a

Framework for all Process Elements in Telstra down to Level 4.
eTOM is referenced in the design and implementation
of the New Broadband Services Management Architecture.
eTOM is used in the definition and implementation of the
business Process Framework for the merged Telia and
Sonera companies.
eTOM is used to provide the basic framework for describing
the process scope and positions the process capabilities of
current / future systems. It also provides a neutral reference
model with an associated lexicon for the processes to be
addressed.

Figure 13: Recent Reports on eTOM Adoptions (SPs)

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

Reorganized existing BPM and Best Practices around eTOM,

with strategic decision to increase participation in eTOM team
work. Introduced internal eTOM training, with eTOM as a
common language and reference throughout the company.
Mapped Amdocs products to eTOM, and used as sales tool.
Used eTOM to map existing industry processes, analyze
business drivers and pains, and guide the design of new
processes. Also,as a framework for ISV & SI Partnerships
Have developed Telecom Reference Business Model based
on eTOM (Levels 1,2 & 3), and extended to Levels 5 & 6 for
business scenario investigation, legacy system gap analysis,
new OSS/BSS specification, consultancy support, etc
Used eTOM for internal product training, product
features cross-referencing nd functional gap analysis,
marketing analysis (competitors/partners), customer
communication (incl. RFI/RFP), workflow “seed”
processes
Used eTOM for mapping Motorola products and
managed services, for gap analysis of solution portfolio
and for partnership communications

Figure 14: Recent Reports on eTOM Adoptions (Vendors, SIs, etc)

Another aspect of eTOM usage is through other industry bodies that are operating in,
or have influence on, the area. Figure 15 shows some of the industry links that are
active concerning eTOM and the rest of the TM Forum work. In particular, the recent
endorsement of the eTOM by ITU-T has been a major achievement and establishes
eTOM, which has grown already to become a de facto standard, now to be available
as a formal standard through ITU-T with its mandate under the United Nations.

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

eTOM has been formally approved as an ITU-T

Recommendation (M.3050): “M.3050 aims to improve
efficiency of the business processes at the heart of any
service providers' operation. The new framework will be
used by industry to more efficiently implement operations
and business support systems (OSS/BSS) and by ITU in the
continued production of OSS/BSS specifications.”

OSS/J (enabling marketplace of interchangeable,

interoperable components that can be rapidly and cost
effectively assembled into end-to-end telecommunications
solutions) and TMF have established a formal partnership.
OSS/J is the first and only technology specific realization of
TMF’s NGOSS. eTOM has been used by as the base for the
OSS/J Roadmap since 2001.

RosettaNet (enabling supply chain optimization for the high

technology sector) and TMF have established formal
partnership. eTOM business processes will be mapped to
RosettaNet processes.
Figure 15: Examples of Important Industry Links

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Some Ideas on Using eTOM

Service Providers
1. Assign your technical personnel to review the eTOM Framework (GB921) and
Model, and to present recommendations on it for your enterprise (see
www.tmforum.org for download advice).
2. Encourage your vendors to understand the eTOM, and. to describe their software
applications in relation to the eTOM.
3. If you want your company’s view incorporated in future versions of the eTOM, send
a representative to participate actively in its ongoing development.
Vendors
1. Provide materials on your software products for customers using the eTOM
structure and concepts.
2. Assist your customers’ understanding of your software products by explaining your
software products in relation to the eTOM Framework.
3. Use eTOM as a guide to help generate product gap analysis, market analysis,
competitive analysis, etc.
4. Establish and build partnerships to produce more complete solutions for service
providers.
5. To ensure eTOM accurately reflects how the telecom business operates, send a
representative to participate in its ongoing development.
Note: Vendors, System Integrators and related companies are generally comprised of
common roles. The common roles are shown below with a brief description of each
role. These common roles are not prescriptive. Rather, they are provided to illustrate
the breadth of eTOM impact on vendor and system integrator organizational roles.
• Senior Management:
o Mission & strategy
• Business:
o Customer, market needs & issues
o Portfolio generation & management
o Value proposition
o Business case development
o Partnerships
• Marketing:
o Market & competitive analysis
o Branding, advertising, promotions, etc.
o Public relations

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

• Sales:
o RFQs, RFIs, RFPs, contracts, etc.
• Finance :
o Revenue & cost forecasting
o Order to cash, billing, etc.
• Systems Engineering:
o Research and Design
o System design: architecture, interfaces, etc.
o Technology, etc. roadmaps
• Development Engineering:
o Hardware, software, services products and solutions
• Test:
o System, product, field, compliance, “X-ility” (Availability,
Operability, …), etc. testing & certification
• Manufacturing:
o Supply chain (in)
o Warranty, etc.
• Deployment:
o Supply chain (out)
o Delivery & installation
o Acceptance test
o Field trials, Field problem resolution, MOL

Bringing eTOM into your Business – Some hints and Suggestions

To begin to evaluate and use eTOM for your own business, it is essential that the
ground is prepared so that the goals are clear and it is possible to assess the impact
of this.
As a first step, it is important to gain internal commitment to the introduction of eTOM,
since the sort of business process analysis, and possible changes that will result,
need buy-in and active participation from those affected. From experience, a vital
element in success is to obtain senior management recognition and support.
It is also critical to identify and assess the area where eTOM may bring benefit , and
to define success criteria for any trial or application of eTOM, so that results can be
used to build confidence and then to justify further work.
In using eTOM, it is important to recognize that it provides a ready-made generic
business process framework, which may need adjustment for your business., and that
it is progressively being further developed to lower-level detail.
So, eTOM can be used directly:

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

to assist your business partitioning (eTOM process groupings and

definitions to define roles and responsibilities within your organization)
to seek supply of system and solutions from vendors that identify which
processes within the eTOM Framoewrk are being automated, so as to:
brings economies of scale across industry
accelerates availability of products
allows customization and extension
In addition, eTOM can be adapted and extended to accommodate specific needs in
your own area:
use eTOM framework as baseline
define additional detail and modifications in areas specific to your
business
extend eTOM for use within your company
influence ongoing eTOM development through direct participation
o share ideas and gain insight
o ensure eTOM evolves in line with your needs
o maximize the relevance of industry products

In extending and customizing eTOM, a number of strategies can be used:

Bottom-up
Start with your enterprise existing Business Processes definitions
Map existing Business Process flows back to eTOM
Construct your own decomposition of eTOM published Business
Processes
Top down
Decompose eTOM processes into component processes, to expose
more detail
Define process flows, to link processes together
Combine decompositions and flows, to describe fully the behavior of
each process area
Continue (as required) to lower levels of detail
The approach used can be adjusted as convenient in each case. Experience shows
there is value in firming up agreement at a given level of decomposition and analysis,
before proceeding to develop fully the next level of detail (of course, it may be helpful
to “look ahead” a little to ensure that the current level of detail is resilient).
An important message is:
Stop when you wish!

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

You have reached an end-point when you have sufficient detail to use within your
business, or when you consider the added value gained of developing further detail is
not in proportion of the extra work needed.

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Administrative Appendix

Acknowledgements

This document is based on material accumulated in the course of the ongoing work
on eTOM in the TeleManagement Forum, including material provided by a range of
Members and used in presentations, etc, on this topic. Thanks to all those who have
been involved and who have contributed along the way on this. For the current
release, thanks also to Frank Korinek of Motorola and Viviane Cohen of Amdocs for
valuable comments and suggestions, and to Mike Kelly of TeleManagement Forum
who handled editing of this document, and integrated comments and suggestions into
the final form shown here.
See main document (GB921 v4.5) for other acknowledgements.

About TeleManagement Forum

TeleManagement Forum is an international consortium of communications service

providers and their suppliers. Its mission is to help service providers and network
operators automate their business processes in a cost- and time-effective way.
Specifically, the work of the TM Forum includes:
Establishing operational guidance on the shape of business
processes.
Agreeing on information that needs to flow from one process
activity to another.
Identifying a realistic systems environment to support the
interconnection of operational support systems.
Enabling the development of a market and real products for
integrating and automating telecom operations processes.
The members of TM Forum include service providers, network operators and
suppliers of equipment and software to the communications industry. With that
combination of buyers and suppliers of operational support systems, TM Forum is
able to achieve results in a pragmatic way that leads to product offerings (from
member companies) as well as written specifications.

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

About this document

This is a TM Forum Guidebook. The guidebook format is used, for

example, when the document lays out a ‘core’ part of TM Forum’s
approach to automating business processes.

Document Life Cycle

The “Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM) The Business

Process Framework For The Information and Communications Services
Industry” has been issued as a TMF Approved Version Release 4.0 with a
Guidebook Number of 921. This document (GB921P) is an Addendum
following on from this release, and is not TMF Approved at this stage. It is
packaged as part of the eTOM Solution Suite v4.5, issued as part of the
NGOSS Release 4.5
See main document (GB921 v4.5) for further information on the eTOM
Solution Suite documents.

Time Stamp

This version of the eTOM Business Process Framework can be

considered valid until it is updated or replaced.

How to obtain a copy

An electronic copy of the eTOM Business Process Framework can be

downloaded at the TM Forum Web Site (http://www.tmforum.org). Contact
the TM Forum office (see previously for contact details, or via the web site)
for any further information.

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Enhanced Telecom Operations Map® (eTOM)

How to comment on
the document

Comments must be in written form and addressed to the contacts below

for review with the project team. Please send your comments and input to:
Enrico Ronco, Telecom Italia Lab
Team Lead of eTOM Team
[email protected]

Mike Kelly, TM Forum

eTOM Program Manager
[email protected]

Please be specific, since your comments will be dealt with by a team

evaluating numerous inputs and trying to produce a single text. Thus, we
appreciate significant specific input. We are looking for more input than
“word-smith” items, however editing and structural help are greatly
appreciated where better clarity is the result.

Document History

Version Date Purpose

eTOM 05/04 Launch of this Addendum, packaged as GB921P for
Addendum this release.
P NGOSS Provides an introduction to eTOM and can be used
Version 4.5 as a primer for the rest of the GB921 documents
Version 4.6 11/04 Minor updates prior to Member Evaluation.
Version 09/06 Updated notice statement
4.6.1

Summary of
Changes in
this Version

This is a new release of this document.

See main document (GB921 v4.5) for further change
information and future additions.

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References

Related or Source
Documents

See main document (GB921 v4.5) for references.

eTOM Business
Process Framework

The eTOM Business Process Framework has grown to include a number

of components. The overall eTOM document set includes:
A main document (GB921) that provides an overview
of the eTOM Business Process Framework, from both
Intra-Enterprise and Inter-Enterprise viewpoints, and
describes the main structural elements and approach
An Addendum (GB921D) describing the Service
Provider enterprise processes and sub-processes in a
form that is top down, customer-centric, and end-to-
end focused. Process decompositions are provided for
all processes from the highest conceptual view of the
eTOM framework to the level of detail agreed for use
by the industry.
An Addendum (GB921F) describing selected process
flows at several levels of view and detail that provides
end-to-end insight into the application of eTOM.
An Addendum (GB921B) describing the implications
and impact of ebusiness for service providers and their
business relationships, and how eTOM supports them,
including a description of handling of business to
business Interactions by eTOM. Associated with this is
a separate Application Note (GB921C) describing a
Business Operations Map for processes involved in
business to business interaction.
A separate Application Note (GB921L) that shows how
eTOM can be used to model the ITIL processes.
A further Addendum (GB921T), not included at time of
release in the GB921 v4.0 document set, describing
the mapping between eTOM and the ITU-T M.3400
functions.
A further Addendum (GB921P), not included at time of
release in the GB921 v4.0 document set, providing an
introductory Primer to assist new users of eTOM

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Note:
Addenda are adjuncts to the main document that are presented
separately, to avoid a single document becoming cumbersome due to its
size.
Annexes and Appendices both allow material to be removed from a
document body, so that the reader is not distracted from the document
flow by too much detail. However, these have different statuses within a
document: Annexes have equivalent status to the material within the body
of the document, i.e. an Annex represents a formal agreement and
requirements for the users of the document. Appendices contain material
included for information or general guidance. Also, Addenda have the
same status as Annexes.
Thus, a document body, together with its Annexes and Addenda (and their
Annexes, if any), represents the normative material presented, while any
Appendices in the main document or its Addenda represent non-
normative material, included for information only.
In addition, Application Notes are a specific document type, used to
provide insight into how a specification or other agreed artifact is used in a
particular context or area of application. They are non-normative as they
provide information and guidance only within the area concerned.

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