Networks and their associated services have become commodities to users, who now demand self-service environments where they can make changes at any time. The challenge is to transform existing service management solutions to quickly adapt to the new network needs, while keeping the quality, high capacity and resiliency their users demand. Digital platforms, integrating business and operational supporting systems, can help in offering these services in an agile, automated and flexible way.

What is SPA?

The Service Provider Architecture (SPA) is a service management platform that is based on the TMForum Open Digital Framework.

SPA follows all main aspects of Orchestration, Automation and Virtualisation design principles:

- building blocks based architecture
- abstract, technology-agnostic, modelling of all resources and services;
- support for composite services and resources;
- distinction between products, customer-facing and resource-facing services;
- support for both physical and virtual networks, and
- ability for east-west integration with systems from other domains.

Who can use the SPA platform

The SPA platform can be used by any service provider that would like to implement a flexible new generation digital platform to manage its services.

The main SPA components are currently being used to support the production use of the GÉANT Connection Service - GCS developed and maintained by the GCS group in WP7. The SPA SSP is the main GUI used by the GEANT NOC to manage GCS, and the SPA components interface with the OpenNSA agents that implement the service in the GÉANT network.

Main Benefits provided by SPA

- flexible service management
- fast design of composite services
- implement different levels of functional granularity
- straightforward customisation and wide extensibility
- supports component based scalability
- uses Open widely adopted APIs that promote interoperability

SPA components and APIs

SPA is fully compliant with the TMForum's Open Digital Architecture. The implementation of SPA is done using a micro-services based design where each component provides well-defined functions and is accessible via an exposed API. Where ever possible the TMForum's Open API specification is used to expose the components capabilities.

To learn more about the components and APIs implemented in the SPA platform follow the links that describe SPA's functionalities in each of the ODA's functional blocks:

SPA in NMaaS

SPA is available in the Network Management as a Service (NMaaS) platform. Now anyone can create a test instance of SPA (E-Line service based on OpenNSA) with default settings without the need of installation and configuration processes. Just few clicks and it works! The best option to learn how to use SPA.

SPA in Action

Video Introduction to the Service Provider Architecture

see the available SPA features as it is used by the GEANT NOC to manage GCS using the Self-Service Portal Admin View

get acquainted with the SPA extended features and integration with additional systems available in the Self-Service Portal User View

Interested in SPA?

- Would you like to learn more about the developers team experience while working on SPA?
- Do you want to exchange ideas, concepts, implementations, etc ?
- Have a use-case service that you would like to implement using SPA?
- Would you like to see SPA platform extended with other services and/or features?

Contact the SPA development team at spa @lists.geant.org

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