managed testing services practice. With mobile network operators looking to increase efficiencies and reduce costs in testing to enable the faster and cheaper roll-out of new and innovative services, Aricent’s managed testing services provide complete support from strategy to implementation and across an operator’s network infrastructure, device portfolio and applications. Aricent recently completed the acquisition of DataLinx, a New York-based OSS/BSS systems development and integration services communications consultancy with extensive testing capabilities in its portfolio.

“Mobile operators are facing increasing complexity when it comes to developing, deploying and supporting a compelling and consistent user experience across multiple networks and on to a seemingly limitless variety of handsets,” said Ash Bhardwaj, CEO, Aricent. “Against this backdrop, not only do today’s mobile operators need to draw on cross-domain experts with skills in each of the operator’s technology areas, but they have to be able to do so with maximum flexibility and minimum overhead. Mobile operators are therefore looking to global sourcing strategies to deliver the flexibility, control and cost efficiency across the organization that they need. We’re delighted that tier one operators are selecting Aricent to be their end-to-end managed testing services partner and to enable them to continue to deliver innovative and exciting services to their subscribers.”

Aricent combines a flexible pool of onsite, offsite and offshore resources to deliver an end-to-end managed testing service, from test strategy to test execution. Aricent cross-domain experts identify, apply, monitor and enhance common processes and best practices across all of an operator’s technology areas to deliver an SLA-driven end-to-end testing process across complex projects and change initiatives. By removing testing silos and adopting a single testing strategy, Aricent enables operators to dramatically reduce the operational costs associated with managing a multi-vendor environment across all their networks, devices and applications.

Managed testing services from Aricent include:

GSM Maintenance and Deployment Centers

As operators focus on the launch of new networks, they are striving to reduce the manpower and maintenance overhead of their GSM product line. Aricent brings an in-depth knowledge of GSM technology development and testing to support end customers' SLAs through a global network cross-domain experts and dedicated GSM development centers in Germany, India, the UK and Ukraine.

Communications Applications Managed Lab

Extreme competitive pressures are forcing operators to reduce R&D costs, while simultaneously ensuring that new services are tested across every element of the network. Aricent's telecom domain focus and expertise, combined with its end-to-end capabilities, enable operators to transfer complete responsibility for multiple products lines to Aricent. Multi-site co-product development, testing services and the design and development of core systems including SMSC, IN Pre-Paid, Ring Back Tone and Fraud Prevention Systems provide essential field support and integration services for mobile operators.

IMS Convergence Lab

The Aricent IMS Convergence Lab empowers operators to conduct end-to-end testing in a controlled environment. The lab setup emulates the entire IMS architecture and demonstrates Aricent's ability to conduct performance testing in heterogeneous access networks, with multi-protocol implementations and fixed-mobile convergence services. The lab also enables communications service providers to address issues such as performance, latency, voice quality, retransmission, security, QoS and policy, enabling a seamless migration of their infrastructure to IMS.