Background

SeeThru Networks was started in July 2018 but the ideas behind its inception were older than that. Originally created as a vehicle so that I could do some consulting with CityFibre, and then fate intervened. Or rather Paul Anslow, CEO of Triangle Networks bought me brunch. During this excellent meal our conversations turned to some of the ideas we’d both been thinking of as we had different reasons to consider how to improve customer support.

Since I started in Carrier Ethernet I’ve been passionate about carriers and their partners actually using carrier Ethernet OAM correctly to share circuit status information between stakeholders. Automatically. Without NIDs being stacked upon NIDs and without customers having to call NOCs having to call NOCs having to call customers. And so on.

Paul was more concerned about addressing the problem of how to share operational information with IT channel partners. Then latterly how to automate diagnostics and support of residential broadband customers.

I termed this co-operation between stakeholders as Mutualised Service Assurance - where everyone has the information picture they need in order to respond to service state changes in the most constructive, mutually supportive manner.

In the end, after a long brunch, Paul challenged me to build the first version of the platform so that his organisation could be the first to use it.

Wider Service Assurance use cases

So by now we have been operating SeeThru Networks for 4 years. We started building the platform a few years ago and it is now on version 3 (just about released now).

In this time we have grown our use cases with our customers to consider a wider range of Service Assurance scenarios. Not just network related - but across information systems and applications that users in Enterprise, SME or at home use and consume.

With Service Assurance for residential services - the information base needed from one key group of stakeholders, the customer themselves, is hard to acquire. OSS platforms can gather information to a point but the customers own platforms (Devices etc.) are outside the scope of current provider OSS. Hence my interest in working with folks like Paul Hague of Black Dice. Building a net picture of the Service Assurance data in this space is a challenge currently being well funded by the investment community.

In the Enterprise space, our partners there face a greater complexity in their operating environments. Barriers exist not just between many providers in the digital supply chain but within the provider companies themselves. Co-operating to effectively create the collective Service Assurance picture - a net information base if you prefer - is a challenge we are greatly enjoying working with our partners on in this space.

So why NetMinded

We felt we needed to lose both “SeeThru” and particularly “Networks” as networks represented only one of our Service Assurance use cases. NetMinded is a term that to me encompasses the differences we make for our customers in their Service Assurance solutions and associated business outcomes. Net for the aggregate, the total view of all information, Mind because a NetMind is a sum of all the Minds applying themselves to a particular Service Assurance solution. So we have NetMinded.

Do you think further cooperation with your delivery partners and your customers, external or internal might be valuable to your business? Get in touch with us to discuss mutualising your Service Assurance solution.

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NetMinded helps innovative technology providers automate support to enhance their customers experience.

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