Customer facing components for network management systems

The paper discusses the use of the WWW and Java in the provisioning of broadband connectivity to a big number of customers by a public network operator. Several options are analysed, ranging from a simple interface for service activation and usage to an integrated solution including outsourcing of customer network management by means of components dynamically loaded to the customer site. Besides the quick access to the service provided by the WWW, the paper describes the additional benefits drawn from the portability and extensibility of Java based solutions. Features like management functionality on demand, automatic release and update management of software, reduction in network load by moving functionality close to the data source are discussed in detail. The paper introduces an appealing alternative or complement to any network management solution. A prototype implementation currently under development is used for the validation of the proposed solutions in an intranet environment.