Conference ulysse::telecom_industry

    Good news, soon to be Press Released but that you can already use with
    customers on one to one basis.
    
    ARBOR/BP version 6 is ported on Alpha Unix/Sybase.
    
    Benchmark very impressive, for example 75 000 Bills/hour issued on
    Alpha 8400 - 8 processors.
    
    A first implementation on Digital in APA.
    
    Please spread the news.
    
    		Juliette Seznec @VBO
    		DTN 828 6269 
    
	
    

[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

ARBOR/BP ON DIGITAL:  
A BENCHMARK 
ARBOR/BP SUCCESSFULLY RECORDED ITS 
FASTEST RESULTS TO DATE - THE SYSTEM 
PROCESSED 4 MILLION CDRS PER HOUR, AND 
100,000 INVOICES PER HOUR.
Arbor/BP is a flexible, scalable billing and 
customer care system implemented by 
organizations worldwide that bill for 
usage based events, products, and 
services.  The system is used by 
enterprises launching new services, as 
well as by established 
telecommunications and convergence 
providers seeking to maximize the 
benefits provided by Arbor/BP: time to 
market, improved customer service, a 
high degree of flexibility for configuring 
rates, discounts, promotions, bill formats, 
and unparalleled scalability.
One of Arbor/BP�s outstanding 
advantages is the ability to support 
applications of many different sizes.  New 
enterprises experiencing rapid growth, as 
well as established organizations 
migrating from legacy billing systems 
have successfully adopted Arbor/BP with 
the scalability necessary to support their 
operations.
Arbor/BP�s scalability is facilitated by its 
client/server architecture, supported on 
all the major UNIX platforms.  Constant 
improvements in hardware, systems 
software, and applications have allowed 
enterprises to place mission critical 
applications with high transaction 
volumes on these types of platforms.
WHY BENCHMARK ?
To quantify the progressive improvements 
by the hardware platforms, and showcase 
Arbor/BP�s ability to handle the largest, 
mission critical billing applications, 
Kenan Systems conducts frequent 
benchmark tests of the Arbor/BP billing 
and customer care solution.  The suite of 
benchmark tests designed by Kenan 
Systems measures the throughput of 
each major system process and largely 
determine the overall customer base that 
can be supported on an individual 
hardware platform.  
METHODOLOGY
Kenan Systems has determined that the 
primary determinants of system capacity 
are the rating, guiding and invoice 
generation batch processes.  Our 
benchmarks, therefore, focus on 
measuring the performance of these 
batch processes.  In order to provide the 
most flexibility in the use of the data, we 
generally measure events per second, and 
then plug these numbers into processing 
models for analysis.
The three key batch processes that we 
measure are MCAP, CAP and BIP, 
described below.
A typical benchmark lasts from two to 
four weeks, with between two and five 
machines used for testing.
Kenan gathers the largest number of data 
points possible, including top-end 
throughput, scaling, and results for 
varying configurations of Arbor and 
Sybase.  Our tools can generate data 
algorithmically, run tests and gather 
results automatically.
DATA MODEL
Our �standard� benchmark focuses on the 
processing rates for residential 
subscribers.  We define a residential 
subscriber as a single account, with a 
single piece of equipment, and single 
product, and 50 usage items per invoice.  
These usage items will each generate a 
line-item on the invoice.
In order to ensure the consistency of the 
results, while allowing us to perform 
many experiments in a short time we 
have constructed an account model 
which allows us to load a database with 
an arbitrary set of �pad� accounts, and 
then load �live� accounts on a per-
experiment basis.  For example, we can 
load 50,000 pad accounts (so that we�re 
not running against an empty database), 
and then run an experiment where we bill 
10,000 accounts.  When we run the next 
experiment we will clean the 10,000 
accounts from the previous experiment 
out of the database, so that it doesn�t 
grow over time and corrupt our results.


HARDWARE ENVIRONMENT
The benchmark was performed at 
Digital's Benchmark facility in Salem, 
New Hampshire in January 1997, with 
the following hardware:
V One AlphaServer 8400 with 8 440MHz 
Alpha processors, 8GB main memory, 
and four HSZ50 disk controllers, each 
with 120GB of storage.
V One AlphaServer 4100 with 4 300MHz 
Alpha processors, 4GB main memory, 
and two HSZ50 disk controllers, each 
with 120GB of storage.
V Sybase SQL Server 11.0.2.1
V Database Excellerators from DES, 
Inc.
RESULTS
MCAP 
MCAP is the process which runs on the 
Catalog/Admin server and guides usage 
events to the appropriate customer server 
for processing.  MCAP results are 
measured in the number of usage events 
which can be guided per second. MCAP 
was measured at 3825 CDRs per second 
on the 8400, and 3887 CDRs per second 
on the 4100; both rates are in excess of 
13.5 million CDRs per hour.
CAP
CAP takes usage events from MCAP, 
assigns rates and guides them to the 
appropriate account.  CAP is measured 
much the same way MCAP is, producing 
the number of records per second guided 
and rated by one customer server.  CAP 
was measured at 1088 CDRs per second 
on the 8400 and 602 CDRs per second on 
the 4100.  The result on the 8400 is the 
highest ever reached by Kenan in any 
benchmark test and is a rate of almost 4 
million CDRs per hour.


BIP
BIP generates the data for invoices, and is 
measured in the number of invoices 
processed per second per server. BIP was 
measured at 29.6 invoices per second on 
the 8400, and 13.7 on the 4100.  The 
result on the 8400 is the highest to date 
and is a rate of more than 100,000 
invoices per hour.
SUMMARY
Scalability is a critical issue for our 
customers, and benchmarks are the best 
way to disseminate the most accurate 
and current information on Arbor/BP 
performance.  This benchmark proved 
that Arbor/BP, running on Digital's 
AlphaServers, performed at a higher 
processing speed than in any previous 
test.  These results demonstrate the 
unmatched performance of Arbor/BP on 
AlphaServers, as well as the enhanced 
performance of the latest release of 
Arbor/BP, release 6.0.  This new speed 
record further demonstrates Arbor/BP's 
ability to support the demanding 
requirements of very large service 
providers.


Kenan Systems Corporation is a leading 
provider of strategic software products and 
services to the Fortune 1000.  With 
headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., and 
offices throughout the United States, 
Europe and Asia, the company delivers 
powerful software solutions targeted at the 
operations and decision-support needs of 
large organizations in telecommunications 
and other industries.  
Additional information on Kenan Systems' 
products and services may be obtained via 
the Internet by e-mailing requests to 
[email protected] or by accessing Kenan 
Systems' World Wide Web site:  
http://www.kenan.com.
Kenan and Arbor are registered trademarks of Kenan Systems 
Corporation.  
All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of the 
respective companies.
� Kenan Systems Corporation 1997. All rights reserved.  DSBM-
0001-2031997



[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

ARBOR/BP ON DIGITAL:  
A BENCHMARK 
ARBOR/BP SUCCESSFULLY RECORDED ITS 
FASTEST RESULTS TO DATE - THE SYSTEM 
PROCESSED 4 MILLION CDRS PER HOUR, AND 
100,000 INVOICES PER HOUR.
Arbor/BP is a flexible, scalable billing and 
customer care system implemented by 
organizations worldwide that bill for 
usage based events, products, and 
services.  The system is used by 
enterprises launching new services, as 
well as by established 
telecommunications and convergence 
providers seeking to maximize the 
benefits provided by Arbor/BP: time to 
market, improved customer service, a 
high degree of flexibility for configuring 
rates, discounts, promotions, bill formats, 
and unparalleled scalability.
One of Arbor/BP�s outstanding 
advantages is the ability to support 
applications of many different sizes.  New 
enterprises experiencing rapid growth, as 
well as established organizations 
migrating from legacy billing systems 
have successfully adopted Arbor/BP with 
the scalability necessary to support their 
operations.
Arbor/BP�s scalability is facilitated by its 
client/server architecture, supported on 
all the major UNIX platforms.  Constant 
improvements in hardware, systems 
software, and applications have allowed 
enterprises to place mission critical 
applications with high transaction 
volumes on these types of platforms.
WHY BENCHMARK ?
To quantify the progressive improvements 
by the hardware platforms, and showcase 
Arbor/BP�s ability to handle the largest, 
mission critical billing applications, 
Kenan Systems conducts frequent 
benchmark tests of the Arbor/BP billing 
and customer care solution.  The suite of 
benchmark tests designed by Kenan 
Systems measures the throughput of 
each major system process and largely 
determine the overall customer base that 
can be supported on an individual 
hardware platform.  
METHODOLOGY
Kenan Systems has determined that the 
primary determinants of system capacity 
are the rating, guiding and invoice 
generation batch processes.  Our 
benchmarks, therefore, focus on 
measuring the performance of these 
batch processes.  In order to provide the 
most flexibility in the use of the data, we 
generally measure events per second, and 
then plug these numbers into processing 
models for analysis.
The three key batch processes that we 
measure are MCAP, CAP and BIP, 
described below.
A typical benchmark lasts from two to 
four weeks, with between two and five 
machines used for testing.
Kenan gathers the largest number of data 
points possible, including top-end 
throughput, scaling, and results for 
varying configurations of Arbor and 
Sybase.  Our tools can generate data 
algorithmically, run tests and gather 
results automatically.
DATA MODEL
Our �standard� benchmark focuses on the 
processing rates for residential 
subscribers.  We define a residential 
subscriber as a single account, with a 
single piece of equipment, and single 
product, and 50 usage items per invoice.  
These usage items will each generate a 
line-item on the invoice.
In order to ensure the consistency of the 
results, while allowing us to perform 
many experiments in a short time we 
have constructed an account model 
which allows us to load a database with 
an arbitrary set of �pad� accounts, and 
then load �live� accounts on a per-
experiment basis.  For example, we can 
load 50,000 pad accounts (so that we�re 
not running against an empty database), 
and then run an experiment where we bill 
10,000 accounts.  When we run the next 
experiment we will clean the 10,000 
accounts from the previous experiment 
out of the database, so that it doesn�t 
grow over time and corrupt our results.


HARDWARE ENVIRONMENT
The benchmark was performed at 
Digital's Benchmark facility in Salem, 
New Hampshire in January 1997, with 
the following hardware:
V One AlphaServer 8400 with 8 440MHz 
Alpha processors, 8GB main memory, 
and four HSZ50 disk controllers, each 
with 120GB of storage.
V One AlphaServer 4100 with 4 300MHz 
Alpha processors, 4GB main memory, 
and two HSZ50 disk controllers, each 
with 120GB of storage.
V Sybase SQL Server 11.0.2.1
V Database Excellerators from DES, 
Inc.
RESULTS
MCAP 
MCAP is the process which runs on the 
Catalog/Admin server and guides usage 
events to the appropriate customer server 
for processing.  MCAP results are 
measured in the number of usage events 
which can be guided per second. MCAP 
was measured at 3825 CDRs per second 
on the 8400, and 3887 CDRs per second 
on the 4100; both rates are in excess of 
13.5 million CDRs per hour.
CAP
CAP takes usage events from MCAP, 
assigns rates and guides them to the 
appropriate account.  CAP is measured 
much the same way MCAP is, producing 
the number of records per second guided 
and rated by one customer server.  CAP 
was measured at 1088 CDRs per second 
on the 8400 and 602 CDRs per second on 
the 4100.  The result on the 8400 is the 
highest ever reached by Kenan in any 
benchmark test and is a rate of almost 4 
million CDRs per hour.


BIP
BIP generates the data for invoices, and is 
measured in the number of invoices 
processed per second per server. BIP was 
measured at 29.6 invoices per second on 
the 8400, and 13.7 on the 4100.  The 
result on the 8400 is the highest to date 
and is a rate of more than 100,000 
invoices per hour.
SUMMARY
Scalability is a critical issue for our 
customers, and benchmarks are the best 
way to disseminate the most accurate 
and current information on Arbor/BP 
performance.  This benchmark proved 
that Arbor/BP, running on Digital's 
AlphaServers, performed at a higher 
processing speed than in any previous 
test.  These results demonstrate the 
unmatched performance of Arbor/BP on 
AlphaServers, as well as the enhanced 
performance of the latest release of 
Arbor/BP, release 6.0.  This new speed 
record further demonstrates Arbor/BP's 
ability to support the demanding 
requirements of very large service 
providers.


Kenan Systems Corporation is a leading 
provider of strategic software products and 
services to the Fortune 1000.  With 
headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., and 
offices throughout the United States, 
Europe and Asia, the company delivers 
powerful software solutions targeted at the 
operations and decision-support needs of 
large organizations in telecommunications 
and other industries.  
Additional information on Kenan Systems' 
products and services may be obtained via 
the Internet by e-mailing requests to 
[email protected] or by accessing Kenan 
Systems' World Wide Web site:  
http://www.kenan.com.
Kenan and Arbor are registered trademarks of Kenan Systems 
Corporation.  
All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of the 
respective companies.
� Kenan Systems Corporation 1997. All rights reserved.  DSBM-
0001-2031997



[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

    In addition to the data sheet that Juiette provided in .13, please be
    aware that a press release on the benchmark has been prepared and is
    undergoing approval.  It will be issued this month.
    
    An engagement model is also being prepared to formalize alliances
    (DIGITAL, HP, etc.) for each identified client opportunity.  This is to
    provide additional controls for joint selling efforts. 
    
    Anyone that gets insight on a client opportunity is encouraged to
    contact either Juliette or myself, so that we can help register your
    lead in a timely fashion.
    
    We also have other activities going on to increase our mutual
    engagement activity, such as discussions with a couple of interested SI
    firms.
    
    Bill Thomas ([email protected])

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 1997
Source: PR Newswire
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 29 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. -- Kenan(R)
Systems Corporation today announced significant new benchmark test results
of Arbor(R)/BP, the leading UNIX-based billing and customer care system for
single and multi- service communications providers worldwide. The tests were
carefully designed to measure Arbor/BP's performance in a simulated
production environment using actual data and bill formats. Arbor/BP has been
licensed by large multi- service communications organizations that offer
wireline, wireless, online, Internet and electronic commerce, and cable TV
services, including AT&T, British Telecom, MFS, Optus and Siris.

Using a multi-server configuration, and testing for throughput, the system
successfully processed four million call detail records (CDRs) per hour,
while invoice preparation was measured at 100,000 per hour. These results
represent by far the fastest level of performance announced to date for any
telecommunications or on-line services billing and customer care system. The
latest benchmark tests prove conclusively that Arbor/BP can satisfy the
speed requirements of the most demanding service providers for both
specialized and enterprise-wide applications.

Scalability is a critical issue for communications providers, and benchmarks
are the best way to disseminate the most accurate and current information on
system performance. Kenan Systems Corporation was the first communications
billing system provider to announce documented benchmark results in June
1996. Those tests demonstrated the capability to support 10 million
residential subscribers. A subsequent benchmark, conducted in November 1996,
showed that Arbor/BP can linearly support 15 million residential subscribers
in a production environment.

The latest throughput benchmarks were conducted at Digital Equipment
Corporation's Benchmark facility in Salem, N.H. in January 1997. One
AlphaServer 8400 and one AlphaServer 4100 were used, along with Sybase's SQL
Server version 11.0.2.1, and Database Excellerators from DES, Inc.

"When raw performance such as that demonstrated by Digital's Alpha UNIX can
be translated into high-performance scalable business solutions such as
Kenan's Arbor/BP billing and customer care and system, this is of tremendous
value to our customers," said Pascal Coutier, Digital's Worldwide
Communications Industry Leader. "We are delighted that the benchmark results
prove that the combination of Kenan's application software and Digital's
technology validates our recognized leadership in this highly competitive
market."

"The results of these latest benchmark tests demonstrate Arbor/BP's ability
to support the most complex and demanding billing applications," said Kenan
Sahin, president and founder of Kenan Systems. "Today's competitive
environment requires that service providers introduce new services to gain
new market share, while defending their existing customer base. Arbor/BP can
perform as required in support of service providers' diverse business
requirements, whether that means rapidly launching a new business
initiative, or replacing an existing legacy system. Arbor/BP can be
configured to bill for multiple services individually or collectively,
depending on the needs of the service provider."

Arbor/BP

Arbor/BP is available on Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM, NCR and Sun Microsystems UNIX hardware platforms and supports Windows
'95 and NT 4.0 clients. Kenan Systems provides a full complement of
integration, training and maintenance services to support Arbor/BP
deployments. In addition, Kenan has forged worldwide partnerships with major
corporations, such as Siemens AG and Price Waterhouse, to integrate and
support Arbor/BP within their product and service offerings.

Kenan Systems Corporation

Kenan Systems Corporation is the leading provider of billing, customer care
and customer analysis software products and services to the communications,
on-line and cable TV services industries worldwide. Kenan products and
services allow convergence providers to grow and enhance relationships with
their customers, promoting customer satisfaction and retention. With offices
throughout the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Kenan delivers powerful software
solutions that satisfy the operations and decision- support needs of key
telecommunications and information services organizations. Additional
information on Kenan Systems' products and services may be obtained by
visiting Kenan's World Wide Web site at http://www.kenan.com or via e-mail
to [email protected].

NOTE: Kenan, and Arbor are registered trademarks or trademarks of Kenan
Systems Corporation. Digital, the Digital logo and AlphaServer are all
trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Kenan Systems Corporation

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