 its role in the mobile world. First, the mobile Internet is a vehicle mobile IICs can use for customer care and service activation. Second, the Internet, as discussed, is becoming an open service platform for mobile applications. Third, the Internet is a tool mobile IICs use to communicate with retailers and resellers for ordering, account, inventory and trouble information. Chapter 3 - Automating the Internet Infrastructure Supply Chain OSS FOR THE MOBILE IIC The next step to understanding the mobile side of the supply chain is looking at a mobile IIC's basic service delivery process. We can look at the mobile back office in two ways. One is the ideal view of an integrated, OSS- enabled mobile IIC. The other is what one might more typically find with an established mobile provider. The integrated environment would look quite similar to the general eOSS environment we discussed earlier. At its core would be a workflow manager, or an activity hub, where provisioning and associated tasks are assigned to various systems. In a mobile environment, those "various systems" include service platforms, like voice mail systems, wireless application protocol (WAP) platforms and short messaging servers. In the ideal environment, the workflow hub would manage interactions with the service platforms, providing better integration with and more flexibility for front-end customer care and ordering systems, as illustrated in Figure 10. Retail Reseller Web Web Care CSR Interface Point-of-Sale Interface Application Credit Check Workflow Voice Mail Billing Mobile Network Ordering Inventory Configuration Figure 10. Integrated Workflow-Based OSS Environment The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS For many mobile providers, the back-office picture looks substantially different. They have implemented new service platforms one at a time, and separated provisioning systems and processes for each platform without integration, as illustrated in Figure 11. This puts a greater burden on provisioning and customer service personnel