independent of organization, technology and service, it has sufficient generality to describe future as well as current processes. The TMF has long recognised that the drive towards automation of telecommuni- cations processes is economically compelling. Owing to increased competition and widespread automation in telecom operations, an operator cannot begin profitably to offer services without implementing a large degree of automation. Hence, "the leading focus of the TMF's mission is to enable end-to-end process automation of telecom- munications and data services operations processes." The TOM has become the framework for achieving the end-to-end process automation envisioned by the TMF. The TOM establishes a vision for the industry to compete through process-driven approaches to operations management. Part of this is to ensure integration among essential OSS involved in service delivery and support. TOM: defines the business processes used by service providers defines the linkages between these processes identifies interfaces defines the use by multiple processes of information relating to customers, serv- ices and network infrastructure. Through the TOM, the TMF has sought to continue its progress in establishing: 1. An industry-owned common business process model. 2. Common definitions to describe the processes of any service provider. Agreement on the basic information required to perform each process, sub- process and process activity. This includes sufficient high-level information to serve as the starting point for business requirements and information model development, and the satisfaction of those requirements through industry agree- ment and products. 4. A framework for identifying which processes and interfaces are most in need of integration and automation, and which are most dependent on industry agreement. Besides the business process framework, the dimensions of operations manage- ment that are addressed in the TOM are: business management end-to-end process flows service or technology, e.g. bro