on of billing reports and invoicing at BML. The TMN from ITU-T provided a means to layer the management stack and also helped in defining the basics management blocks using FCAPS (fault, configu- ration, accounting, performance, and security). It still was not elaborate enough to map the various telecom processes into the management layers. So TMF expanded the TMN layers to form a new model called telecommunications operations map (TOM model). This model brought in more granularities in defining processes in service and the network layer and added modules related to customer interface and customer care process. TOM was later expanded from just an operations manage- ment framework to a complete service provider business process framework called Fundamentals of EMS, NMS and OSS/BSS eTOM (enhanced telecom operations map). Some of the new concepts brought in to encompass all service provider processes were to introduce supplier/partner man- agement, enterprise management, and also adding lifecycle management processes. The eTOM is currently the most popular business process reference framework for telecom service providers. A separate chapter will handle telecom business pro- cesses and give a detailed explanation on TOM and eTOM. This section is intended to give the reader an understanding on how the basic TMN management stack evolved to the current eTOM. 19.7 Few OSS/BSS Processes Some of the OSS/BSS processes are discussed on a high level in this chapter. Most processes are performed using a solution, which means that in most scenarios there is a management application mapped to the service provider process. The intent is to familiarize the reader with some solid examples to get a better understanding of the concepts that will be discussed in the chapters that follow. Provisioning: This process involves service and network management func- tions. The provisioning activity requires setting up the infrastructure to offer the service. So the provisioning module has to interact with an inventory module to check on wha