 on the Zope application server. It provides a web interface that allows system administrators to monitor availability, inventory/configuration, performance, and events. ZipTie is an open source framework for network inventory and configuration management. ZipTie maps the detailed configuration and management information from any network device into a common database, and allows anyone to write management components that operate against this rich inventory database. Industry Outlook A number of 3GPP Release 5/6 enabled core networks are commercially available in the world. The Direct Tunneling mechanism has also been introduced in certain networks. The evolution towards EPC proposed in Release 8 is currently under development for the most part. The commercial availability of full blown EPC is expected in 2010/2011. There is a lot of momentum behind WiMAX from the second tier operators; though less than EPS. Some of the common OSS systems are IBM Tivoli NetView, NSN NetAct, HP Open View (HP Software and Solution), and SO on: IBM Tivoli NetView enables management in regions where SNMP and ICMP traffic cannot flow. It is a CORBA-based architecture that allows the platform to manage large numbers of remote locations or devices. Nokia NetAct Planner is an integrated set of tools for planning voice and data networks with the mobile Internet in mind. Nokia NetAct Planner is applicable for both radio and transmission networks; comprised of software with advanced network design and optimization capabilities. Hewlett-Packard Open View is commonly described as a suite of software applications which allow large-scale system and network management of an organization's IT infrastructure. It included optional modules from HP as well as third parties which connect within the well-defined framework and communicate with one another. Core Networks and Operations Support Systems NGOSS has been deployed by some operators to solve their respective operational challenges. Their solutions range from stream-lining business processes to f