ILEC and the IIC. For example, if the gateway receives information that an FOC date has been changed due to a network problem, or a worker's strike, the order management system must be updated SO that tasks aren't escalated unnecessarily and, more importantly, SO that waiting customers can be notified proactively. The gateway's workflow manager should also track the ILEC's performance, reporting statistics such as how often FOC dates are met, how rapidly various troubles are resolved, and what kind of errors occur most often and must be addressed to streamline processes. For example, orders might be rejected due to inconsistent address formats. This could point to an error in the translation engine where addresses are not being converted properly before orders are sent to that ILEC. The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS Intertace Components Workflow Component Translation Rules Decompose requests and Engine Track and manage Translate data To/From task status formats Workflow Communicate and Store rules for Manager synch with primary various data workflow manager formats and Reject incomplete interfaces or invalid request/ orders Other Transmit and receive to and from partners, suppliers and customers Figure 3. Interconnect Gateway Components The translation engine component of an interconnect gateway ensures that data is delivered in the correct format to systems on either side of the gateway. Translation engines, like workflow managers, also tend to be rules driven, allowing for specific data translations to be altered. This is necessary because systems on either side of the gateway often change and new semi- standard forms are introduced periodically, thus requiring new data formats. A number of different techniques for data translation exist. The most flexible methods generally utilize an intermediate step in which the translator normalized data into a single, common format. In other words, data is delivered in one format to the gateway, translated into a normalized format, and then translated a