various approaches to eBusiness and eCommerce transactions and many of the service assurance/SLA/billing integration scenarios discussed earlier. These solutions are being developed in the lab with the vendors whose applications are in the field, and whose clients are clamoring for new, differentiating capabilities. An integrator that maintains close relationships, active projects and collaborative initiatives with leading vendors is likely to be a strong partner. The right integrator knows what to expect heading into an integration project, and how to overcome challenges without resorting to trial and error. It can therefore provide the most innovation and flexibility to an IIC, and do it rapidly with minimal risk. In the end, it is the IIC's abilities to integrate and differentiate that make the difference between success and failure. Development initiatives provide a live environment for training staff, testing products and experimenting with new solutions. The vendors and integrators that participate in these initiatives demonstrate a willingness to work together to improve the OSS craft as a whole. Through innovation, repetition and collaboration, this craft can become better defined, more empirical and methodical and truly oriented to the IIC business. This kind of attitude is critical for the OSS industry to take on the Internet's unique challenges and meet the expectations placed on it. Glossary Access Service Requests (ASRs): The standardized forms and processes IICs use to order complex circuits wholesale from ILECs. Aggregate and transport Internet traffic [CONCEPT]: At various access points or crossroads on the Internet, masses of traffic/transmissions/packets will converge. Packets are sorted into groups headed in the same direction. Those packets are then "wrapped up" in some transport mechanism, perhaps an ATM cell, and sent on their way at high speed. By aggregating traffic and sending it in bunches, rather than dedicating paths to each transmission, a network can utilize its capacity more efficie