Customer Solution Story

Transcription

1 Customer Solution Story Unlock insights on any data SQL Server adopted to upgrade Traffic Data Warehouse, which handles traffic data for the billing/settlement system for all subscriber lines. Data processing platform established to create new business opportunities and provide additional value. NTT Docomo, Inc. has been providing mobile communication services, primarily for mobile phones, under the slogan of Creating New Communications Culture as Japan s largest mobile communications carrier. In 2015, NTT Docomo revamped their traffic data warehouse that handles traffic data for the billing/settlement system using Microsoft SQL Server As a result, quick analysis and usage of billing data was enabled for more than 66 million subscriber lines to further improve customer service. Further cost structure reforms and improvements in a flexible data platform to cope with ever-changing managerial needs have also been promoted.

2 Establishment of new traffic data warehouse that can understand and analyze subscribers trends in real time was an urgent task in order to provide greater value to customers. We decided to adopt SQL Server because it satisfies such requirements, and also enables a significant reduction in development and maintenance costs, which were an issue with the existing system. Yuki Shimamura, General Manager, NTT Docomo, Inc. Decision on fundamental overhaul of data warehouse processing to cut costs and improve usability While terminals such as mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets become ever more diverse, and new services are introduced one after another, it is essential for mobile carriers to handle new services and customer needs, and quickly and appropriately develop infrastructure to support them. In order to do so, a data analysis and usage system to understand and reflect ever-changing user needs in real time is indispensable. Under such circumstances, a traffic data warehouse (hereafter, Traffic DWH) that aggregates usage data for all subscriber lines which is situated at the back-end of MoBills, a billing system for accounting and settlement of subscribers has been renewed using SQL Server. NTT Docomo, Inc. (hereafter, NTT Docomo) implemented reliable security measures, established secure, flexible, and quick traffic data analysis platform, and significantly curtailed system costs. NTT Docomo introduced reform measures to provide greater value from last fiscal year. One of their policies is to accelerate our business using data from Docomo account s settlement platform. The recent renewal of the Traffic DWH is a part of the trials to create new services and value using that settlement data, commented Yuki Shimamura [General Manager, Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.]. MoBills is the billing and settlement platform for all of the more than 66 million subscriber lines for NTT Docomo, and SQL Server has recently been introduced for the Traffic DWH that handles the data analysis platform for MoBills. For this Traffic DWH, different companies database and business intelligence (BI) products were combined, and business applications were constructed on it for operation before renewal. However, Shinichi Shimamoto [Assistant Manager, Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.] disclosed that many issues have recently arisen. Firstly, convenience-related issues, such as slow search and download, were mentioned by the User Division. The system capability was not able to keep up with the current pace of business. A more important point was the efficiency and cost of periodic development. For example, if an output form for ledger data is changed, the overall application needs to be modified, but although the change looks small, the development and modification costs were kept high. In the case of the former Traffic DWH, the necessary data was extracted from the enormous traffic data of MoBills via multiple summary processes due to the IT technology specifications and restrictions at the construction stage. Therefore, the final output ledger was modified and the application that handles the intermediate processing needs to be changed, so the cost for their development, man-hours, and testing, etc. increased significantly. It was evident that it would be difficult to achieve meaningful cost reductions, which was the main management issue, as long as a multi-layered application structure exists. Thus, efforts were made to fundamentally revamp the Traffic DWH Overview Customer: NTT Docomo, Inc Customer website: Customer Profile In 1991, NTT Mobile Communications Planning Co., Ltd. was established, and the trade name was changed to NTT Docomo, Inc. in As one of the largest mobile network operators in Japan, the company aims to establish more personal communications for Creating New Communications Culture. Since March 2015, measures to add new values to react to ever diversifying customer needs have been promoted under a slogan of cooperation and creation with partners in the smart life area while reinforcing competitiveness in the communications business as a new measure targeting the mid-term goal.

3 processing method in order to cut costs while simultaneously improving user convenience, which was the purpose of this project, commented Mr. Shimamoto. Decision to adopt SQL Server based on powerful search function and cost effectivess The Traffic DWH renewal project started in January Masaki Inoue [Manager, Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.], who organized the initial grand design at the beginning of the project, commented that he thought this was a unique opportunity to revamp the system to enable it to contribute further to business growth and expansion by flexibly coping with future changes in the business environment rather than simply controlling billing information, as had been the case when the project started. If the existing system had simply been updated as it was, it would certainly have been safer and easier. However, the system itself must be flexible enough to be changed in the face of future business opportunities, otherwise new value would never be gained. Those of us who were in charge of the system had to take on the challenge of constructing a new flexible system that could quickly cope with a variety of data analysis demands from top management and the work front in order to achieve the mid-term goals. Accordingly, a product comparison of platforms for new information analysis and usage was promoted, and we decided to adopt SQL Server in April Kenshiro Kitayama [Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.] mentioned the powerful search function as a deciding factor. We had built up our expectations about the columnstore index that could achieve dramatically superior query performance compared to conventional general row tables, and enable SQL Server to perform update processing. This function has fewer practical restrictions, and we evaluated that it enables flexible and quick data search in accordance with our requirements. Another deciding factor was its superior cost performance. In the case of SQL Server, the license for the main database engine includes everything, such as Integration Services, which is an ETL tool, Analysis Services and Reporting Services. This is suitable for DWH system processing including batch processing because those tools are included at no extra charge. In particular, we expected that the OLAP tool, which can use an in-memory database function, would enable significant cost improvements in analysis and search system processing. Moreover, all necessary tools are included in the main product, so it was judged to also be beneficial in terms of compatibility between database and tools, commented Mr. Kitayama. A flexible support contract that is unique to Microsoft Japan whereby a pay-asyou-go plan could be selected, not just a fixed amount from a maintenance fee menu, was also highly evaluated. After deciding to adopt it, the design, development, and testing, etc. were quickly promoted, and tests on a head-to-head comparison between the old and new systems were conducted in December After confirming that quality is reliable, operation started in February Masanori Morita [Manager, Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.], who was in charge of application migration, explained that one reason for the quick migration of an enormous DWH that handles the traffic for all subscriber lines while safeguarding the high quality and safe operation was careful verification. The most important theme during the construction process was ensuring quality. Specifically, head-to-head comparisons were conducted on the processing results between the former and new systems, and it took two months of verification until the results matched perfectly in terms of the ledger. Even though the development period was short, sufficient time was set aside for verification, which was how we managed to realize such high quality. Mr. Inoue also commented, The main reason we could complete the project with such high quality within such a short time was that all of the project members positively shared the sense of a new challenge, and promoted it with motivation and empathy until the end. Promoting the project in close cooperation with Microsoft Japan was also a big factor. In addition to significant cost savings for periodic development, 75% cut in software maintenance costs As a system that introduces SQL Server at both scale and mission-critical levels, the new Traffic Software and Services Microsoft SQL Server

4 DWH that has recently been renewed using SQL Server can reasonably be considered Japan s leading DWH. Norio Kawaguchi [Billing System, Information Systems Division, NTT Docomo, Inc.] revealed its scale by presenting its main numeric values. About 20 divisions of NTT Docomo in Japan use the Traffic DWH. As one index of the scale of the Traffic DWH, it handles over one billion items of traffic data per day. A minimum number is set for the right to access the ledger data per user, which is a maximum of about 2,000 cases a month. Various analysis axes are also provided, and about 160 types of screens are used. All traffic data is covered, so a couple of thousand records comprise a ledger as a large example. The principal advantage provided through the recent renewal is reduced costs for periodic development. SQL Server s columnstore index enables a high performance search through a large amount of data, which was not possible with the former Traffic DWH, so multi-layered processing that used to be needed is no longer required, and most applications that were needed to create interim tables are also unnecessary. As a result, the number of interim tables and application materials have been reduced by thirty to forty percent compared to the existing version, said Mr. Inoue. Since the number of tables has been reduced, their maintenance costs have also been reduced by about twenty percent. In addition, the overall development scale has been reduced, and the number of tables created has also been reduced, so hidden maintenance costs, such as related failures caused by bug and setting errors are also reduced. This has been confirmed with the first periodic material release since the renewal in May Software maintenance costs have been significantly reduced (by about 75%) compared to the previous ratio. As a result of integrating a combination of the old DWH database and analysis tools to SQL Server, additional expenses for analysis tools, etc. are no longer incurred. Also, most of the fixed costs are no longer needed because support can be used only in as necessary using the premier support contract based on a pay-as-you-go plan. Aside from the cost, some skills have been transferred thanks to support from Microsoft Japan during the development process, so the

5 foundations for future development and troubleshooting have been laid within the project system, which is another gain, noted Mr. Shimamoto. The Information Systems Division expects a significant contribution will be made upon realization of the theme, i.e. cost cutting, which was the original intent as the system stabilizes further as time passes because the maintenance costs based on the payas-you-go plan will further reduce. On the other hand, Mr. Morita pointed out that a remarkable effect has naturally been seen in terms of improved user convenience. The Traffic DWH receives and accumulates data once an hour from switching equipment and MoBills, and starts processing that data from midnight every day. It renews all ledgers with the latest data by 8:00 a.m. on the same day. In order to process over a billion traffic items a day, sufficient size has been prepared, but a further allowance has been received for the processing cycle to be completed by 8:00 a.m. on the same day as a result of improved data processing efficiency thanks to SQL Server. Aiming to create a realtime analysis platform to provide new added value Mr. Inoue described his vision of further growth of MoBills as a platform to analyze and use data in real-time based on the experience of the new Traffic DWH that has been revamped by SQL Server. Batch processing used to be the standard as analysis systems for data usage, but analyzing each item of data as it is generated and reacting in response to trends will be more important in current conditions as the IoT market expands. For example, analyzing customers billing/settlement data in real-time, and quickly providing optimal additional value and services to each customer bolsters customer satisfaction, and helps to expand our business. In order to achieve that, we would like to advance the data analysis platform, such as Traffic DWH, to enable it to analyze and use enormous amounts of data in real-time. On the other hand, Mr. Kawaguchi noted that he anticipates the potential for improvements in in-house user convenience. Currently, Microsoft SharePoint is used as the front screen for Traffic DWH users, so Microsoft Excel based UIs can easily be developed. We have also used Microsoft Office in many cases internally, so we received very few inquiries from users regarding the user interface after the recent system renewal. One of the factors in selecting SQL Server is its inherent compatibility with MS Office, and we hope to provide more advanced functions and improve ease of use for end users while maintaining security. Mr. Shimamura emphasized the importance of MoBills and Traffic DWH again regarding NTT Docomo s future business development, stating, Promoting collaboration with all types of partner companies in order to react to ever-diversifying customer needs is specified as a mid-term goal. In other words, stepping up from the former competition to cooperation and creation. At the Information Systems Division and MoBills, we handle tasks to support the data platform for that, and Traffic DWH is a platform to collect and analyze the direct usage trends of users. Currently, NTT Docomo is also promoting the renewal of the data warehouse of ALADIN, a customer management system, using SQL Server in the path of MoBills with a mid-term goal, Cooperation and creation with partners in the smart life area and reinforcing competitiveness for communication business, with further improvements in the platform for usage of customer data expected. SQL Server provides ongoing support for NTT Docomo s future challenges. For more information about other Microsoft Customer Successes, please visit: