Referenzprozessabläufe für Telekommunikationsunternehmen

The telecommunication market is experiencing substantial changes. New business models, innovative services, and technologies require reengineering, transformation, and process standardization. Enterprise Architecture Frameworks support the transformation by specifying methods, procedures, and reference models. With the Enhanced Telecom Operation Map (eTOM), the TM Forum offers an international de facto reference process framework, based on specific features and requirements of the telecommunication industry. However, this reference framework only offers a hierarchical collection of processes on different levels of abstraction; a control view in terms of a sequential ordering of tasks and hence a real process flow as well as an end-to-end view on the customer are missing. In this paper, we extend the eTOM reference model by reference process flows, in which we abstract and generalize the knowledge about processes in telecommunication companies. With reference process flows, we aim to assist companies in achieving a structured and transparent re-structuring and re-design of their processes. We demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of our reference process flows in two case studies, and evaluate them by means of criteria for reference model evaluation. Our reference process flows have been accepted as a standard by the TM Forum and published as part of eTOM version 9. We further elaborate on those components of our approach which can be applied outside the telecommunication industry.     

Using Ideas of Kolmogorov Complexity for Studying Biological Texts

Kolmogorov complexity furnishes many useful tools for studying different natural processes that can be expressed using sequences of symbols from a finite alphabet (texts), such as genetic texts, literary and music texts, animal communications, etc. Although Kolmogorov complexity is not algorithmically computable, in a certain sense it can be estimated by means of data compressors. Here we suggest a method of analysis of sequences based on ideas of Kolmogorov complexity and mathematical statistics, and apply this method to biological (ethological) ??texts.?? A distinction of the suggested method from other approaches to the analysis of sequential data by means of Kolmogorov complexity is that it belongs to the framework of mathematical statistics, more specifically, that of hypothesis testing. This makes it a promising candidate for being included in the toolbox of standard biological methods of analysis of different natural texts, from DNA sequences to animal behavioural patterns (ethological ??texts??). Two examples of analysis of ethological texts are considered in this paper. Theses examples show that the proposed method is a useful tool for distinguishing between stereotyped and flexible behaviours, which is important for behavioural and evolutionary studies.