Reliable for Customers: Communication Network and Service Reliability

In the communication network service provider arena, the industry is transitioning from a race for speed and bandwidth to providing service reliability. Customers are starting to proclaim that they are willing to pay more for a more functional and reliable service. In response, the industry is about to transition to network and service assurance that aligns with customer needs more than ever. This article surveys where we have been, what we have learned, and how the industry can take some of the necessary, final steps toward managing that communication customer-consumer experience. The article discusses the role of performability and fuzzy set theory, and how defining the customer's use case as a mission to make reliable is an important part of closing the gap that remains toward managing customer service reliability as we do with network reliability today.