1 Understanding Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications

This chapter provides an overview of Oracle Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications.

Overview of Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications consists of a plug-in for Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control that provides management capabilities for supported Oracle Communications applications.

System administrators use Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control to provision, configure, patch, and monitor Oracle Communications applications and solutions, allowing the deployment and maintenance of Oracle Communications applications from a centralized, Web-based console, simplifying implementations.

Figure 1-1 shows an Enterprise Manager Cloud Control home page with information from Oracle Communications operation support system (OSS) applications. This example presents a single view of information from Oracle Communications Order and Service Management (OSM), Oracle Communications Unified Inventory Management (UIM), and Oracle Communications ASAP. The home page includes application status and availability, alerts, and metrics such as hardware resource usage and order throughput.

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications also provides individual home pages for supported applications and application components.

Figure 1-1 Home Page Showing Multiple Applications in a Suite

The graphic is described in the preceding text.

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications displays managed Oracle Communications targets allowing you to view application, component, and host status. For example, view the topology of Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) components such as the Connection Manager (CM) and Data Managers (DMs), as shown in Figure 1-2.

The configuration topology provides a visual representation of managed target relationships. Clicking on an element in the topology provides additional details in the Properties panel. Hovering over an element in the topology provides additional details as shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3 Communications Suite Topology with Detail Pop-Up

Description of Figure 1-3 follows
Description of "Figure 1-3 Communications Suite Topology with Detail Pop-Up"

You can configure parameters for Oracle Communications applications from a single location and deploy the settings to multiple targets. Figure 1-4 shows an example of BRM parameter configuration.

Figure 1-4 Configuring BRM Parameters

Description of Figure 1-4 follows
Description of "Figure 1-4 Configuring BRM Parameters"

Key Benefits

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications provides the key benefits that let you:

  • Install, configure, and monitor Oracle Communications applications, including supported suite solutions and individual applications, from a centralized location.

  • Install BRM in multischema environments with up to 9 schemas.

  • Discover and monitor existing Oracle Communications applications installed independently of Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications.

  • Discover and monitor Oracle Communications application infrastructure components, including Oracle Enterprise databases, Oracle WebLogic Server application servers, and Oracle Application Integration Architecture (Oracle AIA) Pre-Built Integrations.

  • View graphical representations of system topology for Oracle Communications applications.

  • Monitor in-depth order throughput and lifecycle metrics for OSM systems, servers, order types, and cartridges.

  • Monitor and compare the compliance of OSM installations with Oracle's recommended settings

  • Enforce configuration policies across multiple installations of BRM, ensuring consistent versioning and configuration.

  • Recover quickly from Oracle AIA faults.

  • Update and patch BRM.

  • Upgrade Oracle Communications Pricing Design Center (PDC).

  • Manage support requests using direct integration with Oracle Support.

  • Alert system administrators when configurable operating thresholds are passed through multiple notification channels

Supported Applications

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications supports the installation, configuration, patching, and monitoring of the following Oracle Communications applications and versions:

  • BRM version 7.5 Patch Set 10 with Patch 19921037

  • Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine (ECE) version 11.2 Patch Set 3

  • PDC version 11.1 Patch Set 6

  • Oracle Communications Pipeline Configuration Center (PCC) version 1.1

  • Oracle Communications Network Charging and Control (NCC) version 5.0.2

  • OSM version 7.2.4.1

  • UIM versions 7.2.3 and 7.2.4.1

  • ASAP versions 7.2.0 and 7.2.0.3

  • Oracle Application Integration Architecture Oracle Communications Pre-Built Integrations (Oracle AIA) versions 11.3 and 11.4

Supported Suite Solutions

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications supports the installation and configuration of the following Oracle Communications suite solutions:

  • Oracle Communications Order to Cash

  • Oracle Communications OSS Service Fulfillment

Highly-available versions of these suites are also supported.

Application Management Process Flow

Implementing and using Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications requires the following process flow:

  1. Installing Enterprise Manager Cloud Control and the Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications plug-in. See "Installing Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications" for more information.

  2. Configuring Oracle Communications application targets, setting preferred credentials, and deploying the Oracle Management Agent to each target. See "Configuring Oracle Communications Targets" for more information.

  3. Deploying the Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications Management Agent to each Enterprise Manager Cloud Control server and target host. In most cases, Management Agents for Oracle Enterprise Database and Oracle Fusion Middleware must also be deployed to targets. See "Configuring Oracle Communications Targets" for more information.

  4. Managing, including installing, configuring, and updating Oracle Communications applications with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control. See "Managing Communications Applications with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control" for more information.

  5. Monitoring Oracle Communications applications with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control. See "Managing Communications Applications with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control" for more information.

Assumptions and Limitations

This section discusses product assumptions and limitations.

Assumptions

This guide assumes the following:

  • Familiarity with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control functionality.

  • Proper installation and configuration of Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control including the Oracle Enterprise Database.

  • Supported operating systems on the target hosts where Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications installs and monitors Oracle Communications applications.

  • Supported versions of Oracle Communications applications are used.

  • Network connectivity between the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control host and the Oracle Communications applications targets.

  • Availability and licensing of supported Oracle Communications application installers, patches, and updates.

  • An understanding of the installation and configuration parameters of supported Oracle Communications applications.

Solution Limitations

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications has the following limitations:

Oracle RAC Database Limitations

Provisioning of Oracle Communications applications other than BRM using Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database is not supported. However, you can use the plug-in to discover and monitor existing application instances using Oracle RAC databases. Only versions of applications with official support for Oracle RAC database are discoverable.

BRM Patch Recommendations Limitations

Application Management Pack for Oracle Communications does not support the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control patch recommendation feature. You will not see any recommended Oracle Communications applications patches. You can manually search for and apply Billing and Revenue Management patches using the administration console.

Enterprise Manager Cloud Control administration console still displays host and security related patch recommendations for targets.

BRM Multischema Limitations

Multischema database configuration is not supported when using multiple database users (multiuser) configuration. You cannot use different database users for multiple instances of the BRM schema on the same host.

Multischema provisioning only supports BRM instances on the same host.

PCC Limitations

Provisioning PCC with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is not supported.

Directory Placeholders Used in This Guide

Table 1-1 describes the directory placeholders used in this guide.

Table 1-1 Directory Placeholders Used in This Guide

Placeholder Directory Description

EM_home

The directory in which Enterprise Manager Cloud Control is installed.

BRM_home

The directory in which BRM is installed.

Oracle_home

The directory in which Oracle products are installed.

Database_home

The directory in which an application's database is installed.