Order management system with technical decoupling

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• defining an entity hierarchy stored within a product-service-resource catalog, the entity hierarchy comprising a first metadata that maps a product specification to a customer-facing service specification, and a second metadata that maps the customer-facing service specification to at least one of a resource-facing service specification or a resource specification;
• electronically receiving, at an order management system, data of a provisioning order, wherein the provisioning order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the provisioning order references the product specification, and wherein the product specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a core capability that is provided by a fulfillment provider that interfaces with the order management system using a computer network;
• transforming, by a processor of the order management system, the data of the provisioning order into data of a service order, wherein the service order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the service order references the customer-facing service specification, wherein the customer-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a service, where the service is decoupled from a technical implementation of the service, and wherein the transforming the data of the provisioning order into the data of the service order further comprises mapping the product specification to the customer-facing service specification using the first metadata;
• transforming, by the processor of the order management system, the data of the service order into data of a technical order, wherein the technical order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the technical order references one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource, wherein the resource-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical implementation that is utilized to provide the service, wherein the resource specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical resource that is utilized by the technical implementation to provide the service, and wherein the transforming the data of the service order into the data of the technical order further comprises mapping the customer-facing service specification to at least one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource specification using the second metadata;
• generating an orchestration plan comprising a metadata-driven executable process using a fulfillment flow referenced by the data of the technical order;
• and
• executing the orchestration plan to fulfill the technical order by electronically sending one or more commands from the order management system to the fulfillment provider via the computer network,
• wherein the product specification, the customer-facing service specification, or the customer-facing resource specification is associated with a fulfillment pattern that can carry out the core capability, and comprises metadata used to create the fulfillment pattern, and the fulfillment flow comprises an entity that includes at least the fulfillment pattern.

An order management system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• an entity hierarchy definer, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that defines an entity hierarchy stored within a product-service-resource catalog, the entity hierarchy comprising a first metadata that maps a product specification to a customer-facing service specification, and a second metadata that maps the customer-facing service specification to at least one of a resource-facing service specification or a resource specification;
• a provisioning order receiver, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that electronically receives data of a provisioning order, wherein the provisioning order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the provisioning order references the product specification, and wherein the product specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a core capability that is provided by a fulfillment provider that interfaces with the order management system using a computer network;
• a provisioning order transformer, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that transforms the data of the provisioning order into data of a service order, wherein the service order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the service order references the customer-facing service specification, wherein the customer-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a service, where the service is decoupled from a technical implementation of the service, and wherein the provisioning order transformer further maps the product specification to the customer-facing service specification using the first metadata;
• a service order transformer, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that transforms the data of the service order into data of a technical order, wherein the technical order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the technical order references one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource, wherein the resource-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical implementation that is utilized to provide the service, wherein the resource specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical resource that is utilized by the technical implementation to provide the service, and wherein the service order transformer further maps the customer-facing service specification to at least one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource specification using the second metadata;
• and
• an executing unit, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that generates an orchestration plan comprising a metadata-driven executable process using a fulfillment flow referenced by the technical order, wherein the executing unit further executes the orchestration plan to fulfill the technical order by electronically sending one or more commands to the fulfillment provider via the computer network,
• wherein the product specification, the customer-facing service specification, or the customer-facing resource specification is associated with a fulfillment pattern that can carry out the core capability, and comprises metadata used to create the fulfillment pattern, and the fulfillment flow comprises an entity that includes at least the fulfillment pattern.

An order management system, comprising:

• means for defining an entity hierarchy stored within a product-service-resource catalog, the entity hierarchy comprising a first metadata that maps a product specification to a customer-facing service specification, and a second metadata that maps the customer-facing service specification to at least one of a resource-facing service specification or a resource specification;
• means for electronically receiving, at an order management system, data of the provisioning order, wherein the provisioning order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the provisioning order references the product specification, and wherein the product specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a core capability that is provided by a fulfillment provider that interfaces with the order management system using a computer network;
• means for transforming the data of the provisioning order into data of a service order, wherein the service order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the service order references the customer-facing service specification, wherein the customer-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a service, where the service is decoupled from a technical implementation of the service, and wherein the transforming the data of the provisioning order into the data of the service order further comprises mapping the product specification to the customer-facing service specification using the first metadata;
• means for transforming the data of the service order into data of a technical order, wherein the technical order comprises at least one order line, and wherein the at least one order line of the technical order references one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource, wherein the resource-facing service specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical implementation that is utilized to provide the service, wherein the resource specification comprises an entity that contains data that describes a technical resource that is utilized by the technical implementation to provide the service, and wherein the transforming the data of the service order into the data of the technical order further comprises mapping the customer-facing service specification to at least one of the resource-facing service specification or the resource specification using the second metadata;
• means for generating an orchestration plan comprising a metadata-driven executable process using a fulfillment flow referenced by the data of the technical order;
• and
• means for executing the orchestration plan to fulfill the technical order by electronically sending one or more commands from the order management system to the fulfillment provider via the computer network,
• wherein the product specification, the customer-facing service specification, or the customer-facing resource specification is associated with a fulfillment pattern that can carry out the core capability, and comprises metadata used to create the fulfillment pattern, and the fulfillment flow comprises an entity that includes at least the fulfillment pattern.