Ontology 3 is a powerful semantic search product that non-invasively aligns and links enterprise data with minimal up-front integration effort and low cost of ownership.

Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are using Ontology 3 to finally join up data from their misaligned business, operational and infrastructure systems. Using  state-of-the-art semantic search technologies, Ontology 3 quickly finds and aligns business entities to provide a single, accurate enterprise-wide view of customers, services and network assets.

First launched in May 2008, Ontology is included in both Gartner's "Cool Vendors in Telecom Operations Management Systems, 2010" and Stratecast's "Global OSS/BSS Rat Pack - Stratecast's 10 To Watch in 2010".

The business side of a CSP concerns entities such as customers and services while the operational side concerns entities such as network equipment, databases and enterprise IT systems.

Using linked and aligned view Ontology 3 can be used to speed and de-risk major transformations, or can be combined with Ontology's Intelligent 360 search apps to provide full featured tools for end users. They include real-time revenue-prioritized service impact notification, customer care, end-to-end multi-vendor/technology topology, and margin management,  to name but a few.

Ontology is the application at the centre of BT's award winning "Semantic Toolset to Optimise Business Transformations" project, which won both the TM Forum Business Innovation Award 2010 and Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards 2010.

Ontology 3 has four main componets: Semantic processing core, OntoScope, Semantic eXchange Interface (SXI) and Modeller:

Ontology's semantic processing environment and the core of Ontology 3.

Ontology's Web UI for end-users. It:

• delivers interactive views and reports for operational tasks such as:
  • service impact analysis.
  • customer and service management.
  • data conformance and alignment.
• canbe customised via a palette of configurable widgets such as a table, pie chart, tree view etc.
• requires only a web browser to use.
• is hosted by the Ontology 3 SPC.

The runtime's API serves data to applications for automated correction.

Ontology's integrated workbench for creating Ontology 3 solutions. It is:

• aimed at delivery partners and customers who want solution ownership.
• a user-friendly environment for fast and intuitive modification, deployment and management of Ontology 3 configuration, including:
  • configuring data import from external systems.
  • creating the semantic rules that search and classify data, including customer-specific business rules.
  • deploying of out-of-the-box models over customer data.
  • verifying and testing solutions.
• rns on commodity workstations under Linux or Windows.

Ontology 3 sets new industry benchmarks for speed of deployment, cost of ownership and scope of results:

	No Big Bang Unlike traditional products and applications, Ontology 3 does not require lengthy design and deployment phases. Ontology 3 deployments start from the ground up, using existing IT system data as its template; it is the opposite of Big Bang enterprise software.
	Results, fast Semantic re-use of existing data makes it possible to get results in integration intensive areas such as service management, revenue assurance, and data alignment in timescales varying from 3 weeks to 3 months.
	Low cost and no lock-in Ontology 3's unprecedented speed means that it is practical to deploy it as a SaaS solution, with no lock-in and low monthly costs. Compare this to traditional perpetual enterprise software where a high cost is absorbed up front, without any guarantee of success. Ontology 3 replaces Big Bang risk of failure with incremental assurance of success.