AIO Systems: How to build a separate P&L for each tenant

Site monitoring alone is not enough to optimise site efficiency, according to AIO Systems, who use a service-oriented, total site management business model to deliver 34% opex reductions to telecom tower operators. AIO Systems has installed tens of thousands of units worldwide, more than half of which are in Africa, and they pride themselves on their capability to manage every asset and every tenant individually. TowerXchange spoke to Asher Avissar, CEO of AIO Systems, to find out more.

TowerXchange: Thanks for speaking to us today Asher. Where do AIO Systems fit into the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?

We develop, manufacture and market total site efficiency solutions including management and monitoring solutions for telecom operators and towercos. Our research and development has produced products dedicated to manage  specific unmanned remote sites, including telecom towers, utilities and water treatment.

We have sold systems into in Latin America and India, but our biggest market is Africa, where our business is greatly focused on telecom. All these markets share a common challenge to optimise site efficiency at remote locations which are hard to reach.

TowerXchange: What is AIO Systems’ deployed footprint in emerging markets, particularly Africa?

We are currently working in eight countries in Africa, with deployments in a ninth and tenth country later this year. We have subsidiaries on the ground in Africa in South Africa, covering Southern Africa, and in Nigeria, covering francophone and West Africa. Between these offices we have 65 employees and 15 subcontractors in Africa.

In Africa, AIO Systems have an installed base of over 25,000 units, which represents more than half of our total installations worldwide. Some of the biggest and most well known operators in Africa are our customers, as well as 40% of the known towercos.

AIO Systems are leaders in terms of technology, in terms of installed base, and in terms of our proven RoI for telecom operators and tower management.

TowerXchange: What’s the difference between site monitoring and “all in one” site management systems?

In our view, “site monitoring” was the requirement 15 years ago. Site monitoring alone is not enough to optimise efficiencies, opex reduction, financial results, and deliver the RoI conclusion tower operators need.

Our vision of an “all in one” site management system encompasses customers’ assets, IPMS, hybrid telemetry, security, environment and maintenance data all in one system.

While site monitoring means measuring and managing all data on site, our "All In One" approach allows data analysis, adding financial meaning to data, and crossing data from different aspects for decision support modules. The system allows autonomous site control and management.

TowerXchange: Tell us about the first stage of a new client engagement – how do you work with a new tower operator test and tailor your system to meet their requirements?

Both the customer and our own team will be keen to start with a proof of concept. Within the proof of concept, we’ll have two main goals. Our first goal is for the customer to become sure of the ability and productivity of the system and it’s ability to deliver RoI. The second goal is our own, because we want to go into design planning for every customer. We have generic IP units which can be bought off the shelf, but it’s important for us that every asset will be covered by one unified system – to monitor and manage assets from the single perspective of the site controller. Then we add our management platform to synergise the controller and the units on site.

So the proof of concept phase gives us the opportunity to fine-tune the deployment of our system for every customer.

TowerXchange: Please tell us how tower operators can achieve RoI in site management systems such as yours?

With site management, you can operate the site in a more efficient way. There are six different areas in which we deliver RoI: power source management, saver logic, extended asset lifecycles, managing network equipment as well as passive equipment, environmental and air conditioning management, and safety and security. The variables from these six data sources are gathered from our site controllers and displayed in a great table, enabling tower operators to manage the performance and prioritise investment in each asset they operate.

For example, with our system you can manage all your power sources in a most cost efficient manner, whether it’s grid power, any solar power, AC or DC generators and batteries. As the requirements at an individual cell site change, different priorities may need to be given to each power source.

We use saver logic to optimise fuel usage. This is a mechanism to optimise the load and to minimise fuel consumption. You don’t want to stop the DG every few minutes, because that’s inefficient. There are 16 parameters involved in our saver logic mechanism, and the bottom line is that we’re able to dramatically reduce fuel consumption.

We are providing a dedicated saver logic service to one of Africa’s biggest cellular operators, achieving 52-59% fuel savings across the two countries in which we’re active. We achieve this by managing the load of the generator, DG running hours, the operational mode of the DG, the quality of fuel itself, managing the fuel delivery supply chain, and by managing the relevant assets that use fuel, extending the lifecycle of those assets.

TowerXchange: How can tower operators manage each tenant, even each individual asset, separately?

We start at the level of individual passive and active assets; fences, security systems, radio assets, shelters et cetera. Each asset has different attributes; nominal usage profiles, acquisition cost, energy consumption, maintenance history, anticipated lifetime et cetera. Each asset is attributed to a tenant or tenants, and we combine that with the SLA between the tower operator and the tenant to build a P&L for each tenant, and a map of all the sites and the assets related to that specific tenant.

If we can allocate each asset to a specific tenant, then we can overlay variables and create analyses. For example, identifying why one site is consuming significantly more amps of DC energy than a similar site. We can also analyse which tenant will be affected by a fault in any given asset, and inform that tenant the anticipated number of hours to repair the asset, and the reason for the fault.

We enable towercos to charge for the diesel, grid power usage and maintenance cost of that asset to according to the specific use of each tenant, rather than having to have just a fixed charge for hosting each tenant. This information is not only used by finance and billing, but can also be used by marketing, as it shows the available capacity for potential additional tenants.

This is how we’re able to add value by offering a service rather than just RMS boxes. Our SLAs to the tower manager enable a service-oriented business model with much more aggressive SLAs, MTTA, MTTR and sanity tests that demonstrate the RoI for the customer.

As a result, working with AIO Systems is less of a capital outlay, but is more like engaging an opex partner – an insurance policy for the customer, covering all innovations within a site, whether it be multiple tenants sharing passive infrastructure, new generations of radio equipment, fibre or renewable energy – all aspects can be handled by AIO Systems, not just reliability and performance.

Given our integration with RAN equipment as well as passive assets, our systems are ready to support active infrastructure sharing business models, energy as a service, or to include fibre if towercos want to get into the last mile.

TowerXchange: Tell us about the “cloud NOC” concept.

One of the principle challenges of using site management systems is the verification that the client and their subcontractors are using the system correctly to deliver optimum RoI. Our remote cloud NOC services provide a backup system to ensure the maximum value is added after deployment.

Cloud NOC services are built on low-level technology. All our site units are web-based. The NOC services we’re enabling from Remedy reporting, to job ticketing, preventative maintenance, asset management and financial management, all these NOC applications come through our AIO Systems Central Management System (CMS), which is again web-based.

With all our site equipment, NOC infrastructure and models web-based, we can leverage mobile technology to give field engineers smart phone platforms for preventative maintenance.

Cloud NOC services also enable us to verify maintenance performance and the completion of tasks. We gather data from our controllers, via a protected line between our cloud NOC server and the server of the customer, to collect and analyse variables, compare action items taken on by the customer to the priorities as we see them. We can then give advice on what needs to be done to improve efficiency on any individual site.

Another function of cloud NOC services is the capability to support smaller tower management operations that might not have their own NOC. Such clients can outsource full NOC services to AIO Systems.

Cloud NOC is the core of our service-oriented proposition, and is the reason we have 65 employees on the ground in Africa to conduct and make recommendations based on these analyses, data validations and “sanity tests” that maximise RoI and enable the enforcement SLAs.

TowerXchange: What is the typical capital outlay per site to install your system, and the cost of installing the AIO CMS System?

We use a winning formula based on pricing at 30% less than RoI.

The cost per site depends on the scope of work, but our average cost per site is USD $3,500. However the cost varies according to what we have to cover.

The cost of the CMS cloud NOC data validation system is divided into modules, but averages at USD $250 per site per month.

Those are generalised indications of capital costs, but we prefer a service model.

TowerXchange: Finally, could you sum up the key differentiators between AIO Systems and other monitoring and management systems.

AIO Systems has six key differentiators.

One, we add value by allocating the use of each asset to a specific tenant, enabling a tower operators to build a P&L by site, by tenant, by region, cluster or country.

Two, our data parameters are fully converted to finance, with a dedicated interface for finance, showing the P&L and opex in real time.

Three, we’ve changed our business model to become a service-oriented partner to the customer.

Four, our cloud NOC service analyses and verifies that the right tasks are being prioritised, and enables access to network management data from smart devices.

Five, our full inventory management enables real time asset management.

And six, as the company name says, we bring everything together All In One System: security, energy, fuel management, preventative maintenance, asset management, environment management and reports generation.