Standards body GlobalPlatform has updated its End-to-End Simplified Service Management Framework to make it easier and quicker for service providers to launch NFC payments services using a SIM or embedded secure element. The new guidelines reduce the time taken to deploy a service from between 12 and 18 months to just three to six months, and slim down the current 1,500 pages of documentation to only 30 pages.

“GlobalPlatform recognises that some service providers want to launch implementations quickly and then expand or develop additional services at a later date,” says Gil Bernabeu, technical director at GlobalPlatform.

“Therefore, instead of reviewing 1,500 pages of specifications, all service providers now need to do is answer three business-related questions to identify which information is relevant to their deployment. They can then launch their solution quickly and cost effectively with a service that can be customised later on due to the flexible messaging technology within the framework.”

“In the framework we have provided a default configuration for the secure element, explaining what applications need to be installed, where, what keys you need and what mechanisms you use to set up that secure environment and guarantee functionality, but also guarantee security,” adds Germán Blanco, business leader at MasterCard and chair of GlobalPlatform’s End-to-End Simplified Framework working group.

“We’ve been working on creating the framework for about two years and we have studied more than 1,000 pages of specifications to narrow down the options, to give you the possibility to have self-content configuration that will be no more than 30 pages.”

The following video includes Blanco giving a detailed walk-through of the new GlobalPlatform framework:

“The configurations guarantee functionality so they will explain how to perform service deployment, but they will do more than that,” Bianco explains in the video.

“They will allow you to manage the life of your applications. So for instance, what happens when a consumer changes handsets? What are the processes? What are the notifications that need to be put in place in order to guarantee the continuity of the service? What happens if someone wants to suspend or resume a service?

“So, we have actually created a self-contained configuration that goes from service deployment with a full set of life cycle management processes that work end to end.”

“If you just want to get started, you can take the configurations as is and consult the vendors that implement the framework,” Bianco adds.

“As everything is predefined, the products can also be pre-implemented and pre-tested so development, testing and integration are greatly simplified thanks to these default configurations.”