Zhejiang Mobile’s AIOps Wins First‑Stage Evaluation – Insights for Future IT Ops

AIOps (Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations) applies AI techniques such as machine learning and data science to enhance and partially replace core IT operational functions. Gartner describes AIOps as extracting and analyzing ever‑growing volumes, varieties, and velocities of IT data in a loosely coupled, scalable manner, supporting next‑generation DevOps on the operations side.

On 22 October 2021, the DevOps International Summit (DOIS) was held in Beijing, showcasing case studies and tools from leading internet and telecom companies. At the summit, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology announced the first batch of evaluation results for AIOps systems and tools.

China Mobile Zhejiang (Zhejiang Mobile) participated with its Fault Center project. The Academy’s assessment, based on the "Cloud Computing AIOps Capability Maturity Model – Part 2: System and Tool Technical Requirements," confirmed that both the Anomaly Detection module and the Alarm Convergence module passed the comprehensive evaluation, indicating that Zhejiang Mobile’s AIOps system reaches a leading domestic level.

Evaluation Unit: China Academy of Information and Communications Technology

Interview with Zhu Shijie, Deputy Director of Zhejiang Mobile Network Management Center

Q: Please introduce yourself, your company, and the project evaluated. Zhu explained that Zhejiang Mobile, a subsidiary of China Mobile, is the primary mobile service provider in Zhejiang Province, pioneering innovations such as 4G, VoLTE, cellular IoT, and 5G. The Fault Center is an enterprise‑grade service platform built on the "5+2+N" architecture, featuring a "135" intelligent fault‑management framework that provides a closed‑loop system, three alarm‑knowledge rule bases, and five core capabilities (open APIs, configurable orchestration, visual alarm quality monitoring, high‑capacity storm handling, and intelligent operations).

Q: How do you feel about passing the first‑stage AIOps assessment? Zhu said the assessment validates Zhejiang Mobile’s efforts and provides guidance for further improvement, recognizing both the industry’s acknowledgment and the motivation to advance their AIOps capabilities.

Q: What considerations drove your participation in the assessment? Zhejiang Mobile aims to advance network autonomous driving, moving from fragmented to platform‑based, large‑scale operations, and to develop automated, intelligent maintenance capabilities across the entire network.

Q: What changes has the assessment brought to your team? It offered clear, quantitative guidance for evolving the AIOps system toward excellence and helped raise personnel competence and operational mindset.

Q: What are the next steps for AIOps work? Zhejiang Mobile plans to (1) broaden AIOps applications such as smart energy management for data centers and voice‑quality analytics, (2) build a national‑level AIOps platform for data sharing, and (3) integrate AIOps with network autonomous driving to achieve disruptive improvements in network quality and operational efficiency.

Q: Your view on the future of AIOps? Zhu highlighted three suggestions: unify industry goals and methods for AI‑driven operations, transition operations staff from traditional IT to DOICT (Data‑Ops‑Intelligence‑Cloud‑Technology) skills, and foster an ecosystem of products, operations, and governance to accelerate standardization and innovation.

The "AIOps Capability Maturity Model" series, led by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology with contributions from major internet and telecom firms, has become the first international standard for intelligent operations, now adopted by ITU‑T SG13. The first‑stage assessment opened four quality modules—Anomaly Detection, Fault Prediction, Alarm Convergence, and Root‑Cause Analysis—for enterprises to adopt.