What is a self-healing network?

This research started by investigating the definition of self-healing because, although it is part of the Self-X terminologies within the TM Forum’s autonomous network project, it is often used to describe different functionalities within the network.  At interview, there was a mix of enthusiasm for using the phrase “self-healing”, given that it is often interchangeable with  “optimisation”.    However, the following range of capabilities were felt to adequately cover what would be needed in a self-healing network.