Closing the OSS Buyer / Seller chasm – Solutions (part 4)

This is the fourth of the “buyer / seller” chasm articles (pt1, pt2, pt3). We’ve already highlighted the issues, the pain points, the sources of friction and more about getting Buyers and Sellers together to build better telcos. But in today’s article we’ll explore some possibilities for how to overcome those challenges by building bridges […]

Using a complete re-framing to reduce the OSS Buyer / Seller chasm (part 3)

This is the third part of a series that looks into the chasm that exists between OSS/BSS buyers (eg carriers, ISPs, utilities, etc) and sellers (OSS/BSS product vendors). In part 2 we pondered whether it’s possible to target a 10x reduction in operational costs. We’ll take a closer look into what this means with the […]

How can we reduce the size of the OSS buyer-seller chasm? (part 2)

Our previous post highlighted a chasm between buyers and sellers. It has sparked quite a lot of conversation, which is exactly as intended. In another earlier post about telco reaching its burning exchange moment, we wrote: In a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress (MWC), Thierry Breton, the European Union’s internal market commissioner opined, “In […]

A Japanese tale of OSS monoliths versus modularity

There aren’t a lot of podcasts out there that specialise in OSS (apart from ours of course), so I tend to listen to a lot of material from other fields, sometimes adjacent, sometimes not. I’m just coming to the end of this one with Peter Diamandis and Roger Hamilton. At over 2 hours, it’s a […]

Revolutionising Network Operations with AIOps – Our Latest Report and Video Link

As you may have noticed, we recently launched a new report, “The Future of AIOps: A Definitive Guide.” In the rapidly evolving landscape of carrier networks, Operations was and still is, the linchpin of business stability. It’s effectively every telco’s insurance policy. With the complexity of systems and the demand for instant resolution of issues, […]

The AIOps Venn Dilemma

Whilst preparing our recently launched paper, “AIOps of the Future: A Definitive Guide, ” one thing came through loud and clear from the carriers we spoke with – assembling the skills-mix required to support AIOps tools / programmes. The carriers simply don’t seem to be confident in being able to find, or keep, people with […]

Knowledge used to be power. Is it still?

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to spend a year advising the executive team of an Asian monopoly carrier. I was helping them to implement their first ever OSS project. It was a real eye-opener on many different levels. This carrier had a strong culture of hoarding knowledge. It was well known amongst the […]

Who are the real heroes of your OSS project? It might not be who you think!

When I first left uni with my freshly minted degrees, whenever I thought of salespeople, I had an image something like the one below in my head. This image might still be true if you’re on the hunt for a used clunker. However, nothing could be further from the truth for the salespeople that make […]

Getting hands-on with the OSS espresso machine

“Is there anyone in this room who can go with me to an espresso machine and make a latte?” That’s what Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz reportedly asked his executive team at a November 2022 meeting, according to this WSJ article. He added: “I don’t think we can fix the systemic problem with the level of […]

The cumulative benefits of AIOps

As you will have seen in recent articles, we’re due to release our latest report in a couple of weeks. It’s called, “AIOps of the Future.” During discussions with various people during the preparation of this report, we’ve noticed that some people believe they will get a silver bullet that will resolve most network events […]

Selling the destination of OSS and AIOps, not the transportation

Many of the readers of this blog veer towards the technical side of OSS (that includes me too) and therefore we could all do well to consider the old phrase, “Sell the destination, not the transportation.” The phrase originally suggests that a salesperson should highlight the incredible experiences waiting for the prospective traveler in Paris, […]

Asking your colleagues to give you AIR

Let me tell you a story. A love story. A story about data. A story about AIR. On my first OSS project, all the way back in 2000, I was brought in as a network SME. But it was only after getting involved in the data modelling and data migration activities that I really became […]

A strategic OSS expert: Work smart, work lazy, build assets

Whilst reading an article on Business Insider called, “A Gen Z software engineer at Google reportedly earns $150,000 working one hour a day,” I found one comment quite confronting. It wasn’t the extrapolation that an 8 hour day (possibly working multiple jobs) could generate a $1.2m annual salary but the mindset. The Gen Z software […]

How our OSS can enhance customer experiences and perceptions for the telcos we work for

In a recent article, we compared how telco holds itself accountable to its internally adored five-nine availability standards, yet still has cellar-dwelling customer satisfaction scores. When you consider the expanse and complexity of the global telco network, and the millions of micro-events that occur on it each day, telco networks are amazingly resilient. Telcos certainly […]

How budget and mindset shapes OSS procurement differently for T1 and T2 carriers

Large carriers (let’s call them T1’s) tend to approach OSS procurement projects very differently from small to medium sized carriers (let’s call them T2’s). This is mostly driven by budget, or more to the point, how the budget frames the thinking. We’ll also show you how drawing on ideas from the T2 approach can actually […]

OSS: A world of 12-day weeks and nuclear launch codes

I really enjoy the musings of Jason Fried. He blogs over here at 37signals, has written books such as “Re-work” and runs a successful (bootstrapped) software company. I enjoy his musings because they take a much more pragmatic and balanced look at the worlds of software development and business than most. Let’s look at his […]

Telco innovation: 13 examples of harnessing OSS for super-charged experimentation

We know the modern digital marketplace is evolving and proliferating at mind-blowing speeds. Everything you know right now, and all the knowledge you have collected over your career, is diminishing in relevance at an increasing rate. The same is true of us as individuals as well as us as the telco industry and the companies […]