How an OSS is like an F1 car

A recent post discussed the challenge of getting a timeslice of operations people to help build the OSS. That post surmised, “as the old saying goes, you get back what you put in. In the case of OSS I’ve seen it time and again that operations need to contribute significantly to the implementation to ensure they get a solution that fits their needs.”

I have a new saying for you today, this time from T.D. Jakes, “You can’t be committed to the dream. You have to be committed to the process.”

If you’re representing an organisation that is buying an OSS solution from a vendor / integrator, please consider these two adages above. Sometimes we’re good at forming the dream (eg business requirements, business case, etc) and expecting the vendor to conduct almost all of the process. While our network operations teams are hired for the process of managing the network, we also need their significant input on the process of building / configuring an OSS. The vendor / integrator can’t just develop it in isolation and then hand it over to ops with a few days of training at the end.

The process of bringing a new OSS into an organisation is not like buying a road car. With an OSS, you can’t just place an order with some optional features like paint and trim specified, then expect to start driving it as soon as it leaves the vendor’s assembly line. It’s more like an F1 car where the driver is in constant communications with the pit-crew, changing and tweaking and refining to optimise the car to the driver’s unique needs (and in turn to hopefully optimise the results).

At least, that’s what current-state OSS are like. Perhaps in the future… we’ll strive to refine our OSS to be more like a road-car – standardised and intuitive enough for operators to drive straight off the assembly line.

If this article was helpful, subscribe to the Passionate About OSS Blog to get each new post sent directly to your inbox. 100% free of charge and free of spam.

Our Solutions

Share:

Most Recent Articles

No telco wants to buy an OSS/BSS

When you’re a senior exec in a telco and you’ve been made responsible for allocating resources, it’s unlikely that you ever think, “gee, we really

2 Responses

  1. Maybe it’s a rally car. A cousin to a production car and driven in circumstances which requires a small crew.
    The driver – the visible user
    The navigator – who interprets the network/provisioning (the road) with respect to the car/driver
    A local small team of “tweakers” who keep the car working as its makers (the supplier/integrator) intended AND who reconfigure to deal with problems from bumps in the road.

  2. Love it Steve!
    Not to mention the ever-present danger of crashing into the forest or off the side of a sheer cliff!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.