Strategic planning – boiling frogs

“The idea of ‘boiling frogs’ relates to the anecdotal frog that, in theory, doesn’t jump out of the pot if you raise the temperature very gradually and ends up being boiled alive. Apparently the latest biological research is that the frog actually would jump out, which is perhaps encouraging for him and for people trying to be creative. An example of boiling frogs is climate change, which seems to be happening so gradually that people are willing to completely ignore it, and one day this may end up being to their peril.
Alan Iny
.

This is the fourth, and last, post in a series designed to raise OSS risk awareness through strategic scenario planning.

Interestingly, many of the boiling frogs that face the OSS industry were discussed in yesterday’s “elephants in the room,” with many being unwilling to accept the fundamental changes that are going on around us. These include

  1. Our customers’ businesses were built around connectivity and we built OSS to support that. Now they’re built around technologies and services that are more flexible and varied, as are their business models. Not all OSS are adapting to this change
  2. Many OSS and their underpinning technology stacks are struggling to cope with current operational loads, with operators kicking off activities and then having to take a coffee or lunch break. With a touch point explosion looming due to network virtualisation, sensor networks and other technologies, some OSS could become unviable
  3. New paradigms within related tech (eg network virtualisation) has the potential to supersede traditional OSS models due to their thirst for improvement versus the traditionalists’ more laborious approaches
  4. “Innovation at the speed of software” is the motto for next-generation CSP services so if your OSS delivers locked-in operational insights only, it will be overtaken by the need for fast, adaptable insight engines
  5. Many of our customers are seeing declining revenue streams from their traditional products and services. Down-trending revenues have a tendency to lead towards diminishing project budget allocations. And being one of the bigger, but less tangible cost items, OSS budgets are often targeted. That’s bad news for our products, projects and ability to earn a wage
  6. The onward march of technological progress within CSPs appears to be creating ever more complexity at all levels of the organisations, thus increasing risks

I’d love to post-edit your ideas into this, so please drop me a note with the other boiling frogs that I’m ignoring at my peril. 🙂

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

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.