Are you noticing a slow, but just perceptible shift being driven by the most progressive CSPs towards the slimming down of their OSS?
And not just the yo-yo dieting where there’s a brief period of reduction followed by increased bloat, but sustained reductionist thinking. Making do without some of the features being offered by vendors on the basis of it adding complexity but not adding value to their business.
We’ve seen the initiative shown towards spinning up SDN / NFV as a means of simplifying the networks. I’m also sensing that they’re making it an efficiency war rather than a functionality war – getting more efficiency out of their key processes in their OSS rather than yet more features. After all, OSS are designed to be efficiency and insight engines.
This has been a challenge for vendors who find it easier to show functionality than prove (not just claim) efficiency gains.
Yesterday’s blog is showing one hint to that change. It indicates an orchestration platform that is closer to being in the NMS layer than the OSS, thus abstracting the complexity carried within the OSS.
Are the days of the obese OSS at tier-1 CSPs over? Or am I just noticing the signs of fad diets?