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Earlier this week we talked about the data management challenge being solved, for the most part. However, we still have large gaps in the decision support challenge, mostly because we don’t have tools to help us understand the complex “systems / environments” in which decisions need to be made. I thought the graph below might […]
A discussion with an OSS vendor last week reminded me of an article, and a lecture by Mark Zangari that inspired it, which is now nearly 10 years old. It’s worth revisiting because the challenges described are still relevant for OSS today, still not adequately resolved. At the time, Mark described for his audience at SFU […]
A recent article here talked about re-imagining the planning and design process for telco networks. We’ve also been heavily involved with the use of drones to help deliver new ways of working in the telco industry lately too. With those two concepts still fresh in our memory, this article about flying COWs from AT&T really […]
When you see those two acronyms above, GIS and BIM, do you immediately grasp what this post is going to be about? Do you know what both of those acronyms represent? Their relevance to OSS? They’re not exactly widespread OSS terms. Many would be familiar with GIS (Geographic Information Systems). We’ve all seen OSS data, […]
In a recent article, we posed many ideas about how future OSS solutions might be re-imagined. We looked into how new approaches and technologies like AR (Augmented Reality) might change solutions and ways-of-working in the near future. This article triggered a conversation about next-generation planning systems with a couple of very clever OSS, orchestration and […]
These are two questions I’ve often pondered in the context of OSS / telco data, but never had a definitive answer to. I just spotted a new report from CEBR on LinkedIn that helps to provide quantification. What Exactly Is Real-time? When it comes to managing large, complex networks, having access to real-time data is […]
I have a few automated job searches set up for OSS roles. Not because I’m looking for a job (just projects), but to keep an eye on what the markets are looking for and what’s trending that I might not be aware of yet. A really interesting role popped up on one of these searches […]
An updated call for innovation in the OSS industry We are currently living through a revolution for the OSS/BSS industry and the customers that we serve. It’s not a question of if we need to innovate, but by how much and in what ways. Change is surrounding us and impacting us in profound ways, triggered […]
The OSS we’ve been building for the last 30+ years aren’t too dissimilar to the digital twins the world is getting all excited by today. I find it really interesting, not just because of the buzz, but because the term “digital twin” seems to mean different things to different people. Having seen what OSS are […]
When people talk about the value of OSS data, the discussion invariably turns to privacy and some of the unconscionable things already done with our personal data. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember any telcos blatantly misusing the highly privileged information they have access to. This is possibly a double-edged sword. It […]
The broken watch analogy. When the second hand on your analog watch stops moving, you’ll quickly realise that your watch has broken. You’ll know exactly what to do next. You won’t assume that time is broken or is somehow standing still. You’ll immediately recognise that your watch needs fixing, re-winding or replacing. A watch is […]
I’m delighted to share with you that Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank, has just launched the most comprehensive market analysis I’ve seen covering connectivity software including OSS / BSS. I’m possibly biased though as I’ve been lucky enough to have played a small part in its direction and content. Most of the reports that I’ve […]
Are you a dyed-in-the-wool telco person? Has your whole career, or a majority of it, been built around the telco industry? If your career in telco were to cease tomorrow, what would you do next? As we mentioned in our previous article on “Burning Platforms”, the orange curve of the traditional telco business is trending […]
I have a couple of really interesting videos to share with you today. I think they’re both brilliant, though perhaps I’m biased because they largely reinforce thoughts I already share with the stars of each video. Well, reinforce, but they also significantly expand the thinking with some enlightening dots that I hadn’t previously connected. Nobody […]
You may have noticed in a recent post that I’ve been contributing to the Transformation Project Framework (TPF) with TM Forum (document GB1011). It’s an important initiative that aims to help ease the stress and reduce the risk on complex OSS/BSS transformation projects. In conjunction with the TM Forum and the Transformation User Guide (TUG) […]
You’ve probably noticed the great tower sell-off trend that’s underway (see this article by Robert Clark as an example). Actually, I should call it the sell-off / lease-back trend because carriers are selling their towers, but leasing back space on the towers for their antennae, radio units, etc. Let’s look at this trend through the […]
I’m in the privileged position, probably as a result of founding The Blue Book OSS/BSS Vendor Directory, to speak with many vendors each week. It also means I’m lucky enough to watch in on product demos on a regular basis too. Last year DFG Consulting (www.dfgcon.si/en) reached out to tell me about their Interactively Assisted […]
I love this article by Tim Fiola, entitled “A Note to Management About the Network Automation Journey – It’s About Culture.” It does a brilliant job of explaining the real challenges around network automation. I’m going to riff off it a little bit today, drawing comparisons with OSS/BSS (which do happen to have a role […]
Report – The Most Exciting OSS/BSS Innovations of 2022
In collaboration with leading market analyst firm Omdia (part of the Informa Group), Passionate About OSS has just released a new (paid) report, titled Inventory of the future: flexible, scalable, and highly dynamic. The synopsis of the report is as follows: Inventory solutions are the linchpin of a network operator’s OSS, facilitating many different work and […]
