If you found this article useful or valuable, subscribe (in the top-right corner of this page) and share. Let's spread the word and inspire more people to become passionate about OSS. Ryan is Passionate About OSS and has dedicated the last two decades to sharing his passion for OSS with the world. He is a founder, author, blogger, Engineer, connector and inquisitive learner about OSS and managing networks. To find out a little about his back-story and why he's so Passionate About OSS, click on the About Page. To connect with Ryan and the PAOSS team, click on the Contact page.
All OSS products are excellent these days. And all OSS vendors know what the most important functionality is. They already have those features built into their products. That is, they’ve already added the all-important features at the left side of the graph. But it also means product teams are tending to only add the relatively […]
Network operators spend huge amounts on building and maintaining their OSS/BSS every year. There are many reasons they invest so heavily, but in most cases it can be distilled back to one thing – improving operational efficiency. And our OSS/BSS definitely do improve operational efficiency, but there are still so many sources of friction. They’re […]
Yesterday’s post talked about one of the many dichotomies in OSS – fast and slow data / processes. One of the longer lead-time items in relation to OSS data and processes is in network build and customer connections. From the time when capacity planning or a customer order creates the signal to build, it can […]
The traditional telco (and OSS) ran at different speeds. Some tasks had to happen immediately (eg customers calling one another) while others took time (eg getting a connection to a customer’s home, which included designs, approvals, builds, etc), often weeks. Our OSS have processes that must happen sequentially and expediently. They also have processes that […]
Acquisition of Sigma Systems. Hansen Technologies Limited announced the signing of definitive agreements for the acquisition of Sigma Systems (“Sigma”). The acquisition is expected to close on 31 May 2019. Key Points: Founded in 1996, Sigma is a leading global provider of catalog-driven software products for telecommunications, media, and high-tech companies. Its software is designed […]
Nobody is interested in you, your brand or your OSS. Well, that’s a big negative and confrontational statement isn’t it? You’re probably thinking I got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning and took a big handful of emo pills. The reality is, all of our customers and colleagues are walking around […]
FCC AUTHORIZES SPACEX TO PROVIDE BROADBAND SERVICES VIA SATELLITE CONSTELLATION. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application by Space Exploration Holdings, doing business as SpaceX, to provide broadband services using satellite technology in the United States and around the world. With this action, the Commission takes another step to increase high-speed broadband availability and […]
Well, would you hire a furniture maker as CEO of an OSS vendor? At face value, it would seem to be an odd selection right? There doesn’t seem to be much commonality between furniture and OSS does there? It seems as likely as hiring a furniture maker to be CEO of a car maker? Oh […]
I’d hazard a guess that everyone reading this would admit to being a techie at some level. And being a techie, I’d also imagine that you have blatant tech-love for certain products – gadgets, apps, sites, whatever. But, let me ask you, are there any OSS products on your love-interest list? If yes, leave me […]
Unfortunately for OSS vendors / integrators, their business models have a dependency (and major risk) on accounts receivable. Investopedia states, “Accounts receivable are amounts of money owed by customers to another entity for goods or services delivered or used on credit but not yet paid for by clients.” One of the earliest OSS projects I […]
We’ve just added another 150 suppliers to the Passionate About OSS list of OSS / BSS suppliers. There are now well over 350 suppliers listed for your comparison. Let us know if yours isn’t listed there yet.
A recent discussion with a learned and respected OSS colleague reminded me that there had been a major omission from the PAOSS History / Standards page. With the buzz developing around 5G, not to mention some of the advanced features like network slicing and radio infrastructure virtualisation, the oversight was a big one. We’d forgotten […]
Gartner’s OSS Magic Quadrant report for 2019 can be downloaded courtesy of Ericsson here.
OSS can be cumbersome at times. Making change can be difficult. We tend to build layers of protections around them and the networks we manage. I get that. Change can be risky (although the protections are often implemented because the OSS and/or network platforms might not be as robust as they could be). Contrast this […]
A friend of mine has a great saying, “only do what only you can do.” Do you think that this holds true for the companies undergoing digital transformation? Banks are now IT companies. Insurers are IT companies. Car manufacturers are now IT companies. Telcos are, well, some are IT companies. We’ve spoken before about the […]
https://passionateaboutoss.com/solarwinds-acquires-samanage-for-350m/SolarWinds Sets Its Sights on the ITSM Market through Acquisition of Samanage and Introduction of a SolarWinds Service Desk Product. SolarWinds announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Samanage, an IT service desk solution company based in Cary, NC. Over the past 7 years, Samanage has built a strong, well-respected product guided by […]
Is your OSS a single pane of glass, or a single glass of pain? You can tell I’m being a little flippant here. People often (perhaps idealistically) talk about OSS as being the single pane of glass (SPOG) to manage a network. I say “idealistically” for a couple of reasons: There are usually many personas […]
I like to compare OSS projects with chaos theory. A single butterfly flapping it’s wings (eg a conversation with the client) can have unintended consequences that cause a tornado (eg the client’s users refusing to use a new OSS). The day-to-day operation of a network and its management tools can be similarly sensitive to seemingly […]
It’s been nearly two decades since I designed my first root-cause analysis (RCA) rule. It was completely reliant on network topology – more specifically, it relied on a network hierarchy to determine which alarms could be suppressed. I had a really interesting discussion today with some colleagues who are using much more modern RCA techniques. […]
“There’s a fable of a man stuck in a flood. Convinced that God is going to save him, he says no to a passing canoe, boat, and helicopter that offer to help. He dies, and in heaven asks God why He didn’t save him. God says, “I sent you a canoe, a boat, and a […]
