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OSS tend to be very good at presenting a current moment in time – the current configuration of the network, the health of the network, the activities underway. Some (but not all) tend to struggle to cope with other moments in time – past and future. Most have tools that project into the future for […]
Yesterday’s post discussed the merits of front-loading effort on knowledge transfer of new starters and automated testing, whilst acknowledging the challenges that often prevent that from happening. Today we look at the front-loading benefits of building OSS / network auto-discovery tools. We all know that OSS are only as good as the data we seed […]
Can you guess what automated OSS testing and OSS new starters have in common? Both are best front-loaded. As a consultant, I’ve been a new starter on many occasions, as well as being assigned new starters on probably even more occasions. From both sides of that fence, it’s far more effective to front-load the new […]
“To paraphrase the great Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, resisting change is like trying to hold your breath – even if you’re successful, it won’t end well.” Michael McQueen here. OSS is an interesting dichotomy. At one end of the scale, you have the breath holders – those who want the status quo to remain so […]
Subex wins multi-million-dollar contract from Optus To deploy its ROC Network Asset Management solution. Subex, a telecom analytics solution provider, has won a multi-million-dollar contract with Optus, Australia to implement its ROC Network Asset Management solution. Optus is one of the largest telecom operators in Australia and a fully owned subsidiary of Singtel. They offer […]
“CSPs’ needs in orchestration are evolving in parallel on several dimensions. These can be considered hierarchically. At the highest level is software that has an end-to-end service role, as is the case in the ONAP project. This software generally supports a service life-cycle perspective, containing functions from design and service creation, to provisioning and activation, […]
“Insurer IAG has modelled the financial cost that a data breach or ransomware attack would have on its business, in part to understand how much proposed infosec investments might offset its losses. Head of cybersecurity and governance Ian Cameron told IBM Think 2018 in Sydney that the “value-at-risk modelling” project called upon the company’s actuarial […]
“Very often, what is meant to be a stepping stone turns out to be a slab of wet cement that will harden around your foot if you do not take the next step soon enough.” Richelle E. Goodrich. Not sure about your parts of the world, but I’ve noticed the terms “tactical” (ie stepping stone […]
On Friday, we talked about how making compromises on OSS can actually be a method for reducing risk. We used the OSS vendor selection process to discuss the point, where many stakeholders contribute to the list of requirements that help to select the best-fit product for the organisation. To continue with this same theme, I’d […]
“When you’ve got multiple powerful parties involved in a decision, compromise is unavoidable. The point is not that compromise is a necessary evil. Rather, compromise can be valuable in itself, because it demonstrates that you’ve made use of diverse opinions, which is a way of limiting risk.” Chip and Dan Heath in their book, Decisive. […]
There’s a particular carrier that I know quite well that appears to despise a particular OSS vendor… but keeps coming back to them… and keeps getting let down by them… but keeps coming back to them. And I’m not just talking about support of their existing OSS, but whole new tools. It never made sense […]
As an implementer of OSS, what’s the single factor that makes it challenging for us to deliver on any of the three constraints of project delivery? Complexity. Or put another way, variants. The more variants, the less chance we have of delivering on time, cost or functionality. So let me ask you, is our next […]
You all know I’m a fan of training operators in OSS sandpits (and as apprenticeships during the build phase) rather than a week or two of classroom training at the end of a project. To reduce the re-work in building a sandpit environment, which will probably be a dev/test environment rather than a production environment, […]
Have you noticed that OSS projects need to go through extensive review to get funding of business cases? That makes sense. They tend to be a big investment after all. Many OSS projects fail, so we want to make sure this one doesn’t and we perform thorough planing / due-diligence. But I do find it […]
We all know that once installed, OSS tend to stay in place for many years. Too much effort to air-lift in. Too much effort to air-lift back out, especially if tightly integrated over time. The monolithic COTS (off-the-shelf) tools of the past would generally be commissioned and customised during the initial implementation project, with occasional […]
ONF Hits The Ground Running with Execution of New Strategic Plan. Providing an update to its previously announced strategic plan aimed at creating a robust supply chain for open source solutions for operators, the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) today announced key milestones achieved. The achievements include the formation of the Technical Leadership Team (TLT), finalization on the initial […]
Something curious dawned on me the other day – I wondered how many people / organisations actively manage alarms / alerts being generated by their lab equipment? At first glance, this would seem silly. Lab environments are in constant flux, in all sorts of semi-configured situations, and therefore likely to be alarming their heads off […]
If I start talking about doomsday scenarios where the global OSS job industry is decimated, most people will immediately jump to the conclusion that I’m predicting an artificial intelligence (AI) takeover. AI could have a role to play, but is not a key facet of the scenario I’m most worried about. You’d think that OSS […]
Since the soccer World Cup is currently taking place in Russia, I thought I’d include reference to the MoSCoW technique in today’s blog. It could be used as part of your vendor selection processes for the purpose of OSS requirement prioritisation. “The term MoSCoW itself is an acronym derived from the first letter of each […]
“The dartboard, by contrast, is not remotely logical, but is somehow brilliant. The 20 sector sits between the dismal scores of five and one. Most players aim for the triple-20, because that’s what professionals do. However, for all but the best darts players, this is a mistake. If you are not very good at darts, […]
