Finding the most important problems to solve

The problem with OSS is that there are too many problems. We don’t have to look too hard to find a problem that needs solving. An inter-related issue is that we’re (almost always) constrained by resources and aren’t able to solve every problem we find. I have a theory – As much as you are […]

NTT Com India-Netmagic partners with Nuage Networks

NTT Com India-Netmagic partners with Nuage Networks to provide Managed SD-WAN Service. NTT Com India-Netmagic announced that the company has partnered with Nuage Networks, the Nokia venture focused on Software Defined Networks (SDN), to enhance its Network as a Service (NaaS) portfolio based on its innovative Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solution. This enables enterprises […]

OSS and Network of the Future architectures workshop in Melbourne this week

OSS and Network of the Future architectures workshop in Melbourne this week. Click on the link above to register online. TM Forum’s description of the event is as follows: As part of the TM Forum Open Digital Architecture program, we are starting work on a standardized definition of Operational Domain Managers (ODM) capabilities. Telstra will […]

Bringing Eminem’s blank canvas to OSS

“When you start out in your career, you have a blank canvas, so you can paint anywhere that you want because the shit ain’t been painted on yet. And then your second album comes out, and you paint a little more and you paint a little more. By the time you get to your seventh […]

Nokia and Tele2 sign strategic IoT partnership

Nokia and Tele2 sign strategic partnership to provide global IoT services. Nokia and Tele2 IoT have signed a five-year agreement to enable the delivery of IoT services to Tele2 enterprise customers based on Nokia’s worldwide IoT network grid (WING). Nokia WING will allow Tele2 IoT to rapidly and cost-effectively provide complete IoT services to its […]

50 exercises to ignite your OSS innovation sessions

Every project starts with an idea… an idea that someone is excited enough to sponsor. But where are your ideas being generated from? How do they get cultivated and given time to grow? How do they get pitched? and How do they get heard? How are sponsors persuaded? How do they then get implemented? How do […]

How the investment strategy of a $106 billion VC fund changed my OSS thinking

What is a service provider’s greatest asset? Now I’m biased when considering the title question, but I believe OSS are the puppet-master of every modern service provider. They’re the systems that pull all of the strings of the organisation. They generate the revenue by operationalising and assuring the networks as well as the services they […]

The chains of integration are too light until…

“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” Warren Buffett (although he attributed it to an unknown author, perhaps originating with Samuel Johnson). What if I were to replace the word “habit” in the quote above with “OSS integration” or “OSS customisation” or “feature releases?” The […]

Updated OSS products / vendors list

Over the last few days we’ve made some updates to our OSS products / vendors list to reflect recent acquisitions, mergers, etc. Please let us know if there are any others we should be adding to the list.

Posing a Network Data Synchronisation Protocol (NDSP) concept

Data quality is one of the biggest challenges we face in OSS. A product could be technically perfect, but if the data being pumped into it is poor, then the user experience of the product will be awful – the OSS becomes unusable, and that in itself generates a data quality death spiral. This becomes […]

I’m predicting the demise of the OSS horse

“What will telcos do about the 30% of workers AI is going to displace?” Dawn Bushaus That question, which is the headline of Dawn’s article on TM Forum’s Inform platform, struck me as being quite profound. As an aside, I’m not interested in the number – the 30% – because I concur with Tom Goodwin’s sentiments […]

Are your various device inventory repositories in synch?

Does your organisation have a number of different device inventory repositories? Hint: You might even be surprised by how many you have. Examples include: Physical network inventory Logical network inventory DNS records CMDB (Config Management DB) IPAM (IP Address Management) EMS (Element Management Systems) SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) Desktop / server management not […]

The concept of DevOps is missing one really important thing

There’s a concept that’s building a buzz across all digital industries – you may’ve heard of it – it’s a little thing called DevOps. Someone (most probably a tester) decided to extend it and now you might even hear the #DevTestOps moniker being mentioned. In the ultimate of undeserved acknowledgements, I even get a reference […]

Speedcast secures AU$184m contract with NBN Co

Speedcast Secures Contract Valued at Up to AU$184 Million with NBN Co Australia. Speedcast International Limited announced it has secured a 10-year contract with Australian government-owned infrastructure provider NBN Co to deliver enterprise-grade satellite services. Speedcast’s wholly-owned subsidiary and dedicated entity, Speedcast Managed Services, will partner with NBN Co to design, build and manage NBN […]

Torturous OSS version upgrades

Have you ever worked on an OSS where a COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) solution has been so heavily customised that implementing the product’s next version upgrade has become a massive challenge? The solution has become so entangled that if the product was upgraded, it would break the customisations and/or integrations that are dependent upon that product. […]

A summary of RPA uses in an OSS suite

This is the sixth and final post in a series about the four styles of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in OSS. Over the last few days, we’ve looked into the following styles of RPA used in OSS, their implementation approaches, pros / cons and the types of automation they’re best suited to: Automating repeatable tasks […]

RPA in OSS feedback loops

This is the fifth in a series about the four styles of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in OSS. The fourth of those styles is as part of a closed-loop system such as the one described here. Here’s a diagram from that link: This is the most valuable style of RPA because it represents a learning […]

The OSS / RPA parrot on the shoulder analogy

This is the fourth in a series about the four styles of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in OSS. The third style is Decision Support. I refer to this style as the parrot on the shoulder because the parrot (RPA) guides the operator through their daily activities. It isn’t true automation but it can provide one […]

Using RPA as an alternate OSS integration

This is the third in a series about the four styles of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in OSS. The second of those styles is Streamlining processes / tasks by following an algorithmic approach to simplify processes for operators. These can be particularly helpful during swivel-chair processes where multiple disparate systems are partially integrated but each […]

Mtel Bulgaria selects Amdocs

Mtel Bulgaria selects Amdocs to Drive Unified Customer Experience and Commerce in the Digital Society. Amdocs announced that Mtel, Bulgaria’s leading mobile, fixed, broadband and IPTV services provider, is transforming the digital commerce and care experience of its more than four million subscribers through its 200+ retail stores, call centers. Leveraging the new Amdocs DigitalONE […]