OSS as a lifestyle brand
“Google did a great job hacking the Web to create search – and then monetizing search with advertising. And Apple did a great job humanizing hardware and software so that formerly daunting computers and applications could become consumer-friendly devices – even a lifestyle brand.” Douglas Rushkoff. Okay, so OSS probably won’t become a lifestyle brand […]
A new category of OSS?
“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” Alan Kay. Something really intrigues me… In the not too distant future, assuming a majority of organisations are hosted on service provider infrastructure (ie XaaS) rather than running in-house infrastructure, does this imply the number of customers for hardware (compute/storage/networks) will significantly reduce? […]
How quickly can you respond?
“You are in the business of testing your guesses, not convincing yourself that you are right.” Nathan Furr, in his book, “Nail It then Scale It” The speed of implementation of OSS projects tends to be quite lengthy (months/years on tier-one CSPs), so we’re not exactly as responsive as some other industries by example. However, […]
Lumpy revenue streams
“A manufacturer or retailer that responds to changes in sales in hours instead of weeks is no longer at heart a product company, but a service company that has a product offering.” Bill Gates, in his book, “Business @ the Speed of Thought.” How often does an OSS vendor win a new sale? Is it […]
Chilean Telco engages CSG
Chilean Market Leader Engages CSG International Managed Services. CSG International announced that one of Chile’s leading telecom service providers has awarded CSG a multi-year managed services contract for the operation and management of its wholesale and roaming systems. The service provider is a long-time CSG client, leveraging multiple components of CSG’s award-winning Wholesale Business Management […]
Telekom Srbija selects Ericsson
Telekom Srbija selects Ericsson Billing Solutions. Serbian operator Telekom Srbijahas signed an agreement to implement Ericsson’s software suite, Charging and Billing in One solution, for its residential and corporate mobile and fixed-line subscribers, enabling the completion of the transformation of its business support systems (BSS). The implementation is the final step in a transformation process […]
Outsourcing tasks to your OSS
“The jobs-to-be-done point of view causes you to crawl into the skin of your customer and go with her as she goes about her day, always asking the question as she does something: why did she do it that way?” Clayton M. Christensen. Alex Fuller at SupplyChainCowboy.com suggests, “By focusing on the job the customer […]
M-net extends with NetCracker
M-net Expands Relationship with NetCracker to Include TOMS Suite. NetCracker Technology announced that M-net Telecommunications GmbH, a regional communications provider in Bavaria, Germany, has selected NetCracker for a large-scale business transformation program. M-net has been a longtime NetCracker Revenue Management customer, but recently decided to implement several additional NetCracker Telecom Operations and Management Systems (TOMS) […]
Fighting OSS fires
“If you are constantly fire-fighting, you have the impression that you are surrounded by many, many problems… However, careful analysis will point to a few core problems that will solve all the fires.” Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his book, “It’s Not Luck” Have you ever worked on OSS projects/programs that seemed to have infernos blazing […]
Red Hat and NEC Collaborate for NFV
Red Hat and NEC Collaborate to Achieve Carrier-Grade OpenStack Solutions for NFV. Red Hat, Inc. and NEC Corporation announced a collaboration to jointly develop network functions virtualization (NFV) features in OpenStack in order to deliver carrier-grade NFV solutions with Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. As communication service providers (CSPs) transform their businesses and modernize […]
Digital exploitation
“To be successful, the Chief Information Officer must be seen as a peer level thought leader, partnering with other C-level executives to visualize and drive the digital agenda for each company. They need to combine vision, strategy, technology governance and talent, to exploit digital opportunities and move the culture toward a digital business viewpoint.” Annie […]
OSS swivel-chairing
“Many OSS systems were initially not linked to each other and often required manual intervention. For example, consider the case where a customer wants to order a new telephone service. The ordering system would take the customer’s details and details of their order, but would not be able to configure the telephone exchange directly — […]
Telco as a Utility (TaaU)
“Utility is when you have one telephone, luxury is when you have two, opulence is when you have three – and paradise is when you have none.” Doug Larson. Will there come a time when telco services are simply like every other utility – a unit of service (ie Mb) that a residential user (and […]
WebRTC in OSS
“Everyone seems to agree that WebRTC is the next big thing that is going to shake up the enterprise communications landscape. WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) allows for real-time audio and video communications to be developed with a simple Javascript API running in a WebRTC compliant browser such as Google Chrome. There is a seemingly endless […]
WEHCO Media renews with NetCracker
WEHCO Media Signs Multi-Year Renewal for NetCracker Revenue Management. NetCracker Technology announced that it has signed a multi-year renewal with WEHCO Media for its NetCracker Revenue Management solution. WEHCO Media is a diversified communications company with interests in cable television, newspaper publishing and Internet properties. This agreement provides NetCracker’s Revenue Management solution in support of […]
Recognising weakness
“(Marissa) Mayer was hired by Google as a coder. Her first big project was to build Google’s advertising system. It took her months and months to make any progress. Then Google went out and hired a star coder from DEC named Jeff Dean. Dean came into Google and built the system Mayer was trying to […]
OSS social engine
“Smart phones and social media expand our universe. We can connect with others or collect information easier and faster than ever.” Daniel Goleman. Communication Service Providers are often not so great at communicating, especially internally. Notwithstanding the human behavioural impediments to “perfect communication” like politics, cliques, etc the communication issue is often just a case […]
US Govt. rakes in $44.9B
“The FCC’s latest wireless auction brought in far more money than anyone expected. The Chairman, Tom Wheeler, set a goal of raising $10.6 billion by selling off 1,600 licenses to blocks of wireless spectrum. In the end, the government not only blew past its goal, but also its previous record of raising $19.1 billion in […]
OSS innovator breadcrumbs
“The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams.” W. Arthur Porter. It goes without saying that key players in the OSS industry try to keep their major innovations under wraps. They’re not exactly going to announce that they’re working on technology […]
Customised learning for every customer
“Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” Brian Tracy. I often talk about the need to provide training and learning opportunities for customers […]