Making your OSS easy to use isn't about adding more "easyness" - it's about subtracting what sucks. "To make your stuff "easier to use" you don't make it "easier." You look at all the things that make it hard, then remove them one by one. Easy isn't something you add. It's what's left over after everything that sucks is removed." Alex Hormozi. "Easy to use" is…
Read More »During my first forays into OSS, over a period of 6+ years, I averaged 85 hours a week whilst being paid for a 40 hour week - and loved every minute of it! It wasn't because I had to, but because I wanted to - all because OSS felt like play. Time was meaningless as I was constantly lost in flow state. Learning from that experience,…
Read More »The call came in at 5:43am. “The routers are acting up again down at 1313 Packetloss Lane” the night supervisor whispered, as if afraid the devices might hear her. “It’s... flickering. The network’s hanging in there, but people keep reporting ghost pings and strange device behaviour.” This is the bane of my existence - another cursed asset. I grabbed the essentials: laptop, EM Packet Field Meter…
Read More »Telco appears to be an increasingly tough industry. Demand for connectivity continues to soar, yet profitability and differentiation are becoming ever more difficult to achieve. The traditional telco playbook - built on infrastructure, scale, and one-size-fits-all services - is collapsing under the weight of commoditisation and digital disruption. Telco services have never been more essential, but telco business models have never been more broken. What if…
Read More »I know a guy. One of my great friends actually. We've known each other since kindergarten - back when we were five years old. He loves listening to the radio and watching old videos. He yearns for the old days - the simpler days, the easier days, the less tech-advanced days. I've been finding myself looking at the constant stream of new content coming out of…
Read More »Most OSS platforms monitor, but only the best ones take action. Is yours a thermometer or a thermostat? Does your OSS only report the temperature, or can it actually help change your environment? Do you think your OSS is doing enough? It could be missing the crucial capabilities that power future-ready networks. Below we provide you with 10 questions to help you uncover the truth about…
Read More »We love doing The Passionate About OSS Podcast, but it's been a loooong time between episodes. Too long. We love the conversations, but the post-processing takes around 8-10 hours depending on the episode. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we've been so busy with client work over the last few years that the podcast has taken a back seat. But we've decided the show MUST go on and…
Read More »After working with countless OSS product teams over the years, we’ve noticed one universal truth: they’re all overloaded by huge backlogs of feature requests. But when we saw this image of SpaceX’s Raptor engine evolution, it highlighted a vital lesson - one that has the potential to help guide how OSS development teams prioritise their work. However, we'll also provide you with a really interesting twist…
Read More »Yesterday marked a an exciting milestone for the PAOSS business. We made our very first commission payment to an affiliate whose introduction led to a payment arriving in our account (for providing our services). This occasion is far more than a mere financial transaction; it symbolises a significant step in our journey to strengthen our network of partners and advocates. Don't worry, this article isn't just…
Read More »Your OSS is either a catalyst for innovation or a roadblock to progress for your business. The same strategies that built your OSS might now be the reason it’s slowing you down. If your OSS was built for yesterday’s challenges, the question is - will it be ready for tomorrow’s opportunities? Is it time to rethink your approach? Do you know where to start? We recently…
Read More »For decades, OSS has followed the same pattern: design, then keep adding lots more "baked-in" capabilities into a complex OSS UI, process inputs, generate outputs. At incredible scale. We made them faster, (somewhat) more automated, and vastly more scalable. But we never made them think. Until now... If... (we'll come back to the if shortly). But first, I'd like to share a concept from Greg Isenberg…
Read More »What if your OSS transformation is already outdated before your project even begins and you don't even know it yet? There's one overlooked step that separates forward-thinking OSS teams from those stuck in the past. It's a step that, if not implemented, leaves teams destined to introduce insignificant, incremental changes to their OSS (at best) in the future rather than being truly transformational. For some customers,…
Read More »In 2010, Cloud was a $24 Billion market. Today, it’s $600 Billion. AI is guaranteed to be even bigger. The AI infrastructure boom is building—and telcos must decide if they’re buyers or sellers. Cloud giants built their fortunes by leveraging infrastructure that telcos helped create. Yet, telcos saw only a fraction of the profits. Now, AI is set to transform industries on a scale even larger…
Read More »Most entrepreneurs are wired to build from scratch. The idea of founding something original, of bringing a vision to life from the ground up, is deeply embedded in startup culture. But what if this isn't the smartest way to scratch your entrepreneurial OSS-builder itch? The obsession with starting anew often overlooks a powerful alternative: acquiring an existing business that has already survived the grind phase. When…
Read More »Alfred Hitchcock is known as one of the greatest storytellers in the history of cinema. He's famous for movies such as Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and many others. What's far less well known is that he very successfully employed a two-script method, which interestingly, has the potential to be applied to the OSS industry. The OSS industry is notorious for its buyer/seller chasm - a disconnect…
Read More »A good friend and OSS/BSS collaborator, Raman, recently asked me, "Wish they made it (buying OSS/BSS solutions) as simple as buying cars. If I have a budget of $50K for my family car to take me from Point A to Point B, I won’t be talking to luxury German brands, only looking at some pragmatic options. Did I just give you an idea for your next…
Read More »FWIW, we've just uploaded our OSS/BSS Interface Specification Template onto the Passionate About OSS download page, which includes lots of worked examples. You can grab it here and start updating for your OSS/BSS interfaces: https://passionateaboutoss.com/product/oss-bss-interface-specification-template We'd love to hear your comments if you have other suggestions for what else should be included.
Read More »In the telecommunications industry, Tier-2 (smaller) network operators often look up to their larger Tier-1 counterparts as models for building networks, telco standards and operational support systems (OSS). However, and the Tier-1 operators will never admit to this, but the lessons don’t always need to flow top-down from T1 to T2. In fact, the pragmatic approaches that Tier-2 operators adopt due to budget constraints can provide…
Read More »Are you about to embark on an OSS transformation? It's a huge journey that awaits. It won't be without risks and fears either. Like any journey, it all starts with the old cliche of starting with the first step! When helping organisations embarking on their transformation journeys, there's typically three primary transformation models for you to consider: Buy an Off-the-Shelf Solution: This approach involves procuring a…
Read More »We recently discussed how the "Ultimate Game," a study in behavioural psychology, might help to explain why there tends to be less initial animosity between carriers and open-source OSS vendors compared with proprietary / paid vendors. And like the rest of the buyer/seller chasm series, we also discussed the three main reasons for the lengthy "match-making dance" between buyers (carriers) and sellers (OSS vendors) that delays starting…
Read More »The great thing about the holiday period is you often get the chance to step away from business as usual (BAU) activities. As customer projects go into a brief hiatus, it clears a little space in the calendar to read and plan for what to do in the year ahead. This book "It's Not the Big That Eat the Small...It's the Fast That Eat the Slow:…
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Here at Passionate About OSS, we are exactly that – Passionate About OSS (Operational Support Systems). We’re also passionate about BSS, NMS, or any other names you call the tools that help to operationalise your network.
