I became a problematic bottleneck on my first OSS project. It didn't start that way, but it definitely ended that way. And I've been thinking ever since about how I could've managed that better. I started out as a network subject matter expert but wasn't a bottleneck in that role. However, the next two functions I absorbed were the source of the problem. The first additional…
Read More »Progress To Acquire Ipswitch, makers of WhatsUp Gold Network Monitoring. Progress, the provider of application development and digital experience technologies, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Ipswitch, Inc., a producer of secure data file transfer and network management software, for $225 million in cash. Progress will fund the transaction with existing cash on hand and funds secured under a…
Read More »The last few days have been all about organisational structuring to support OSS and digital transformations. Today we take a different tack - a more technical diversion - onto how drones might be relevant to the field of OSS. A friend recently asked for help to look into the use of drones in his archaeological business. This got me to thinking about how they might apply…
Read More »So far this week we've been focusing on ways to improve the OSS transformation process. Monday provided 7 models for achieving startup-like efficiency for larger OSS transformations. Tuesday provided suggestions for speeding up the transition from OSS PoC to getting the solution into production, specifically strategies for absorbing an OSS PoC into production. Both of these posts talk about the speed of getting things done outside…
Read More »In yesterday's article, we discussed 7 models for achieving startup-like efficiency on large OSS transformations. One popular approach is to build a proof-of-concept or sandpit quickly on cloud hosting or in lab environments. It's fast for a number of reasons including reduced number of approvals, faster activation of infrastructure, reduced safety checks (eg security, privacy, etc), minimised integration with legacy systems and many other reasons. The…
Read More »Do you work in a large organisation? Have you also worked in smaller organisations? Where have you felt more efficient? I've been lucky enough to work on some massive OSS transformations for large T1 telcos. But I've always noticed the inefficiency of working on these projects when embedded inside the bureaucracy of the beast. With all of the documentation, sign-offs, meetings, politics, gaining consensus, budget allocations,…
Read More »Just a quick heads-up that our OSS competition closes tomorrow. Get in quickly to be in with a chance of winning 1 of 5 physical copies of my book, Mastering Your OSS. Are you up for it? Are you ready to answer just five one-line questions to help the next generation of OSS experts and potentially win a prize? Click here now to enter the competition.
Read More »In the last two posts, we've discussed repeatability within the field of OSS implementation - paint-by-numbers vs artisans and then resilience vs precision in delivery practices. Now I'd like you to have a think about how those posts overlay onto this quote by Karl Popper: “Non-reproducible single occurrences are of no significance to science.” Every OSS implementation is different. That means that every one is a…
Read More »"Resilience is what happens when we’re able to move forward even when things don’t fit together the way we expect.[OSS project anyone???] And tolerances are an engineer’s measurement of how well the parts meet spec. One way to ensure that things work out the way you hope is to spend the time and money to ensure that every part, every form, every worker meets spec. Tighten…
Read More »All OSS rely on workflows to make key outcomes happen. Outcomes like activating a customer order, resolving a fault, billing customers, etc. These workflows often touch multiple OSS/BSS products and/or functional capabilities. There's not always a single-best-way to achieve an outcome. If you're responsible for your organisation's workflows do you want to build a paint-by-numbers approach where each process is repeatable? Or do you want the…
Read More »"Organizations that seek transformations frequently bring in an army of outside consultants [or implementers in the case of OSS] who tend to apply one-size-fits-all solutions in the name of “best practices.” Our approach to transforming our respective organizations is to rely instead on insiders — staff who have intimate knowledge about what works and what doesn’t in their daily operations." Behnam Tabrizi, Ed Lam, Kirk Gerard…
Read More »By now I'm sure you've heard about graph databases. You may've even read my earlier article about the benefits graph databases offer when modelling network inventory when compared with relational databases. But have you heard the Graphene Database Analogy? It can help conceptualise the migrating, cross-linking and fixing of data sets. I equate OSS data migration and data quality improvement with graphene, which is made up…
Read More »"You don't get differential advantage from your products, it's from the way you speak to and relate to your customers . All products are excellent these days." The quote above paraphrases Malcolm McDonald from a podcast about his book, "Malcolm McDonald on Value Propositions: How to Develop Them, How to Quantify Them." This quote had nothing to do with OSS specifically, but consider for a moment…
Read More »In case you didn't notice, we launched a competition yesterday. It's a 5 question survey and respondents are in with a chance of winning 1 of 5 copies of my book, Mastering Your OSS. Not only that, but it's your chance to give back to the next generation of OSS experts coming through. You'll achieve this by sharing your experiences on your earliest OSS projects. In…
Read More »Can you remember how you felt during the initial weeks of your first OSS project? I can vividly recall how out of my depth I felt on my first OSS project. I was in my 20s and had relocated to a foreign country for the first time. I had a million questions (probably more actually). The challenges seemed immense (they were). I was working with talented…
Read More »Have you ever experienced an epic customer experience (CX) fail when dealing a network service operator, like the one I described yesterday? In that example, the OSS/BSS, and possibly the associated people / process, had a direct impact on poor customer experience. Admittedly, that 7 truck-roll experience was a number of years ago now. We have fewer excuses these days. Smart phones and network connected devices…
Read More »In yesterday's post we talked about the cost of quality. We talked about examples of primary, secondary and tertiary costs of bad data quality (DQ). We also highlighted that the tertiary costs, including the damage to brand reputation, can be one of the biggest factors. I often cite an example where it took 7 truck rolls to connect a service to my house a few years…
Read More »Juniper Networks Announces Intent to Acquire Mist Systems to Bring AI to IT, Delivering on Promise of Software-Defined Enterprise. Juniper Networks announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mist Systems, a pioneer in cloud-managed wireless networks powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The deal will enhance Juniper’s enterprise networking portfolio by combining Mist’s next-generation Wireless LAN (WLAN) platform with Juniper’s best-in-class wired…
Read More »This week of posts has followed the theme of the cost of quality. Data quality that is. But how do you calculate the cost of bad data quality? Yesterday's post mentioned starting with PNI (Physical Network Inventory). PNI is the cables, splices / joints, patch panels, ducts, pits, etc. This data doesn't tend to have a programmable interface to electronically reconcile with. This makes it prone…
Read More »Have you seen OSS tools where the applications are brilliant but consigned to failure by bad data? I definitely have! I call it the data death spiral. It's a well known fact in the industry that bad data can ruin an OSS. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. But how many companies do you know that invest in data quality? I mean truly…
Read More »The diagram below has some parallels with OSS. The story however is a little long before it gets to the OSS part, so please bear with me. The diagram shows analysis the US Navy performed during WWII on where planes were being shot. The theory was that they should be reinforcing the areas that received the most hits (ie the wing-tips, central part of the body,…
Read More »