Being an OSS product supplier to telecom operators is a tough business. There is a constant stream of outgoings on developer costs, cost of sale, general overheads, etc. Unfortunately revenue streams are rarely so smooth. In fact, they tend to be decidedly lumpy - unpredictable (in terms of timelines when forecasting inflows years in advance) but large spikes of income stemming from customer implementations. Not only…
Read More »"Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.” Rene Descartes. On a recent project, I spent quite a lot of time thinking in terms of problem statements, then mapping them into solutions that could be broken down for assignment to lots of delivery teams - feeding their Agile backlogs. On that assignment, like the multitude of OSS projects in…
Read More »I recently had something of a perspective-flip moment in relation to automation within the realm of OSS. In the past, I've tended to tackle the automation challenge from the perspective of applying automated / scripted responses to tasks that are done manually via the OSS. But it's dawned on me that I have it around the wrong way! It is an incremental perspective on the main…
Read More »News last week of ZTE ceasing major operations due to US embargoes have taken another turn. President Trump has now tweeted,"President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!" What will be the next twist in…
Read More »Sigma Systems Supports Telkomsel in Building a Digital Indonesia. Sigma Systems, announced a major deal with Indonesia’s leading mobile network operator, Telkomsel. With more than 190 million customers, Telkomsel is currently the largest mobile operator in Indonesia. Telkomsel has consistently implemented the latest mobile technology and was the first to commercially launch 4G LTE mobile services in the country. Entering the digital era, Telkomsel continues to…
Read More »Amdocs to provide KCOM with a service delivery platform offering capabilities for next generation networks including flexible bandwidth, time-bound bandwidth and SD-WAN services. Amdocs announced that KCOM, a leading provider of communications, applications and integration services to the UK enterprise and consumer market, has selected an Amdocs service delivery platform to enhance its new next generation network infrastructure. Amdocs will provide a new orchestration platform that…
Read More »Vivo Expands Netcracker's Service Management as Part of Large-Scale Digital Transformation. Netcracker Technology announced that Vivo, Telefónica Group’s Brazilian subsidiary, has upgraded and expanded its use of Netcracker’s Service Management solution. The solution will help Vivo standardize provisioning and activation for all B2B and B2C mobile services. Vivo is the leading communications service provider in Brazil, delivering fixed-line and mobile voice, television and internet broadband services…
Read More »As a result of an export denial order by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), ZTE has opted to cease all major operating activities and trading of shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The ban on ZTE comes as a result of selling products to Iran. It prevents ZTE from purchasing components (eg semiconductors), software (eg licensed components of Android…
Read More »This is the third in a series describing the process of finding the right OSS solution for your specific needs and getting estimated pricing to help you build a business case. The first post described the overall OSS selection process we use. The second described the way we poll the market and prepare a short-list of OSS products / vendors based on current capabilities. Once you've…
Read More »Telefónica Spain transforms its data centers with Nokia high-performance routing and Nuage Networks Virtualized Cloud Services. Nokia and its venture focused on software-defined networking (SDN), Nuage Networks, are partnering with Telefónica Spain to build an open, elastic and highly secure data center network infrastructure, dramatically expanding the agility, scale and efficiency of its cloud-based services. A key part of Telefónica's cloud vision is to offer enterprises…
Read More »In yesterday's post, we talked about how to estimate OSS pricing. One of the key pillars of the approach was to first identify a short-list of vendors / integrators best-suited to implementing your specific OSS, then working closely with them to construct a pricing model. Finding the right vendor / integrator can be a complex challenge. There are dozens, if not hundreds of OSS / BSS…
Read More »Bouygues Telecom Selects Netcracker's Revenue Management Solution in its Drive Toward Convergence. Netcracker Technology announced that the French operator Bouygues Telecom has extended its use of Netcracker’s Revenue Management solution. Bouygues Telecom already uses Netcracker’s solution for its mobile subscribers and plans to use the platform for fixed-line subscribers in Fall 2018. As part of this initiative, Netcracker delivered an upgraded Revenue Management solution to Bouygues…
Read More »Nokia acquires SpaceTime Insight to expand its IoT software portfolio and accelerate vertical application development. Nokia has acquired SpaceTime Insight to expand its Internet of Things (IoT) portfolio and IoT analytics capabilities, and accelerate the development of new IoT applications for key vertical markets. Based in San Mateo, California, with offices in the U.S., Canada, U.K., India and Japan, SpaceTime Insight provides machine learning-powered analytics and…
Read More »"Sometimes a simple question deserves a simple answer: “A piece of string is twice as long as half its length”. This is a brilliant answer… if you have its length... Without a strategy, how do you know if it is successful? It might be prettier, but is it solving a define business problem, saving or making money, or fulfilling any measurable goals? In other words: can…
Read More »For network operators, our OSS and BSS touch most parts of the business. The network, and the services they carry, are core business so a majority of business units will be contributing to that core business. As such, our OSS and BSS provide many of the metrics used by those business units. This is a privileged position to be in. We get to see what indicators…
Read More »Vertel launches SD-WAN services from Nuage Networks to organizations across Australia. Vertel and Nuage Networks, Nokia's software defined network (SDN) venture, will work together to launch software defined WAN (SD-WAN) services for Vertel's government, enterprise and service provider customers in July this year. Once deployed, Vertel will be one of the first providers in Australia to offer seamless, cloud-connected WAN services, with its customers enjoying all…
Read More »"You cannot simply have your end users give some specifications then leave while you attempt to build your new system. They need to be involved throughout the process. Ultimately, it is their tool to use." José Manuel De Arce here. As an OSS consultant and implementer, I couldn't agree more with José's quote above. José, by the way is an OSS Manager at Telefónica, so he…
Read More »Tending to be a low-volume, high-customisation, high-uniqueness product, OSS has a significantly different selling proposition than most "box drop" products. Can you imagine if OSS salespeople used any of these "great deal" propositions (as described by Gary Halbert)? "I'm going out of business." "I just had a fire and I'm having a fire sale." "I'm crazy." (all used car dealers) "I owe taxes and I've got…
Read More »We all know the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears where Goldilocks chooses the option that's not too heavy, not too light, but just right. The same model applies to OSS - finding / building a solution that's not too heavy, not too light, but just right. To be honest, we probably tend to veer towards the too heavy, especially over time. We put more…
Read More »Netcracker Extends Billing and CRM Relationship With Charter. Netcracker Technology announced that Charter Communications has executed a long-term extension of its BSS and professional services relationship with Netcracker as part of its large-scale standardization program. Charter, the second largest cable service provider in the United States which operates under the Spectrum brand, provides services to more than 25 million business and residential customers across the country.…
Read More »One of the challenges facing OSS / BSS product designers is which platform/s to tie the roadmap to. Let's use a couple of examples. In the past, most outside plant (OSP) designs were done in AutoCAD, so it made sense to build OSP design tools around AutoCAD. However in making that choice, the OSP developer becomes locked into whatever product directions AutoCAD chooses in future. And…
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