OSS is a powerful multi-purpose tool, much like a hammer. If OSS is my only tool, do I see all problems as nails that I have to drive home with my OSS? The downside of this is that it then needs to be designed, built, integrated, tested, released, supported, upgraded, data curated and maintained. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for a given problem extends far…
Read More »"The far-reaching impact of the technology revolution of 2007 with the launch of the Apple iPhone is not to be underestimated. Across every industry, Apple has had a profound influence through the psychological effect of how consumers expect technology to interact with them. People now expect good design as part of their visual communication and interactivity with information. In obsessing over simple, intuitive design, Apple sets…
Read More »"84 percent of employees are "matrixed" to some extent, meaning they serve on multiple teams" Gallup Report: "State of the American Workplace." Like me, you've probably worked on some highly functional OSS teams as well as some dysfunctional ones. Perhaps you've even worked with teams that have had elements of both. Today I reflect on what have been the ingredients of the highly functional teams I've…
Read More »Data quality is the bane of many a telco. If the data quality is rubbish then the OSS tools effectively become rubbish too. Feedback loops are one of the most underutilised tools in a data fix arsenal. However, few people realise that there are two levels of feedback loops. There's what I refer to as big circle and little circle feedback loops. 1. The little loop…
Read More »Since reading the first book on this list, I've become a very avid and wide-ranging reader. The seeds sown by the book list below have immensely helped enrich the content you see here on the PAOSS blog and other PAOSS content. These are the books that have most inspired me or influenced my thinking. Sometimes in a small way. Sometimes as core, fundamental beliefs. Even though…
Read More »I love the fact that we're constantly seeking incremental improvements for our OSS. However, cumulative OSS changes can be a double-edged sword, just as they can be in the cosmetic surgery industry. In both cases, these well intentioned changes can distort as readily as they can improve. Photo-collage courtesy of DailyMail.co.uk. I've seen OSS go from being open, intuitive, adaptable and flexible tools to being so…
Read More »"Alchemy is the ancient practice of trying to turn lead into gold... alchemy was an art based partly upon experimentation and partly upon magic." Benjamin Radford here on Live Science. The definition of alchemy is, "part science, part art," according to Geoff Leong. To William Whewell, "In general, art has preceded science. Men have executed great, and curious, and beautiful works before they had a scientific…
Read More »When you've just implemented a new OSS, what does the training look like? A 2-3 week classroom course series? A train-the-trainer series, which then trickles down to the workforce? If this is what your OSS training looks like (or even closely resembles), then this is madness. Unfortunately, this is the model that I've seen most predominantly in the wild. Many OSS build contracts / RFPs even…
Read More »Have you noticed all the recent headlines about the big, iconic brands in our industry struggling to make targets, cutting headcounts, etc.? This covers vendors and service providers alike. As a complete generalisation: Vendors are going backwards Traditional CSPs are going backwards Profit decline means projects and investments in OSS can only be trending downwards too We know it's a burning platform. We know that the…
Read More »"Forcing people to follow new rules is always an uphill battle, but getting them to buy into a concept to the point where they start contributing their own ideas can literally create a movement within an organisation." Ken Segall. I've really diverted away from direct discussions about OSS in a couple of recent posts about influence, persuasion and change. However, as the link suggests, I recently…
Read More »Fon joins prpl Foundation to accelerate open-source innovation for the Digital Home and Carrier WiFi. The prpl Foundation, an open-source, community-driven, not-for-profit consortium with a focus enabling the security and interoperability of embedded devices for the smart society of the future, has announced that Fon has joined the Foundation. As the world's leading WiFi software company, Fon joins prpl to accelerate the development of a common,…
Read More »An asset is something that puts money into your pocket every month. A liability takes money out. Based on those very simple terms, is your OSS an asset or a liability? If a liability, does it aspire to be an asset? By that, I mean are you actively doing stuff to make it profitable in its own right, or are you happy to just apportion the…
Read More »Vivo Extends Operation for Netcracker's Revenue Management and Provisioning Solution Until 2020. Netcracker Technology announced that Vivo, the subsidiary of the Telefónica Group operating in Brazil, has extended its BSS Operations and Support contract with Netcracker until 2020. The Netcracker BSS platform used by Vivo is currently responsible for supporting the billing operations for B2C and B2B for more than 35 million subscribers. As the leading…
Read More »Event: "OSS in the era of SDN / NFV" In it's fourth year of staging this event, Light Reading continues to build on its successes as the industry's premier forum for the discussion of the impact of SDN and NFV on network operations and OSS. It's being held on 1 Nov (next Wednesday) at The Royal Garden Hotel in London. More info can be found at…
Read More »"The only way to get rid of Dirty Tickets of Work (DToW) is to get rid of Tickets of Work (ToW)" DToW is terminology used in Telstra to indicate that incorrect information has been entered into the ToW or where the field tech hasn't been able to complete the ToW as originally designed / planned. I'm not sure if only Telstra uses this terminology. I haven't…
Read More »The following quick checklist will give you a feel for whether your OSS is too complex for general users: Who are the personas that interact with your OSS (give those personas names and attributes to give life to them) What are they trying to achieve with your OSS (what specific use cases do they fulfil) How many hours a week do the personas dedicate to those…
Read More »Something dawned on me recently - People who want to save money don't want to spend money. That statement has more profound implications for the world of OSS than you might initially think. Let me explain. If someone's main priority is to save money, what are the chances that they'll spend money to buy a product (let's say a book) that shows them how to save?…
Read More »Have you ever experienced an event where you realised that you'd spent the previous 10+ years doing something wrong (or at least incomplete)? I had one such experience last Friday during a presentation by Roger Gibson, a Partner at Infosys Consulting. Now you all know that I'm a passionate spruiker of change management on OSS projects, mainly because one of the biggest reasons for OSS failure…
Read More »SK Telecom brings TANGO into the mobile networks for network evolution with AI. SK Telecom announced that the company has expanded the application of the ‘T Advanced Next Generation Operational Supporting System,’ also known as TANGO, to all telecommunications network of the company. TANGO is an AI-assisted network operation system with big data analytics and machine learning capabilities, a result of SK Telecom’s two year-long effort…
Read More »Vodafone Germany Expands Revenue Management and Billing Relationship With Netcracker to Improve Customer Experience. Netcracker Technology announced that Vodafone Germany, one of Germany's largest telecommunications service providers, has expanded and extended its billing relationship with Netcracker to bring new cable subscribers onto its Revenue Management platform. Vodafone Germany, a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, manages a network that supports more than 44 million customers and 300…
Read More »Let's say you act for a service provider and the diagram below represents the number of variations you could offer to customers - the number that are technically supported by your solution. That's 13,824,000 colours. By comparison, the following diagram contains just 20 colours: If I asked you what colours are in the upper diagram, would you say red, orange, yellow, green, blue, etc? Is it…
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