Many years ago I worked on a three-way project with 1) a customer, 2) a well-known equipment vendor and 3) a service provider (my client). Time-frames were particularly tight, not so much because of the technical challenge, but because of the bureaucratic processes of the customer and the service provider. The project was worth well in excess of $100M, so it was a decent-sized project as…
Read More »"You have to love being incompetent in order to be competent." James Altucher. Not sure that anyone loves feeling incompetent, but James' quote is particularly relevant in the world of OSS. There are always so many changes underway that you're constantly taken out of your comfort zone. But the question becomes how do you overcome those phases / areas of incompetence? Earlier in my career, I…
Read More »Nokia first to contribute open source software to accelerate adoption of software-defined fixed access networks. Nokia is playing a leading role in the Broadband Forum's effort to spark fixed access network innovation by spearheading the new Broadband Access Abstraction (BAA) project. The initiative, led by Nokia, seeks to drive the adoption of software-defined access networks through the contribution of open source software, uniting vendors and operators…
Read More »The following extract from Ken Segall’s book, "Insanely Simple," provides a great story on persuasion: "At one agency meeting with Steve Jobs, we were reviewing the content of a proposed iMac commercial when a debate arose about how much we should say in the commercial. The creative team was arguing that it would work best if the entire spot was devoted to describing the one key…
Read More »As recently discussed with two friends and colleagues, Raman and Darko, Proofs of Concept (PoC) or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implementations can be a double-edged sword. By building something without fully knowing the end-game, you are potentially building tech-debt that may be very difficult to work around without massive (or complete) overhaul of what you've built. The alternative is to go through a process of discovery…
Read More »This post is about the most inspiring OSS book I've ever read, and yet it doesn't contain a single word that is directly about OSS (so clearly I'm not spruiking my own OSS-centric book here ;) ). It's a book that outlines the resolutions to so many of the challenges being faced by traditional communications service providers (CSPs) as well as the challenges faced by their…
Read More »OSS business case evaluators routinely ask many questions that relate to key metrics like return on investment, capital to be outlaid, expected returns, return on investment, and more of the same circular financial questions. :) They do also ask a few technical questions to decide risk - of doing the project or not doing the project. Timeframes and resources come into play, but again tend to…
Read More »"Today's consumers want to get the best prices, but offering your brand at a discount can undermine profits and threaten viability. Smart brands utilize strategies to create and sustain a meaningful difference that helps consumers justify spending more." Nigel Hollis, in his PoV on branding. I once read a statistic that at one point Apple owned 6.5% of the total handset market, but accounted for 75%…
Read More »Midco Expands Billing Relationship With Netcracker to Leverage Advanced B2B Billing Capabilities. Netcracker Technology announced that Midcontinent Communications (Midco) has expanded and extended its billing relationship to enable more complex billing scenarios for its business customers. Midco will leverage Netcracker's next-generation Revenue Management solution to enhance its ability to offer dynamic pricing options while reducing operational costs. Midco delivers internet, cable, fixed-line and home automated services…
Read More »OSS delivery teams can be quite tense environments to work within can't they? Deadlines, urgency, being in the customer's line of sight and did I mention deadlines? [As an aside, I'm not sure which type of deadline is more stressful, the ongoing drain of fortnightly releases under Agile, or the chaos of a big-bang release that is preceded by lengthier periods of relative calm.] When it…
Read More »RCN and Grande Communications Select Netcracker's Revenue Management Solution to Optimize B2B and B2C Customer Experience. Netcracker Technology announced that digital TV, phone and internet service provider RCN has selected Netcracker's Revenue Management solution to improve efficiencies at both RCN and Grande Communications. RCN and Grande will use Netcracker's platform for standardizing all billing-related processes across its seven offices and plans to use these solutions to…
Read More »The diagram above comes from research by AT Kearney and Delta Partners courtesy of an article by Mark Newman of TM Forum. It provides an interesting perspective on CSPs' ability to "compete" with a broader, more digitally native group of service providers. The golden age for CSPs was when they transported data from point A to point B (ie data and voice services) and people performed…
Read More »"The cloud model (ie hosted by a trusted partner) becomes attractive from the perspective of repeatability, from the efficiency of doing the same thing repeatedly at scale." From, "I want a business outcome, not a deployment challenge." OSS struggles when it comes to repeatability. Often within an organisation, but almost always when comparing between organisations. That's why there's so much fragmentation, which in turn is holding…
Read More »As OSS exponents, I'm sure you'll agree that there are many OSS tools / skills that we use and develop (to differing degrees) over the years. In fact, there are so many to choose from that we often have to make a conscious decision which ones to master and which ones to leave for others to master. Other times we have the decision thrust upon us.…
Read More »Bechtle Selects Netcracker's Digital Platform for New Cloud-Based Portal and Enterprise Applications. Netcracker Technology announced that Bechtle AG is leveraging Netcracker's comprehensive BSS solutions to support its new cloud-based portal and marketplace, which will host a range of digital enterprise applications for its business customers across Europe. The use of Netcracker's solutions allows Bechtle to support consumption-based business models and open new revenue streams by offering…
Read More »Omnichannel is intended to be a strategy that provides customers with a seamless, consistent experience across all of their contact channels - channels that include online/digital, IVR, contact centre, mobile app, retail store, B2B portal, etc. The challenge of delivering consistency across these platforms is that there is little cross-over between the organisations that deliver these tools. Each is a fragmented market in its own right…
Read More »Cloudera Enables Globe Telecom to Manage Mobile Data Growth and Boost Customer Experience with Machine Learning. Cloudera, Inc. announced that Globe Telecom has used the Cloudera platform to successfully enhance customer experience and deliver real-time targeted marketing campaigns and offers to its 60 million customers. Globe Telecom, a leading provider of telecommunication services in the Philippines, is using machine learning with Cloudera to enrich customer experiences…
Read More »CSG Teams with Arrow Electronics to Monetize the Internet of Things. CSG Systems International announced a new agreement with Arrow Electronics to enable quick launch and monetization of solutions across the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT includes a network of internet-connected objects such as smart home devices, wearables and vehicles that collect and exchange data using embedded sensors. Under a new agreement, CSG will team…
Read More »"Flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time." Wikipedia. It's almost definitely no…
Read More »"I often leverage use-case design and touch-point mapping through the stack to ensure that all of the use-cases can be turned into user-journeys, process journeys and data journeys. This process can pick up the high-level flows, but more importantly, the high-level gaps in your theoretical stack." Yesterday's blog discussed the use of use cases to test a new OSS architecture. TM Forum's eTOM is the go-to…
Read More »When it comes to designing a multi-vendor (sometimes also referred to as best-of-breed) OSS architecture stack, there is never a truer saying than, "the devil is in the detail." Oftentimes, it's just not feasible to design every interface / integration / data-flow traversing a theoretical OSS stack (eg pre-contract award, whilst building a business case, etc). That level of detail is developed during detailed design or…
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