Passionate About OSS Blog | Passionate About OSS and BSS

Does your OSS/BSS have a “Golden Path” or a “Frankenstein Path?”

"One of my favorite things about designing software is designing the defaults. The defaults define the experience for everyone out of the box. And, therefore, for most people in perpetuity. Convention over configuration rules the day. To me, everything it could possibly do is less interesting than what it does right now, factory fresh. At 37signals we call this The Golden Path and we discuss it…

20/11/2024 No Comments

Our latest labour-of-love project: An OSS/BSS Process Mapping Guide

Have you ever been tasked with mapping out the processes for the telco you work for? Either as a way of documenting current state, or just to perform a first-time mapping for your company? It can be a lengthy exercise, and based on the regular feedback we get, a daunting task too. There are some wonderful resources, including TM Forum's eTOM and AXELOS's ITIL frameworks. These…

15/11/2024 No Comments

Challenger carriers are the high-speed traders of the telco world: How does this manifest in their OSS?

In the last week alone, I've had two potent reminders that the world of OSS is simply (pun intended) too complex. This manifests in many ways, but I'll start with the standards that underpin our industry. The standards bodies do fantastic work. I'm a huge fan. Enormous credit should go out to everyone who has contributed to the development of the multitude of standards because I…

05/11/2024 No Comments

AI is going to destroy (some) OSS architects and consultants. Does Good Will Hunting provide an antidote?

It seems fairly obvious (to me at least) that AI is an existential threat to many traditional information-based roles like consultants and architects. I've already seen one wave of this happen, so the next seems inevitable too. When I first entered the field of IT and telco consulting back in 2000, our clients engaged us because we had knowledge of, and/or access to, information that they…

30/10/2024 2 Comments

Applying Elon Musk’s “Idiot Index” to OSS

I've just finished reading the book, "Elon Musk," by Walter Isaacson. It's a fascinating study of a fascinating, and highly polarising engineer. Polarising, but also inspiring (inspiring what to avoid as much as inspiring what one could/should/can do). Musk's biography cites example after example of his ability to think big, but also think very small to solve problems across complex industries like space travel and automobiles.…

22/10/2024 No Comments

The best OSS I built was shut down after 2 years

My "best" OSS build was my first. Unfortunately the client shut it down after just over 2 years. Why? We'll get to that. What did I learn? We'll get to that too. I shouldn't say "my" OSS or "I built" because it was a massive effort from a very special team and I'm not trying to take much credit for it. But it was a pretty…

17/10/2024 No Comments

Are your OSS RFPs feeling horny baby?

In case you hadn't already picked up on it, today's title paraphrases Austin Powers, the flamboyant British spy and comedic character created by Mike Myers. What does a fictional British spy have to do with today's article on OSS RFPs? It's a bit of a tenuous link, but let's give it a go anyway. Did you know that acoustic horns had a big say in changing…

15/10/2024 No Comments

If you want your OSS to be Exceptional, it must be the Exception (chasm series, part 8)

Standing out in a highly saturated and fragmented OSS market can be really difficult. We're regularly involved in bake-offs where we see dozens of OSS compared against each other. We've recently been involved in one with 10 making the short-list for further analysis. All 10 are the best in class (for this client's unique needs anyway) but are all variations on a common theme:- similar functionalities,…

10/10/2024 No Comments

OSS Procurement Events: Buyers do Judge the Book by the Cover

One of the things I love about my job is all the vendor demos I get to see. Product demos are one of the four important steps in the "inverted pyramid" vendor selection process we follow with our carrier and utility clients as we go about finding a best-fit new OSS and/or BSS solution for their needs. And the vendor selection process is an important pre-requisite…

30/09/2024 No Comments

Applying ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ to OSS: Lessons I Learned about Market Testing, Prototyping and Automation

Have you read the book, "The 4-hour work week" by Tim Ferris? It was one of those relatively rare books that inspired a complete mindset shift and new ways of working for me. It's one of the many books that have nothing to do with OSS (at face value), but have so many learnings for the world of OSS. Clearly one of the learnings is not…

20/09/2024 No Comments

Will the Age of AI and Automation cause a rethink in OSS Licensing Models?

Over the years, we've been involved in many OSS procurement events and have seen a variety of different pricing models proposed by vendors. Being software, most vendors have quite a lot of pricing flexibility (others, not so much!). Naturally, pricing models can significantly influence a company's decision to select one vendor over another so I'm always interested to see each vendor's pricing approach. Traditional seat-based licensing…

10/09/2024 No Comments

What does RAN data have to do with Steve Jobs’ “connect the dots that are unconnectable” speech?

Earlier this week, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a talented RAN automation expert. He's one of Australia's foremost, hands-on, experts on SON (Self Organising Networks), so it was a fascinating conversation about network automation and many other things. The discussions inevitably led to RAN data. As much as I'm Passionate About OSS, the real love probably originates from the data that underpin OSS…

05/09/2024 No Comments

When it comes to OSS, are you a Tigger or an Eeyore?

I was listening to a group of telco experts on a podcast the other day. As they were talking, I kept picturing the image of Eeyore - you know, the donkey from A.A. Milne's "Winnie-the-Pooh" stories with an overly pessimistic outlook on life. Sources: https://getwallpapers.com The podcast was just soooo gloomy. Channeling Eeyore, I'll paraphrase: "Oh, bother. The telco industry and OSS markets, they’re just not…

02/09/2024 No Comments

Closing the OSS Buyer / Seller chasm – When the most expensive thing about your OSS product isn’t your price (part 7)

Earlier in the year, we wrote a series of articles about the chasm that exists between OSS/BSS buyers and sellers (pt1, pt2, pt3, pt4, pt5, pt6). "The chasm" is best exemplified by the situation where a buyer (eg carrier) desperately needs a new OSS and a seller (eg a software vendor) desperately wants to sell their OSS to the buyer, but it still takes 18-24 months to formalise a contract…

21/08/2024 No Comments

A question for my OSS developer friends

Actually, maybe a few related questions. As you've seen from recent articles such as this, I'm increasingly interested in the cross-over worlds of comms and energy. They're becoming increasingly linked, largely due to the current energy use of generative AI (I've seen estimates that GenAI searches consume around 10x the energy of equivalent traditional searches). This makes me ponder a bunch of questions about OSS /…

18/08/2024 No Comments

A novel OSS/BSS idea? Or is it?

I'd like to share an idea with you. I think it's a novel idea. However, I'm still trying to work through the possible pros / cons / feasibility of it, so I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. I'd also love to hear whether it actually is novel or whether you've seen something similar in OSS/BSS products before. The concept potentially relates to the functionality…

15/08/2024 No Comments

An OSS paradox: The split personality of being an OSS architect and writer

An interesting paradox struck me just recently. Having written nearly 2,750 articles here on this blog, I can probably lay claim to being a writer. Having done well over 50 OSS-related projects since the first one in 2000, I can probably also claim to be an OSS architect and consultant (although impostor syndrome does make that claim feel less warranted). The paradox lies in the distinct…

06/08/2024 No Comments

Partnership / Investment – A Strategic Opportunity for a Telco M&A Deal

Many of you will have already seen our Blue Book OSS/BSS Vendor Directory, which provides a view into the 500+ solutions that are available on the market. It's been a real labour-of-love project, draining lots and lots of time and resources to allow us to keep shining a light on the many outstanding suppliers / products in the OSS/BSS space. From a financial perspective, this project…

23/07/2024 No Comments

Can OSS manage comms networks, data centres and renewable energy sources?

Have you noticed that just a few people are writing about AI lately? No? None? Never seen an article about AI? Almost every article I read these days has strong undertones (or overtones) about AI. It's almost as impossible to miss as when Sam Altman was abruptly ousted from his position by OpenAI's board of directors in late 2023. AI was, and is, everywhere! If everyone…

17/07/2024 No Comments

MacGyvering Your OSS Budget: A Contrarian Approach to Solving an OSS Cost Conundrum

There are many reasons why it's hard to get an OSS transformation project off the ground. One of those reasons, a big one, is the catch-22 situation that arises when setting the budget for a project. How much does an OSS cost? How long is a piece of string? Some carriers, especially the smaller telcos that don't embark on OSS transformations very often, don’t know how…

08/07/2024 No Comments

The Olympians of OSS: Unveiling the key attributes of our most elite OSSletes

Athletes from around the globe will soon be descending on Paris to compete for Olympic medals in a multitude of events. Olympic champions will be determined through a variety of performance attributes - skill, strength, endurance, speed and much more - with different attributes required for any given event. That made me wonder - What are the performance attributes of the best OSSletes in the world?…

04/07/2024 No Comments

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