Free eBook from multiple OSS experts

I’m delighted to announce the arrival of PAOSS’s latest publication, an eBook entitled, “OSS Masterclasses – Insights from Thought-Leaders in Operational Support Systems (OSS).” You can grab it via the link above or by clicking on the image below-right.   SYNOPSIS: In creating content here on PassionateAboutOSS.com, I spend a great deal of time writing about […]

OSS to enable network aggregation

“The Value Fabric: A guide to doing business in the digital world begins by addressing the questions, “How are multi-party, multi-industry business models represented in today’s digital world?” and “How should business be conducted in the digital world?”” John Reilly in the first paragraph of his new book, “The Value Fabric: A guide to doing […]

OSS can’t save their way to greatness

“Communications service providers (CSPs) need to move from a mentality of saving costs to one of creating new sources of revenue. Those can come from effective use of CSP data, greater exploitation of the customer relationship and improved agility and flexibility to introduce new services over virtualised networks.” Marek Maroszek here on Vanilla Plus. I […]

Engaging with customers

“One of the main assets that CSPs have is their customer base but when you compare the level of engagement a CSP has with its customers, compared to a say, Facebook or LinkedIn, there’s no comparison. Is it fair to say that CSPs are not engaging with their customer base and therefore are at risk […]

CFOs with 360 degree OSS views

“The CFO’s understanding of the balance sheet and what drives value, together with his or her growing influence in strategy setting and technology decisions, makes the CFO an ideal business partner and agent of change. CFOs that have this 360 degree view of technology enablement and processes will be uniquely placed to help the whole […]

Valuable OSS – my new eBook

I’m pleased to announce the arrival of my latest publication, an eBook entitled, “Valuable OSS – Delivering a Return on Your Investment in Operational Support Systems (OSS).” You can grab it for free until 25 July 2015 via the link above or by clicking on the image below-right. Also keep your eye out for another […]

Lowering the cost point of processing

“Why do we have to end up processing packets in four or five different locations for different functions? That doesn’t make any sense at all. Connectem consolidates packet gateway functions to process each packet just once, which is much more efficient. This is going to be important as the world moves toward IoT because the […]

Braess’ Paradox in OSS

“Braess’s paradox is a proposed explanation for why a seeming improvement to a road network can impede traffic through it. It was exposed in 1968 by mathematician Dietrich Braess who noticed that adding a road to a congested road traffic network could increase overall journey time, and has been used to explain incidences of improved […]

How can I add value to you?

Today’s blog is all about you (actually they all have you in mind collectively, but this one encourages you to voice your specific obstacles to progress). In the world of OSS (or perhaps even beyond), what value can I add that goes beyond the generalities of a blog and will help you get what you […]

OSS and security overlap

“The CISO as a marketer and leader: The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO, or equivalent) will become less focused on technology and security tools, and become considerably more focused on marketing. This is not only focused ‘upwards’ to the Executive team and Board but also across the organisation to all staff and even involve end […]

Having trouble getting funding for your OSS?

“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” John Wesley. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s OSS were much more sexy than they are today. As such, they were easier to find funding for than they are today. Perhaps one reason for this is the imperceptible benefits that […]

OSS ROIC (part 6) – Oops. I forgot one… Sort of

“The second question to ask is: can existing assets be reused or recycled? In other words, can the investment be deferred? One of the most common claims used to support an investment case is that the investment is necessary because the network is congested. This is often correct; capacity upgrades are a fact of life […]

OSS ROIC (part 5) – Should an investment be made?

“There are two questions to ask during the capex planning process that get to the heart of the issue. First, should a particular investment be made at all? The majority of operators have a long tail of marginally profitable—or downright unprofitable—products, networks, customers, channels and segments. A request for additional investment in such assets is […]

OSS ROIC (part 4) – The technology dilemma

“In our company there’s still a bit of the ‘build and customers will come’ mentality, but those days are gone. If we build the wrong thing in the wrong place or at the wrong price, the customers won’t follow. So, rather than letting technology drive our capex decisions, we need to adopt a more commercial […]

OSS ROIC (part 3) – Four divergent solutions

“As Figure 1 (below) shows, global capex levels have soared from just over US$50 billion to about US$325 billion in real terms over the past 30 years…Yet this massive investment isn’t producing the returns the industry requires… the telecoms industry is at an inflexion point. It’s spending lots of money on new infrastructure, but it’s […]

OSS ROIC (part 2) – Four justification attempts

“Are your colleagues in Marketing, IT, Networks or Finance frustrated with how your company’s capex is allocated, how that capex is controlled or the performance it delivers?” Report entitled, “We need to talk about CAPEX – Benchmarking best practice in telecom capital allocation.” In Friday’s blog, I posed a series of questions about OSS and […]

Does your OSS provide a ROIC?

“…in a capital intensive industry like telecom, the key metric is return on capital, especially when that industry turns ex-growth. Revenue, EBITDA and cash are useful interim steps along the way, but the ultimate end-point is ROI. It’s not a clever conclusion, but it’s not the consensus conclusion either. Unfortunately, such basic principles have gotten […]

OSS – the afterthought

“Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nickel alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless. Through that period of time, his record and film production company was supporting the storage battery effort. Then one night the terrifying cry of ‘Fire’ echoed through the film plant. […]

Another sticky BSS story

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” John Buchan. Yesterday’s story about vendors building irreplaceable staff reminded me of another sticky BSS story. A very big carrier I knew had a very complex billing process. It required a variety […]

Sticky OSS viruses

“Welcome those big, sticky, complicated problems. In them are your most powerful opportunities.” Ralph Marston. In previous blogs such as, “The marriage analogy” and “If people like you,” I’ve spoken about the perils of vendor lock-in. But today, I’ve decided to play out the polar opposite perspective for the purpose of curiosity. Please take a […]