Zero Touch Assurance – ZTA (part 3)
This is the third in a series on ZTA, following on from yesterday’s post that suggested intentionally triggering events to allow the accumulation of a much larger library of historical network data. Today we’ll look at the impact of data collection on our ability to achieve ZTA and refer back to part 1 in the […]
Zero Touch Assurance – ZTA (part 2)
Yesterday we described the three steps on the path to Zero Touch Assurance: Monitoring – Monitoring the events that happen in the network and responding manually Post-cognition – Monitoring events / trends that happen in the network, comparing them to past situations (using analytics to identify repeating patterns), using the past to recommend (or automate) […]
Zero Touch Assurance – ZTA (part 1)
A couple of years ago, we published a series on pre-cognitive OSS based on the following quote by Ben Evans about three classes of search/discovery: There is giving you what you already know you want (Amazon, Google) There is working out what you want (Amazon and Google’s aspiration) And then there is suggesting what you might […]
A sad example of the challenges facing OSS supplier consolidation
Yesterday’s post, “Would an OSS duopoly be a good thing?” talked about the benefits and challenges of consolidation of the number of suppliers in the OSS market. I also promised that today I’ll share an example of the types of challenge that can be faced. An existing OSS supplier (Company A) had developed a significant […]
Would an OSS duopoly be a good thing?
The products/vendors page here on PAOSS has a couple of hundred entries currently. We’re currently working on an extended list that will almost double the number on it. More news on that shortly. The level of fragmentation fascinates me, but if I’m completely honest, it probably disappoints me too. It’s great that it’s providing the […]
Do you have a nagging OSS problem you cannot solve?
On Friday, we published a post entitled, “Think for a moment…” which posed the question of whether we might be better-served looking back at our most important existing features and streamlining them rather than inventing new features to solve that have little impact. Over the weekend, a promotional email landed in my inbox from Nightingale […]
Think for a moment…
“Many of the most important new companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Snapchat, Uber, Airbnb and more are winning not by giving good-enough solutions…, but rather by delivering a superior experience….” Ben Thompson, stratechery.com Think for a moment about the millions of developer hours that have gone into creating today’s OSS tools. Think also for […]
Nobody dabbles at dentistry
“There are some jobs that are only done by accredited professionals. And then there are most jobs, jobs that some people do for fun, now and then, perhaps in front of the bathroom mirror. It’s difficult to find your footing when you’re a logo designer, a comedian or a project manager. Because these are gigs […]
Am I being an OSShole?
““Am I being an asshole?” In other words, am I pointing out problems or am I finding solutions?” Ramit Sethi. One of the things I’ve noticed working on large and small OSS teams is that people who excel at finding solutions thrive in both. The ones who thrive on only identifying problems seemingly only function […]
Treating your OSS/BSS suite like a share portfolio
Like most readers, I’m sure your OSS/BSS suite consists of many components. What if you were to look at each of those components as assets? In a share portfolio, you analyse your stocks to see which assets are truly worth keeping and which should be divested. We don’t tend to take such a long-term analytical […]
2019 predictions for OSS
Well, this is the time of year when people make big predictions for the coming year. But let me start by saying the headline is something of a misnomer. I’m not clever enough to have any predictions for 2019 for a couple of reasons: There are far too many clever people working across the myriad […]
My favourite OSS saying
My favourite OSS saying – “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” OSS are amazing things. They’re designed to gather, process and compile all sorts of information from all sorts of sources. I like to claim that OSS/BSS are the puppet masters of any significant network operator because they assist in every corner of […]
How to kill the OSS RFP (part 4)
This is the fourth, and final part (I think) in the series on killing the OSS RFI/RFP process, a process that suppliers and customers alike find to be inefficient. The concept is based on an initiative currently being investigated by TM Forum. The previous three posts focused on the importance of trusted partnerships and the […]
How to kill the OSS RFP (part 3)
As the title suggests, this is the third in a series of articles spawned by TM Forum’s initiative to investigate better procurement practices than using RFI / RFP processes. There’s no doubt the RFI / RFP / contract model can be costly and time-consuming. To be honest, I feel the RFI / RFP process can […]
How to kill the OSS RFP (part 2)
Yesterday’s post discussed an initiative that TM Forum is currently investigating – trying to identify an alternate OSS procurement process to the traditional RFI/RFP/contract approach. It spoke about trusting partnerships being the (possibly) mythological key to killing off the RFP. Have you noticed how much fear there is going into any OSS procurement event? Fear […]
How to kill the OSS RFP
TM Forum is currently investigating ways to procure OSS without resorting to the current RFI / RFP approach. It has published the following survey results. . As it shows, the RFI / RFP isn’t fit for purpose for suppliers and customers alike. It’s not just the RFI/RFP process. We could extend this further and include […]
OSS answers that are simple but wrong vs complex but right
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…” John F Kennedy. Let’s face it. The business of running a telco is complex. […]
Thump thump clap
I recently watched the film Bohemian Rhapsody about Freddy Mercury and the band Queen. The title of this blog refers to the sounds made by the band at the start of their song, “We Will Rock You.” There was a scene in the movie showing the origins of Thump Thump Clap, with the band adding […]
That’s not where to disrupt your OSS
The diagram below comes from an actual client’s functionality usage profile. The x-axis shows the functionality / use-cases. The y-axis shows the number of uses (it could equally represent usefulness or value). Each big-impact demand (ie individual bars on the left-side of the graph) warrants separate investigation. The bars on the right side (ie the […]
The Jeff Bezos prediction for OSS
“If we start to focus on ourselves, instead of focusing on our customers, that will be the beginning of the end … We have to try and delay that day for as long as possible.” Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos recently predicted that Amazon is likely to fail and/or go bankrupt at some point in time, […]