OSS Transformation is all about managing change – organisationally, functionally and operationally during in-flight projects. This is the most commonly overlooked factor when planning OSS projects
“When a match has equal partners then I fear not.” Aeschylus. The major OSS of the nineties and noughties can be categorised as centralised, structured (ie built on relational databases and modelling connection-oriented services) and not-quite-realtime. I envisage the next generation will be distributed, unstructured (ie virtualised and with rapid shifts in data sources) and […]
“We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.” Billy Graham. Have you ever stopped to wonder why most CSP’s OSS are so complex? Put simply, they are almost all hoarders. They collect services, device types, management systems, data, interfaces, etc. But how often do they ever discard one? Even when […]
“Those parts of the system that you can hit with a hammer are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software.” Anonymous. Virtualisation of the network (read SDN, NFV, etc) is a game changer for OSS. To follow the anonymous quote above, most current OSS are great at managing […]
“Inditex (the owner of the Zara fashion brand) has weathered the global economic downturn better than rivals like H&M as its “fast fashion” model has allowed it to be more responsive to changing consumer demand, while its focus on the latest trends has made it less vulnerable to the rise of discounters like Primark.” Thomson […]
“It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” Grace Hopper. There are many barriers to delivering an OSS, often built up from the rules of the organisations involved. Sometimes the rules make sense. Other times, rules (and the people responsible for enforcing these rules) just prevent progress. The best implementers […]
“When you rent a car with unlimited mileage and a full tank of gas, how far are you willing to go? You’re only limited by desire and time. The web feels that way to me. You can share as many secrets, ask as many questions, write as many blog posts as you can dream up. […]
“IT as a service is a game changer. Because you now have components of the IT department existing in the cloud, you free your in-house IT staff to shift from a maintenance mode to an innovation mode. As such, your IT department can focus on achieving business goals, creating innovative solutions, and driving sales rather […]
“I think doing variations on a classical theme is a dangerous thing to do.” Tori Amos. Many organisations select a COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) OSS tool and immediately start thinking about customisations to make it do exactly what they want. That’s one way… but not necessarily the best long-term solution. Customisations are intoxicating for both CSPs […]
“Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its motion (including a change in direction).” Wikipedia. According to classical physics, Force equals Mass x Acceleration (F = ma). In other words, the greater the mass, the more force must be applied to reach a given acceleration (ie to effect a change). […]
“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” Fidel Castro. In yesterday’s blog, we discussed the air-traffic controller analogy for incremental change to your OSS via the use of projects. Today we talk of transformational change. Transformation has appeared in the Telco vernacular as a guiding vision of a […]
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” Alan Watts. A colleague and friend suggested the following as a topic to write about – “…describing OSS projects would be the constant ongoing change to the business environment supported and technology base enabling […]
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Albert Einstein. The OTT-T (Over The Top Threat) is ringing “destructive innovation” alarm bells in the ears of most global telcos. The OTT (Over The Top) play threatens to take the cream off the top, relegating CSPs to commoditised bandwidth providers whilst remaining capital intensive (it’s […]
“I love taking an idea… to a prototype and then to a product that millions of people use.” Susan Wojcicki. When it comes to starting with an OSS build, I’m a big believer in the benefits of building a rapid prototype in one of the customer’s pre-production* environment. Most suppliers approach their OSS implementation projects […]
“I’ve always challenged myself and the people who work with me to take new approaches to traditional business challenges, to push the envelope and constantly ask whether our sacred cows are still producing great milk.” Irene Rosenfeld. In an earlier blog, entitled Ruthless Simplification, the topic of being ruthless in your simplification was discussed. Further […]
“A long apprenticeship is the most logical way to success. The only alternative is overnight stardom, but I can’t give you a formula for that.” Chet Atkins. Thanks to a recent comment from Laurence Smith regarding training (see here), I thought I’d elaborate on a theoretical approach I have mulled over previously for overcoming a common […]
“One has to passionately believe it is possible to change the industry, to turn it on its head, to make sure that it will never be the same again.” Richard Branson. Have you heard of these two TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) – NFV and SDN? If you haven’t, it might be time to do some […]
“1. What percentage of your time is spent creating something new, as opposed to working out operational details or protecting the past? 2. List five ways that you can beat your competition. How could they beat you? 3. If you were entering your industry as a startup, how would you break the mold to beat […]
“The likes of Facebook and Whatsapp are eroding traditional revenue streams and CSPs therefore need to prioritize, looking at alternative streams instead of relying on traditional revenue streams which offer legacy services like voice and SMS.” Timo Ahomäki. OTT players like Whatsapp are definitely a threat to CSP revenue streams and are clearly causing erosion […]
“One of our three candidate picks for CEO would be a leader who has made elephants dance and has the gravitas that would make Wall Street swoon.” Carl Howe. The comment above is in relation to finding a replacement for Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft. That doesn’t have a whole lot of relevance to […]
“These are calculated automagically” Darryl Harvey. OSS automations like flow-through provisioning are the holy grail of CSPs as they seek to offer self-service models for their customers. As Darryl mentions above, CSPs often expect OSS vendors to get these automations working automagically. Perhaps you’re more familiar with the other mythical term, “out-of-the-box.” But behind the […]
