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
“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 […]
Small companies “are uncluttered, simple informal. They thrive on passion and ridicule bureaucracy. Small companies grow on good ideas – regardless of their source. They need everyone, involve everyone, and reward or remove people based on their contribution to winning. Small companies dream big dreams and set the bar high – increments and fractions don’t […]
“You can’t grow long-term if you can’t eat short-term. Anybody can manage short. Anybody can manage long. Balancing those two things is what management is.” Jack Welch. When it comes to developing an OSS product, the balance of these two mindsets is always a challenge. Does a particular customer requirement today make sense for the […]
“As far as income goes, there are three currencies in the world; most people ignore two. The three currencies are time, income and mobility, in descending order of importance. Most people focus exclusively on income.” Timothy Ferriss. In yesterday’s blog, we discussed how e-business and mobility was impacting ITSM approaches but we didn’t discuss much […]
“Enterprises able to successfully innovate at a breakthrough level are far more likely to dominate and prosper in the new markets they create” From a recent survey conducted by Accenture In the survey discussed above 93% of executive respondents indicated their long-term success relied on innovation. However only one-third felt their organisation were well placed to innovate. […]
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Kenneth Blanchard. Many CSPs are realising the benefits, to themselves and their customers, by diversifying their customer touch points to include new channels. This includes offering self-help and “instant” customer interaction channels (ie web chat, instant messaging, social networking, etc) in addition to the traditional channels such as email, retail […]
“For many people a job is more than an income – it’s an important part of who we are. So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life.” Paul Clitheroe. As a consultant, I’ve had many new roles at many different organisations in different […]
“In most companies, the formal hierarchy is a matter of public record – it’s easy to discover who’s in charge of what. By contrast, natural leaders don’t appear on any organization chart.” Gary Hamel. In making the decision to take on a major new OSS project there is normally a significant hierarchy of individuals involved. […]
“I don’t look at myself as a commodity, but I’m sure a lot of people have.” Marilyn Monroe Will there be a time in the not too distant future where traditional telco services become a pure commodity? For example, will users simply plug into socket in their wall and get ubiquitous bandwidth / cloud services […]
“People usually act for their own reasons, not someone else’s reasons. If they do change a behavior because of something someone else has said, most of the time that change won’t stick. The secret of Instant Influence is that it helps people discover their own reasons for doing something, even something they thought they didn’t […]
“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. In an earlier post entitled “serving an apprenticeship,” I spoke about the length of time it takes for each OSS newbie to reach a state of being productive. […]
“You can’t plan a script. The beauty of improvisation is you are experiencing it in the moment. If you try to plan what the next line is supposed to be, you’re just going to be disappointed when the other people on stage with you don’t do or say what you want them to do and […]
“Much of what is called investment is actually nothing more than mergers and acquisitions, and of course mergers and acquisitions are generally accompanied by downsizing.” Susan George Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are challenging for their OSS teams on a number of different levels – across technology and personnel. Maintaining business as usual means that all […]
