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
Wait, “What??” I hear you ask! No it can’t. Have you ever worked on a BIG OSS project? One where the budget is in the hundreds of millions of dollars? Or even tens of millions of dollars? Have those big projects delivered your best transformation outcomes? Or have other projects, with more constrained budgets, been […]
When speaking with a customer last week, I was hearing the same expression of anguish that I’ve heard so many times before. The anguish of getting an OSS business case approved. Actually, in this rare case, the business case had already been approved. The budget had been allocated long ago. The exec sponsors were onboard […]
There were plenty of search engines before Google came along and grabbed a lot of the search market share. There were plenty of generative AI solutions before ChatGPT appeared and created a large amount of buzz too. The question is why did they grab attention / users and what can we learn from that to […]
It’s funny how you sometimes unlock powerful work techniques without intending to isn’t it? So powerful that they become an important part of the way you work on future OSS/BSS projects. Or perhaps just an incisive tool that you pull out of your kit-bag in certain situations. A few years ago I was helping a […]
Have you pondered what the greatest assets are for telcos with their current business models? We recently looked at their Fundamental telco differentiators but what about assets / strengths? Some may cite factors such as network infrastructure, spectrum, intellectual property (IP) or employees (and I’ll always include OSS/BSS in this list naturally). These might all […]
Do you ever get that feeling that your mental models of the telco / tech / OSS/BSS worlds are different to those of almost everyone else? Do you feel like there are the status-quo approaches that are kind of proven, but still not really as good as they could be? That there must be even […]
When you think about fundamental differentiators for telcos, what factors come to your mind? Perhaps it is one of the following (with a typical description of that differentiation factor provided): Coverage: Operators with extensive coverage (ie fixed-line footprint and/or mobile coverage) may have an advantage over those with limited coverage areas Network quality: Operators with […]
The cool part of this time of year, the holiday period, is that it prompts you to look backwards and look forwards. To be honest, writing articles here on the blog prompts me to do that throughout the year too, but there does tend to be a bit more downtime for reflection around the boundary […]
With the holidays almost upon us in many parts of the world, I thought I’d share an analogy. Like many analogies, it’s a bit oversimplified. It’s also possibly a bit inflammatory in some circles. Hopefully though, it gives a different frame of reference for how the telco business model has changed over the years. More […]
A seismic shift is happening that will change the world of OSS/BSS so fundamentally in the next few years that it totally blows my mind. It will be the biggest in my 20+ year career in the telco industry. The following pic is from an IA Summit Keynote by Charles Lamanna, the Corporate VP of […]
I can see it now. This post is going to get quite a bit off-topic before looping back around to there being an OSS moral-of-the-story. Before that, we’ll touch on a few slightly more tangential topics. Strap yourself in. The ride’s going to get a bit bumpy. As you saw in an earlier post, my […]
Seth Godin recently wrote a brilliant article that describes the craziness of seeking a market with no competition. In entirety, his article goes like this: “There’s no competition for cookbooks on making food out of soccer balls and hockey pucks. There’s no competition for software that charges you to find out the temperature on Mars. There’s no […]
I’ve spent the last 22-ish years working on OSS and even longer on telco projects. Most of that time has involved way more than the typical 40 hour work week (often more than double). But the amazing thing is that it’s (almost) never felt like it. Time has almost always seemed to fly by so […]
I’ve just about finished writing my next book (way later than intended due to large client project load this year). This one includes 50+ techniques to simplify Digital Transformations (mostly through the lens of OSS transformations).I’d love to get your thoughts about the 2-3 things that I absolutely MUST cover in the book! Leave us […]
Back when I was a little kid, not many of my classmates had footballs. The kid with the ball decided what game was played and who could play. They owned the key asset. The right to play. The other kids were drawn to the game because the asset was unique. These days, the balls are […]
Last week was kind of exciting (and a bit manic!). As well as working on a tech due-diligence (DD) and an important client OSS/BSS roadmap, I had the chance to witness some important steps in the progression on telco Augmented Reality (AR) use-cases. On the software side, we already have many exciting use-cases lining up […]
“The telecom industry is hurtling towards a staffing and skills precipice at a frightening pace, and truly embracing diversity and inclusion in recruitment and human resources strategies looks to be the only way to avoid a calamity, a somewhat sombre Keri Gilder [CEO of Colt Technology Services, a UK-based telco] told attendees here [at TM […]
Earlier in the year, Omdia commissioned Passionate About OSS to write a report about the future of network inventory. Not just how the tools themselves are changing, but how they might be used, the new ways of working that will be centred around them, how migration strategies are changing and much more. Now in conjunction […]
In the early days of my career, I was the stereotypical Engineer. I’d get into a project, do the best job I possibly could from a technical perspective, and then get out to move onto the next project. Looking back, I unfortunately had blinkers on through those years. I’ve been lucky to have retained some […]
The \#Adtran #FibreBroadband Symposium was held in Melbourne on 3rd August 2022. This video link below shows the presentation we made at the conference: It’s designed specifically for network builders, to show the relevance that OSS and BSS have for their worlds. It also shows a very high level view of OSS past, present and future – […]
