OSS are tools that help to make lives easier for CSP users and their customers. Here I present ideas for new OSS tools or innovations
“When we talk about building capabilities by design, there are a set of four core capabilities that you should keep in mind: Designed for self-sufficiency: Enable an environment where the business user is capable of acquiring, blending, presenting, and visualizing their data discoveries. IT needs to move away from being command and control to being […]
“The far-reaching impact of the technology revolution of 2007 with the launch of the Apple iPhone is not to be underestimated. Across every industry, Apple has had a profound influence through the psychological effect of how consumers expect technology to interact with them. People now expect good design as part of their visual communication and […]
Data quality is the bane of many a telco. If the data quality is rubbish then the OSS tools effectively become rubbish too. Feedback loops are one of the most underutilised tools in a data fix arsenal. However, few people realise that there are two levels of feedback loops. There’s what I refer to as […]
Since reading the first book on this list, I’ve become a very avid and wide-ranging reader. The seeds sown by the book list below have immensely helped enrich the content you see here on the PAOSS blog and other PAOSS content. These are the books that have most inspired me or influenced my thinking. Sometimes […]
Have you noticed all the recent headlines about the big, iconic brands in our industry struggling to make targets, cutting headcounts, etc.? This covers vendors and service providers alike. As a complete generalisation: Vendors are going backwards Traditional CSPs are going backwards Profit decline means projects and investments in OSS can only be trending downwards […]
“The only way to get rid of Dirty Tickets of Work (DToW) is to get rid of Tickets of Work (ToW)” DToW is terminology used in Telstra to indicate that incorrect information has been entered into the ToW or where the field tech hasn’t been able to complete the ToW as originally designed / planned. […]
I’ve been promising to release an OSS Call for Innovation, a manifesto of what OSS can become – a manifesto that also describes areas where exponential improvements are just waiting to happen . It can be found here: https://passionateaboutoss.com/oss-call-for-innovation/ And you’ll also notice that it’s a new top-level menu item here on PAOSS. Each time […]
OSS tend to be powerful software suites that can do millions of things. Experts at the vendors / integrators know how to pull the puppet’s strings and make it dance. As a reader of PAOSS, chances are that you are one of those experts. I’ve sat through countless vendor demonstrations, but I’m sure you’ll still […]
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” Eric S. Raymond, whose quote is now known as Linus’ Law in honour of Linus Torvalds. In other words, if you have enough people looking at the code, someone will surely categorise the problem and then the community will also figure out a way to solve it. The […]
“Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are about to transform and disrupt the network operator industry. That’s why Swisscom, Telia Company and Proximus, three leading telco providers from across Europe, are jointly issuing this unique Call for Innovation and invite startups and innovators developing “Next Generation Virtual Telco Functions & Services (SDN […]
“One of the biggest insights we had was that we decided not to try to manage your music library on the iPod, but to manage it in iTunes. Other companies tried to do everything on the device itself and made it so complicated that it was useless.” Steve Jobs. How does this insight apply to […]
“Smart Data Discovery goes beyond data monitoring to help business users discover subtle and important factors and identify issues and patterns within the data so the organization can identify challenges and capitalize on opportunities. These tools allow business users to leverage sophisticated analytical techniques without the assistance of technical professionals or analysts. Users can perform advanced […]
As recently discussed with two friends and colleagues, Raman and Darko, Proofs of Concept (PoC) or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implementations can be a double-edged sword. By building something without fully knowing the end-game, you are potentially building tech-debt that may be very difficult to work around without massive (or complete) overhaul of what you’ve […]
“Today’s consumers want to get the best prices, but offering your brand at a discount can undermine profits and threaten viability. Smart brands utilize strategies to create and sustain a meaningful difference that helps consumers justify spending more.” Nigel Hollis, in his PoV on branding. I once read a statistic that at one point Apple […]
The diagram above comes from research by AT Kearney and Delta Partners courtesy of an article by Mark Newman of TM Forum. It provides an interesting perspective on CSPs’ ability to “compete” with a broader, more digitally native group of service providers. The golden age for CSPs was when they transported data from point A […]
“Flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in […]
Back in early 2014, PAOSS posted an article about the importance of closed loop designs in OSS, which included the picture below: It generated quite a bit of discussion at the time and led me to being introduced to two companies that were separately doing some interesting aspects of this theoretical closed loop system. [Interestingly, […]
“Amazon established an architecture to leverage its assets for implementing a wide range of business models in a repeatable way for the retail industry. In most cases, Amazon is exposing product offerings it doesn’t actually own. It carries some inventory for third parties, but its main tasks now are vetting retail partners, ensuring product quality, […]
“Here are a few questions I reflect on: – Am I excited to be doing what I’m doing or am I in aimless motion? – Are the trade-offs between work and my relationships well-balanced? – How can I speed up the process from where I am to where I want to go? – What big […]
“Relationships with the things we ‘consume’ (rather than ‘own’) are increasing, and are being governed by ongoing supply arrangements between customers and vendors. What sits at the heart of these relationships, from a financial perspective, is billing. The entity that has the billing relationship with the customer essentially ‘owns’ the customer – they have the […]
