…And it works with Alexa
In the past we’ve posed the concept of using a search front-end as a user friendly interface to the OSS of the future. This UI would have the ability to poll all of the disparate systems that make up an OSS / BSS stack and curate responses. The front-end would need to be smart, but […]
Inverting the iceberg to get more funding for your OSS
In the last couple of days, we’ve discussed frameworks that could allow CSPs to design disruptive business models around factors that our OSS / BSS can control. Not exactly riveting stuff for the tech-heads amongst the reader-base, but relevant for the amount of investment that gets directed into the tech projects that we all work […]
What happens if we cross high-speed trading with OSS?
“The law of diminishing marginal utility is a theory in economics that says that with increased consumption, satisfaction decreases. ou are at a park on a winter’s day, and someone is selling hot dogs for $1 each. You eat one. It tastes good and satisfies you, so you have another one, and another etc. Eventually, […]
Crossing the OSS tech chasm
When discussing yesterday’s post about increasing feedback loops in OSS, the technology gap on exponential technologies such as IoT, network virtualisation and machine learning reminded me of Geoffrey Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm” as shown in the graph below. In the context of the abovementioned technologies, the chasm isn’t represented by the adoption of a product (as per […]
Getting ahead of feedback
“Amazon is making its Greengrass functional programming cloud-to-premises bridge available to all customers… This is an important signal to the market in the area of IoT, and also a potentially critical step in deciding whether edge (fog) computing or centralized cloud will drive cloud infrastructure evolution… The most compelling application for [Amazon] Lambda is event […]
The first date principle of product development
“…don’t ask your customers what they like or don’t like about your product. Or what they’d change if they could. That’s all about you. If you want really insightful answers, ask them about themselves instead. You can find out a ton about you by asking them about them.” Jason Fried. We’ve previously discussed how the […]
The OSS / Singapore analogy
Singapore has made some really innovative decisions over the years. Recent ones include tokenisation of the Singapore Dollar on cyber-currencies, investing heavily in international startups based in Singapore and the streamlining of identity management (which will undoubtedly help to get around one of the biggest blockers to self-on-boarding new customers onto comms networks, particularly mobile). […]
That’s just a toy
“It is unquestionably true that many of the most important technology advances looked like toys at first – the web, mobile phones, PCs, aircraft, cars and even hot and cold running water at one stage looked like faddish toys for the rich or the young. Even video games, which literally are toys, are also largely […]
Looking outside for innovation strategy
“Brainstorms inside the company are useful but not as efficient as stepping outside and checking out the world around you. A lot of companies talk about innovation strategy. I always laugh when I hear that. In this rapidly changing world you cannot talk about innovation strategy anymore. That implies some sort of planning or forecasting […]
OSS S-curves
“I should say… that in the real world exponential curves don’t continue for ever. We get S-curves which closely mimic exponential curves in the beginning, but then tail off after a while often as new technologies hit physical limits which prevent further progress. What seems to happen in practice is that some new technology emerges […]
OSS survivorship bias
Take a look at the image below. If you were told that the image showed where planes had taken hits in WWII before returning to base and were asked to recommend locations on the plane where armour should be strengthened, where would you choose? Would you choose to strengthen behind the cockpit and on the […]
If telcos don’t issue bills, where does new revenue come from?
“Many of you here are working on digitalisation projects but I would urge you to think bigger. You need to think about business model change – with existing customers or into whole new sectors. It isn’t just about product innovation. It’s about company innovation.” Deborah Sherry at TM Forum Live! I really like the way […]
Just three things
I was due to speak at TM Forum Live today but wasn’t able to make it across to France this year. However, the talk will still continue on, so if you’re in Nice please drop in to listen to Amrit Singh and Crispin Blackall talk about how Infosys and Telstra are using microservices to deliver […]
Designing your way out of jeopardy
In an earlier post entitled, “Looking Forward to Jeopardy and Fall-outs,” I described a method for projecting forward to the likelihood of a design falling into a failure state and using that data to drive continual improvement. Not only that, but to drive the future of self-service telco designs, as I’ll describe today! The diagram […]
Total eclipse of the start-up
. Did you notice that I was channeling Bonnie Tyler in the title there? No? No matter… The concept in the diagram above is courtesy of Roger Gibson (yes, I made you [more] famous Roger). Obviously, it is showing that business models and technology are increasingly overlapping. This simple diagram also shows why the business/technology […]
OSS chat bots
“Some pilots are proving quite interesting in enhancing Network Operations. Especially when AI / ML is used in the form of Natural language processing – NOC operators are talking to a ML system in natural language and asking questions in context to an alarm about deep topics ( BGP, 4G eUTRAN, etc). Do more with […]
Communications Support Systems (CSS)
Have you ever worked in a big telco (or any large organisation for that matter)? Have you ever noticed the disconnection in knowledge / information? On a recent project, I was brought in as an external consultant to find potential improvements to one business unit’s specific key performance indicator (KPI). As a consultant, my role […]
Looking forward to jeopardy and fall-outs
When we find that orders have gone into (are about to go into) a jeopardy state or a fall-out state, the experts are brought in and tend to work backwards to identify the problem and resolve it. But what if our OSS were able to predict the likelihood of future failure and present that information […]
Out-running the bear
“A bear jumps out of a bush and starts chasing two hikers. They both start running for their lives, but then one of them stops to put on his running shoes. His friends says, “What are you doing? You can’t out-run a bear!” His friend replies, “I don’t have to out-run the bear. I only […]
Nobody cares about your products and services
“Many people steeped in the tradition of product promotion naturally feel drawn to prattle on and on about their products and services. But I have news for you. Nobody cares (except you). Yes, you read that right. Get over it. What people do care about is themselves and solving problems. How do you do that?” […]