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
The Iceberg of Ignorance, (shown in the diagram below) is a widely revered model of imperfect communication between the coalface and the boardroom in large organisations. However, in telecommunications, it bears a striking resemblance to our own OSS/BSS information collection frameworks, revealing a design flaw that impacts situational awareness. And the only way to melt […]
Telcos have tolerated lengthy OSS/BSS rollouts as a necessary evil for years, but what if those same systems are the chains holding the telco world back. Which is the chicken and which is the egg? Is it OSS/BSS and/or the market that needs a radical reboot? Which must be rebooted first? OSS and BSS are […]
You’ve already got your dragon slayers. Your team is filled with seasoned OSS professionals who’ve faced complex, high-stakes problems and lived to tell the tale. They’re reliable, sharp, and tested. But if you’re the King / Queen, the one responsible for building the team, then you need more than just experience. You need adaptability. Perspective. […]
This article provides a summary of our Buyer-Seller Chasm series of articles, where we start with the guiding principle that: The buyers (carriers) desperately need better tools to transform their operations. The sellers (vendors) already have better tools, which they desperately want to sell. The problem worth solving lies in the extraordinary amount of time, […]
Everyone’s chasing a better OSS, which for most means planning the next OSS platform migration. Yet we rarely ask the key questions that guarantees long-term success: “When was the last time someone in your team really challenged the way things are done?” “Does everyone on your team feel empowered / safe to pose radical new […]
Most people think AI innovation depends on breakthroughs in models and training algorithms. But those are just the surface. Underneath, OSS and BSS aren’t the constraint, but their coordination could become the ultimate facilitator of intelligence. Sam Altman’s testimony at the Senate Committee Hearings on 8 May 2025 only underscores that: “I think it’s hard […]
Forget what’s trending in telecom. The future of telecom isn’t about what changes. It’s about what never will. It’s not about desperately trying to keep up with all the fads or buzzwords. It’s about delivering the things your customers will never stop expecting. Why Jeff Bezos Designs Platforms for Stability, Not Speed Jeff Bezos famously […]
Making your OSS easy to use isn’t about adding more “easyness” – it’s about subtracting what sucks. “To make your stuff “easier to use” you don’t make it “easier.” You look at all the things that make it hard, then remove them one by one. Easy isn’t something you add. It’s what’s left over after […]
During my first forays into OSS, over a period of 6+ years, I averaged 85 hours a week whilst being paid for a 40 hour week – and loved every minute of it! It wasn’t because I had to, but because I wanted to – all because OSS felt like play. Time was meaningless as […]
Telco appears to be an increasingly tough industry. Demand for connectivity continues to soar, yet profitability and differentiation are becoming ever more difficult to achieve. The traditional telco playbook – built on infrastructure, scale, and one-size-fits-all services – is collapsing under the weight of commoditisation and digital disruption. Telco services have never been more essential, […]
Most OSS platforms monitor, but only the best ones take action. Is yours a thermometer or a thermostat? Does your OSS only report the temperature, or can it actually help change your environment? Do you think your OSS is doing enough? It could be missing the crucial capabilities that power future-ready networks. Below we provide […]
For decades, OSS has followed the same pattern: design, then keep adding lots more “baked-in” capabilities into a complex OSS UI, process inputs, generate outputs. At incredible scale. We made them faster, (somewhat) more automated, and vastly more scalable. But we never made them think. Until now… If… (we’ll come back to the if shortly). […]
A good friend and OSS/BSS collaborator, Raman, recently asked me, “Wish they made it (buying OSS/BSS solutions) as simple as buying cars. If I have a budget of $50K for my family car to take me from Point A to Point B, I won’t be talking to luxury German brands, only looking at some pragmatic […]
Have you ever had an OSS or BSS project that’s impacted by poor data quality? The problem of data integrity gets raised on almost every project we get involved with here at PAOSS, especially when passive assets such as cables, splice joints, etc are involved. Our systems face a perennial challenge of poor data quality. […]
In the last week alone, I’ve had two potent reminders that the world of OSS is simply (pun intended) too complex. This manifests in many ways, but I’ll start with the standards that underpin our industry. The standards bodies do fantastic work. I’m a huge fan. Enormous credit should go out to everyone who has […]
I’ve just finished reading the book, “Elon Musk,” by Walter Isaacson. It’s a fascinating study of a fascinating, and highly polarising engineer. Polarising, but also inspiring (inspiring what to avoid as much as inspiring what one could/should/can do). Musk’s biography cites example after example of his ability to think big, but also think very small […]
Standing out in a highly saturated and fragmented OSS market can be really difficult. We’re regularly involved in bake-offs where we see dozens of OSS compared against each other. We’ve recently been involved in one with 10 making the short-list for further analysis. All 10 are the best in class (for this client’s unique needs […]
Have you read the book, “The 4-hour work week” by Tim Ferris? It was one of those relatively rare books that inspired a complete mindset shift and new ways of working for me. It’s one of the many books that have nothing to do with OSS (at face value), but have so many learnings for […]
Over the years, we’ve been involved in many OSS procurement events and have seen a variety of different pricing models proposed by vendors. Being software, most vendors have quite a lot of pricing flexibility (others, not so much!). Naturally, pricing models can significantly influence a company’s decision to select one vendor over another so I’m […]
Earlier this week, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a talented RAN automation expert. He’s one of Australia’s foremost, hands-on, experts on SON (Self Organising Networks), so it was a fascinating conversation about network automation and many other things. The discussions inevitably led to RAN data. As much as I’m Passionate About OSS, […]
