The OctopOSS offers unlimited opportunities to learn and grow
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 […]
It seems fairly obvious (to me at least) that AI is an existential threat to many traditional information-based roles like consultants and architects. I’ve already seen one wave of this happen, so the next seems inevitable too. When I first entered the field of IT and telco consulting back in 2000, our clients engaged us […]
My “best” OSS build was my first. Unfortunately the client shut it down after just over 2 years. Why? We’ll get to that. What did I learn? We’ll get to that too. I shouldn’t say “my” OSS or “I built” because it was a massive effort from a very special team and I’m not trying […]
In case you hadn’t already picked up on it, today’s title paraphrases Austin Powers, the flamboyant British spy and comedic character created by Mike Myers. What does a fictional British spy have to do with today’s article on OSS RFPs? It’s a bit of a tenuous link, but let’s give it a go anyway. Did […]
One of the things I love about my job is all the vendor demos I get to see. Product demos are one of the four important steps in the “inverted pyramid” vendor selection process we follow with our carrier and utility clients as we go about finding a best-fit new OSS and/or BSS solution for […]
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 […]
An interesting paradox struck me just recently. Having written nearly 2,750 articles here on this blog, I can probably lay claim to being a writer. Having done well over 50 OSS-related projects since the first one in 2000, I can probably also claim to be an OSS architect and consultant (although impostor syndrome does make […]
Athletes from around the globe will soon be descending on Paris to compete for Olympic medals in a multitude of events. Olympic champions will be determined through a variety of performance attributes – skill, strength, endurance, speed and much more – with different attributes required for any given event. That made me wonder – What […]
Late last week we published an article, “From Telco to HellCo: I’m the CEO of a large telco. I want to destroy it as fast as I can.” Based on all the feedback, you could say that it seemed to resonate! Using Charlie Munger’s Inversion Technique, we suggested 21 ways to kill off a large […]
Many of the telco industry’s fittest and finest have just returned from a week in Copenhagen at TM Forum’s flagship event, DTW24. Iain Morris of Light Reading suggests in an article that Copenhagen is an apt location for the event because many industry representatives are “in little mermaid land.” The tone of his article is […]
OSS Transformation Resourcing Questions Have you ever had to wrestle with the conundrum of organisational change when embarking on a major OSS transformation? How many people will I need? What tasks will they do? What skills will they require? Who are the best people to get involved in the transformation? How much budget needs to […]
This article by Jeff Haden in Inc Magazine, “30 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Said 1 Habit Separates the Doers From the Dreamers,” has made me re-think the way I work, but also reconsider the way the OSS / telco industry works. “One of my least favorite things to do is ask for help. Not only […]
I’d love to get your perspective on something. In recent times, quite a few people have reached out to suggest that PAOSS should create a comprehensive OSS/BSS training programme because there’s nothing really suited to their needs available on the market today. A couple of these people have suggested that the TM Forum courses are […]
We’ve just started an exciting new project in the last couple of weeks and have had some great workshops with the client’s exec & project teams. This client has an ambitious target of multiplying their revenues several-fold over the next few years. The systems transformation we’re planning will be a fundamental building block to help […]
We were honoured to be guests on the Zero-Touch Telecom (ZTT) show last week. The discussion mainly revolved around a highly problematic skills gap that’s likely to widen between network masters and apprentices once we introduce significant automation via tools such as AIOps and the like. In response, Michael P. asked a great question, “With the […]
If you’re a technologist (eg enterprise architect, developer, BA, tech PM, CTO, etc) who has been tasked with implementing significant technological and business transformation in a company accustomed to stasis or incremental changes, effective persuasion is crucial. We’ve spoken previously about the importance of rainmakers, how they’re the real heroes behind OSS-led transformations. As described […]
Over the years, I’ve often referred to The Corkscrew Analogy or Momentum Spiral to describe a mindset of incremental improvement that’s needed to keep an OSS project moving forward. Rather than trying to jump straight from scratch (blue dot) to perfection / completion (yellow dot), it’s far more helpful to make many smaller steps and […]
Have you ever tried to be one of the cool kids and have felt that eerie feeling that you’re going to get shown up for not actually being cool? In the business world we call it imposter syndrome…. but I’m already giving off strong hints about being completely uncool aren’t I? …But let’s push on […]
This is the fifth of the “buyer / seller” chasm articles (pt1, pt2, pt3, pt4). We’d previously highlighted the issues, the pain points, the sources of friction and more about getting Buyers and Sellers together to build better telcos. But in today’s article we’ll complete the solutions list that we started on in part four, […]
Our previous post highlighted a chasm between buyers and sellers. It has sparked quite a lot of conversation, which is exactly as intended. In another earlier post about telco reaching its burning exchange moment, we wrote: In a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress (MWC), Thierry Breton, the European Union’s internal market commissioner opined, “In […]
Here at Passionate About OSS, we are exactly that – Passionate About OSS (Operational Support Systems). We’re also passionate about BSS, NMS, or any other names you call the tools that help to operationalise your network.
