Minimise the tentacles on the OctopOSS. Keep it simple
“I think doing variations on a classical theme is a dangerous thing to do.” Tori Amos. Many organisations select a COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) OSS tool and immediately start thinking about customisations to make it do exactly what they want. That’s one way… but not necessarily the best long-term solution. Customisations are intoxicating for both CSPs […]
“Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its motion (including a change in direction).” Wikipedia. According to classical physics, Force equals Mass x Acceleration (F = ma). In other words, the greater the mass, the more force must be applied to reach a given acceleration (ie to effect a change). […]
“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” Fidel Castro. In yesterday’s blog, we discussed the air-traffic controller analogy for incremental change to your OSS via the use of projects. Today we talk of transformational change. Transformation has appeared in the Telco vernacular as a guiding vision of a […]
“Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours.” Swedish proverb. Today’s post is minimalistic. Please take a few moments to consider what the proverb means to you in relation to OSS projects. To me it covers the same […]
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci. Let me portray a scenario for you. I’d love to get your predictions on the likely outcome. A massive tier-one Telco was running an OSS vendor selection process a few years ago. The Telco ran an initial Proof-of-Concept session, giving various vendors the opportunity to show their […]
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde. As discussed yesterday, I have a dream when it comes to system interfaces. Interfaces will be able to be constructed by mere mortals, not only by […]
“I think complexity is mostly sort of crummy stuff that is there because it’s too expensive to change the interface.” Jaron Lanier. In most cases, OSS projects fail because of complexity. Complexity in any number of layers – service complexity, network complexity, political complexity, operational complexity, etc. Or perhaps a combination of many. One of […]
“Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) aims to transform the way that network operators architect networks by evolving standard IT virtualisation technology to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume servers, switches and storage” ETSI document, “Network Function Virtualisation (NFV); Use Cases” The above document from ETSI describes nine use cases of interest for […]
“Positivity is such a high predicator of success rates..” Shawn Achor in his book, “The Happiness Advantage.” In Principle 5 in Achor’s book, he talks about the Zorro circle, stemming from the movie of the same name starring Antonio Banderas. In it, Zorro’s mentor draws a line in the dirt, forcing Zorro to learn how […]
“I love taking an idea… to a prototype and then to a product that millions of people use.” Susan Wojcicki. When it comes to starting with an OSS build, I’m a big believer in the benefits of building a rapid prototype in one of the customer’s pre-production* environment. Most suppliers approach their OSS implementation projects […]
“Graph databases are based on graph theory. Graph databases employ nodes, properties, and edges. Nodes are very similar in nature to the objects that object-oriented programmers will be familiar with.” Wikipedia entry on Graph Databases. I believe that Graph data models represent the likely future for OSS. And I’ve long held the belief that flexible […]
“It is my belief that it is not possible to invent truly original ideas if you absorb too much of that that you wish to differentiate yourself from. As I said, don’t overly study the competition. Study instead the behaviours, needs and frustrations belonging to your customers. Build a culture and environment that nurtures creativity […]
“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. At the top of the following web link, I talk about the chess-board analogy. In a regular game of chess, each of the pieces are isolated from one another, meaning that if one […]
“I’ve always challenged myself and the people who work with me to take new approaches to traditional business challenges, to push the envelope and constantly ask whether our sacred cows are still producing great milk.” Irene Rosenfeld. In an earlier blog, entitled Ruthless Simplification, the topic of being ruthless in your simplification was discussed. Further […]
“I have never believed in the Wizard of Oz theory of consulting, that I am all-knowing and all-seeing, and that everyone around me is kind of a backbencher.” David Axelrod. Today I’ll give away my model for delivering consultancy on any OSS project, no matter what shape or size. Promise not to tell anyone else, […]
“Data – there sure is a lot of it and looking forward there is going to be increasingly more. The Ericsson Mobility Report found that mobile data traffic is expected to grow by 12 times between 2012 and 2018. That’s huge! So what makes data fresh? It’s the ability to use it in real time, […]
“Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.” Charles Stanley. When implementing an OSS, or most projects for that matter, it seems that there are four types […]
“Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.” Winston Churchill. Dear reader, let me ask you a question…. or maybe more than one. If you engaged a consultant on a $1m assignment and they gave you a report on a single sheet of paper, would you feel aggrieved? Now what if that single sheet held a […]
“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.” Bruce Barton. Having built multi-domain OSS from the ground up I know how daunting a green-fields OSS can be. So many things to get done. So many inter-dependencies. So many facts and figures to […]
Small companies “are uncluttered, simple informal. They thrive on passion and ridicule bureaucracy. Small companies grow on good ideas – regardless of their source. They need everyone, involve everyone, and reward or remove people based on their contribution to winning. Small companies dream big dreams and set the bar high – increments and fractions don’t […]
