Finding Your Best-fit OSS/BSS: The Car Yard Approach to Vendor Selection

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 options. Did I just give you an idea for your next blog post?

Yes Raman. Yes you did just give me an idea for my next blog 🙂

It’s a really great point. When it comes to selecting an OSS or BSS, wouldn’t it be great if you could compare all the available options side by side, review their features, and even test-drive them before making a purchase? Imagine walking into a massive sales yard where every make and model is lined up for easy comparison.

 

Without previously considering this analogy of car-yards, this is exactly what the PAOSS Blue Book OSS/BSS Vendor Directory and our associated Inverted Pyramid Vendor Selection approach aims to do for network operators looking for new OSS or BSS solutions.

Much like buying a car, selecting an OSS/BSS isn’t just about finding something that looks good on paper. It’s about ensuring that the solution is the right fit for your operational needs, budget, and long-term strategy. In this article, we’ll explore the similarities between choosing an OSS/BSS and visiting a car yard, how the Blue Book simplifies vendor comparison, and how the inverted pyramid vendor selection process ensures you drive away with the best-fit solution (avoiding the dreaded “Three Forevers” time-suck approach dictated by most OSS/BSS RFPs in the process).

A quick call-out before we dive deeper though. Unlike a car sales yard, where the salesperson is paid a commission by the seller (ie the car manufacturer or OSS supplier in this case), we work as an agent for the buyer (ie being paid the same amount by the network operator, not supplier regardless of which supplier / solution is chosen, thus ensuring an unbiased decision is arrived at for the benefit of the buyer).

Let’s look at this through the lens of the PAOSS Inverted Pyramid, but from the perspective of finding the right vehicle rather than your next OSS:

1. The OSS/BSS Car Yard: All Models in One Place

Imagine stepping into a car dealership where every make and model is lined up in a showroom—sedans, SUVs, electric vehicles, luxury sports cars, and rugged off-roaders. Each car has a price tag, a list of key features, fuel efficiency and the ability to take a test drive before committing to a purchase.

Now, picture that same concept applied to OSS/BSS.

  • Wouldn’t it be great if all the different OSS/BSS vendors were available in one place for easy comparison?
  • If you could see feature lists, support / servicing capabilities, price estimates, recent contract wins, and various other relevant details side by side?
  • What if you could test the software in a simulated environment before signing a multi-year contract?

That’s precisely the aim of the Blue Book OSS/BSS Vendor Directory paired with the Inverted Pyramid. It brings together the vast landscape of OSS and BSS vendors into a single, structured resource where buyers can compare, analyse, shortlist and contract the best solutions.

Instead of having to search for vendors individually, conduct lengthy research, and sit through countless sales pitches, you can walk into the Blue Book “sales yard” and immediately see which solutions are on offer, what they can do, and how they compare to alternatives.

 

2. Filter 1 – Choosing the Right Category for You

Not all OSS/BSS solutions are created equal—just like cars, they come in different categories designed for specific needs. When buying a car, you might first consider what type of car you’re looking for:

  • An SUV
  • A convertible
  • A family wagon
  • An electric vehicle
  • A classic or vintage car
  • etc

In the world of OSS, we use the Simplified TAM groupings:

 

From the 500+ vendors that went into the top of the funnel, after applying Filter 1 on category alone, we’re generally now down to a long-list of around 30-50 vendors.

3. Filter 2 – Choosing the Specific Capabilities You Need

Before committing to an OSS/BSS, it’s important to evaluate its capabilities next —just like checking a car’s specifications before buying. While all buyers will focus on essential criteria like fuel efficiency, seating capacity, or automatic vs. manual transmission, most network operators will have their own very specific needs like heated seats, advanced driver assistance systems, or extra cup holders.

In the OSS/BSS world, these evaluation criteria can be divided into:

3.1. Universal Criteria (The Big-Picture Features)

These are the key factors that apply to almost all buyers:

  • Capability: Within each category (eg Network Inventory), there are specific “table stakes” capabilities such as being able to store network device records, show physical connectivity between them, etc
  • Vendor Support & SLAs: Does the vendor provide the level of support you require in the countries / regions / timezones you need?
  • Price range: What is the price-band (noting we generally don’t have detailed pricing available at this early stage, but we do want an indication of likely price range). What is the pricing model based on (eg number of users, number of devices managed, etc) and does the pricing model fit your financial strategy (eg CAPEX, OPEX)?
  • Scalability: Can the system handle today’s volumes / workloads as well as possible increasing workloads as your business grows?
  • Integration: Can it work seamlessly with your existing network and IT stack?
  • Deployment Model: Is it on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid?
  • Security & Compliance: Does it meet industry standards and regulatory requirements?
  • User Experience: Is the interface intuitive for operators and administrators?

3.2. Customer-Specific Criteria (The Unique Preferences)

Just like a car buyer might insist on leather seats or a premium sound system, each OSS/BSS buyer will have their own unique priorities:

  • Capabilities: Unlike the general (table stakes) capabilities listed above, this is the more nuanced set of capabilities such as being able to handle rare types of network connection topologies or protocols, uncommon network device types (eg power, IoT sensors, etc)
  • Automation & AI Capabilities: Does it offer automation and analytics that align with your operational goals?
  • Customisation & Configurability: Can you tailor it to your workflows and integrations?
  • etc

By carefully evaluating both big-picture capabilities and unique business needs, organisations can ensure they’re not just selecting a popular OSS/BSS—but the one that truly fits their operational requirements.

Under the Three Forevers approach, network operators can often spend months preparing lists of capabilities / requirements (often lists of thousands). However, we know that we only need a very select few capabilities to filter the best-fit handful of vendors (the short-list of typically 3-5 vendors) from the long-list of 30-50 vendors that made it through Filter 1. We already know we have a short list of solutions that are all a potentially good fit for your needs at this stage. But we’re looking for best fit so we need to go further!

 

4. Filter 3 – Vendor / Product Demos

At this stage, we ask the short-listed vendors to give us a walk-through of their vehicle.

Before taking a car for a test drive, we ask the supplier’s team to give you a guided walkthrough of the vehicle’s features—showing you the dashboard, explaining the safety systems, demonstrating the infotainment controls, and highlighting / reiterating key capabilities. This step helps you understand what the car offers before you get behind the wheel.

The same applies to OSS/BSS selection. Before jumping into resource-hungry hands-on testing, it’s valuable to have the vendor walk you through the solution, demonstrating how it works, showcasing its key capabilities, and answering your questions in real time.

What to Expect in a Vendor Walkthrough:

  • A High-Level Demo: The vendor presents an overview of the system, covering core functionalities, architecture, and use cases. You get to see it in person rather than just the paper-based brochureware study that’s come before this phase
  • Key Feature Explanations: Just like a car’s horsepower and safety ratings, the vendor should explain the main attributes of their offer, including product features like performance, automation, security, and integrations but the non-product features such as support models and more
  • Customisation & Configurability: A walkthrough of the integration / customisation frameworks within the system that allow it to be tailored to fit your specific needs
  • Operational Workflow Simulation: Seeing a live example of how common tasks are performed helps determine if the system aligns with your processes and whether it’s a smooth user experience
  • Expected Pricing: We now have locked-in makes and models (but not full options list) so we can get a much more accurate price estimate at this stage
  • Q&A Session: An opportunity to ask in-depth questions about scalability, support, past clients and their real-world deployments

This guided walkthrough ensures that before you get behind the wheel for a test drive, you fully understand what the solution is capable of and how it aligns with your needs. It prevents wasted effort by ensuring that only serious contenders move on to the hands-on evaluation stage.  Whereas a vehicle might only take a few minutes to test drive, so trialling multiple vehicles is a viable option, when it comes to OSS/BSS it can take weeks or even months to run a test drive. As such, at this stage you generally have a preferred solution (or maybe two) that you want to take into a deeper evaluation phase.

5. Filter 4 – The Test Drive: Evaluating Before You Buy

Would you ever buy a car without taking it for a test drive? Probably not.

Yet, many businesses commit to long-term OSS/BSS contracts without properly testing the software in real-world conditions. This can lead to costly misalignment, unexpected integration challenges, and user dissatisfaction.

The best vendor selection processes include:

  • Demos and Hands-On Testing: Watching a sales demo is useful, but nothing beats hands-on experience, where the solution is simulated in your conditions. This generally takes the form of a POC (Proof of Concept) evaluation where your devices, topologies, services, systems, integrations and more are simulated via carefully designed, end-to-end POC scenarios. Does the user interface make sense? Is the system intuitive? Does it support our processes?
  • POC Programs: Running a limited-scope trial in a real production (or production-like) environment ensures the software meets actual business needs
  • Vendor References and Reviews: Just like car buyers read reviews and talk to current owners, speaking with existing OSS/BSS customers can provide valuable insights
  • Detailed Pricing / Quote: By this stage the buyer and seller have already been in lengthy conversations about scope, so it becomes more viable to commence detailed negotiations, discussions about T&C (terms and conditions) and even get into a confirmed quote

 

4. Streamlining the Vendor Selection Process

We’ve discussed the massive pain felt in bringing buyer and seller together, in our Buyer/Seller chasm series of articles and in the kindly provided car-sales quote at the top of this article. We feel that the inverted pyramid approach to vendor selection is a much faster and more efficient way of narrowing down OSS/BSS choices by avoiding the Three Forevers of traditional procurement events — just like a smart car buyer would compare different options in the sales yard before making the decision to drive a specific vehicle off the lot.

To our knowledge, the Passionate About OSS Blue Book provides the industry’s most comprehensive rapid OSS/BSS vendor comparison tools, helping businesses evaluate, shortlist, and test solutions—just like a car sales yard where every make and model is available for review [BTW. if there are any OSS/BSS vendors you know are missing from our directory, we’d greatly appreciate it if you’d let us know].

By utilising our inverted pyramid approach, you can be confident that when you drive off the lot that Raman proposed, you’ve chosen an OSS/BSS that’s probably not a perfect fit for your OSS/BSS journey, but is almost certainly the best fit of the solutions available! However, we still acknowledge that our approach can be improved and that the Buyer / Seller chasm can be shrunk even further. We’re always striving for ways to improve and looking for new ideas to better support Buyers and Sellers getting together, so your perspectives and suggestions are always greatly appreciated.

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