From legacy systems to digital excellence: A day in the life of an OSS/BSS transformation journey

In this article, we explore the role of Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) for telcos and the types of challenges faced. Through these OSS/BSS evolutions, the telco industry embarked on some of the world’s earliest Digital Transformations.

Amanda's OSS/BSS transformation story

To accompany us on this journey, meet Amanda, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a telecommunications company we’ll call TransformedCom. Amanda understands the criticality of digital transformation for her company, where customer demands are constantly evolving, competition is fierce and there’s a complex environment consisting of hundreds of integrated systems. Some new, some ancient. She knows all too well that she faces numerous OSS/BSS-related hurdles that impede her company's progress.

The first challenge Amanda encounters is the complex legacy systems that have been in place for years, often originating from a time that precedes the term, Digital Transformation. These systems were never designed to support the agility and scalability expected today. However, systems resilience has always been built into the telco’s five-nines (99.999% availability) design culture. Even as Amanda explores further, she already knows that implementing a more harmonised, modern and robust OSS/BSS platform is the key to overcoming the many challenges she faces today.

From chaos to connection: Amanda's OSS/BSS digital transformation accomplishments

OSS encompasses the operational systems that support network management, network inventory, service fulfillment and service assurance. BSS comprises the business support systems responsible for customer relationship management (CRM), service order management, product catalog management, billing and revenue management. She already has all these tools at her disposal, but they’ve all been installed separately, resulting in a disjointed experience for many of her team. By integrating OSS and BSS into a unified platform, Amanda knows she can streamline operations, optimise resource allocation and have a better chance of gaining a holistic view of the business through homogenised data.

As Amanda considers the continuing evolution of her company’s digital transformation progresses, she knows that she must increasingly leverage the power of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and data analytics. However, implementing these technologies and integrating them seamlessly into existing systems is a complex and formidable task.

Amanda collaborates with her team and eventually selects SunVizion, a comprehensive OSS/BSS solution that aligns with TransformedCom's digital transformation goals. The new platform offers end-to-end planning, resource inventory and control, enabling real-time awareness about key workflows within network operations. With SunVizion’s enhanced customer and service assurance capabilities, TransformedCom experiences a significantly faster time-to-market (TTM) for service delivery, whilst also achieving a reduction in downtime and customer complaints.

Navigating the digital frontier: Inside an OSS/BSS digital transformation 

Using SunVizion’s advanced tools, TransformedCom has the option to automate or semi-automate many previously-manual processes, such as network design and rollout, network optimisation, service impact diagnosis and customer support. Using these advanced algorithms, the company can analyse massive volumes of OSS/BSS data to unearth valuable insights, drive personalised customer experiences and make strategic, data-driven decisions. 

However, Amanda faces resistance from some employees who are intimidated by the new automation capabilities. They fear that automation may lead to job losses for themselves and many of their colleagues. To address their concerns, Amanda emphasises that the automation of routine and mundane tasks allows employees to focus on more strategic initiatives and frees up time for important tasks such as innovation or systemic problem solving - tasks that make them feel more highly valued. Amanda knows well that digital transformation is as much about people and culture change as it is about digital technology changes.

Revolutionising telecom: Amanda's day-to-day struggles and successes in OSS/BSS transformation

As TransformedCom continues its digital transformation journey, Amanda encounters yet another common challenge with large telco OSS/BSS: ensuring a seamless customer experience across various digital channels / touchpoints. With the proliferation of digital channels and the rise of omnichannel customer interactions, maintaining consistency and personalisation becomes crucial even though most of TransformedCom’s systems were never designed to be connected or harmonised.

Here, the consolidated OSS/BSS platform of SunVizion proves invaluable once again. All modules are designed to be integrated, which enables TransformedCom to create a centralised customer profile that cross-links data from all product modules and shares it all touchpoints. This comprehensive view helps the company meet customer expectations that never really existed in times gone by. They can now deliver personalised services, targeted marketing campaigns and proactive customer support via each customer’s preferred channel (or channels). By leveraging the power of OSS/BSS, TransformedCom ensures that customers have a consistent experience, regardless of the channel they choose to engage with.

TransformedCom’s journey of digital transformation is complex, with many considerations across people, process and technological factors. Their investment in SunVizion has helped tackle challenges such as incorporating legacy systems, adopting new technologies, and delivering seamless customer (and worker) experiences.