When you think of OSS and BSS transformations, do you think of them as a technology challenge to solve, a people challenge or a business challenge? Or maybe a combination of all of the above?
Most of us in the OSS industry love to solve technology problems. Luckily there are lots of problems waiting to be solved in the telco industry, so that’s kept a lot of OSS / BSS people busy over the years. Some of the problems solved have been as simple as they are ingenious. Others have required quite sophisticated solutions. Our developers can really make our code-base sing and deliver amazing results, can’t they?
People-based solutions in OSS/BSS transformations
Then there’s the people challenge. There are politics, careers, opinions, emotions, aspirations and much more. These are often a lot trickier to solve than technology problems. There’s certainly no single right answer on these problems. In fact, a perfectly solved people-problem today can be a perfectly terrible solution for the same person the very next day.
That’s why people-based solutions like project management, stakeholder management and change management are a true art-form. This is especially true on OSS / BSS transformations where complexity abounds. In response, there are comprehensive approaches, terminologies and guidelines that have evolved over the years on project, stakeholder and change management. For example, the PMBOK (Project Management Body Of Knowledge), provides an extensive library on how to manage projects, people and resources. That still doesn’t make them perfectly correct or simple.
Simplifying business: Steven Young's Three Steps applied to OSS/BSS
Lastly, we delve into business problems. It could be argued that this is even more complex, because it is a combination of technology and people problems, as well as being influenced by other factors such as market forces.
Yet in contrast, Steven Young argues that business is pretty simple, as he outlines in the following 3 steps:
- Find a problem and solve it
- The more valuable the problem the more you can charge
- The better you do it, the more customers who have that problem will buy from you
When you stop to think about it, this simple three-step process is not just a great framework for business but also the business of OSS and BSS. Read those three steps above again, but through the lens of OSS / BSS, not business. What do you think?
The power of OSS/BSS: solving a multitude of problems
The reason OSS / BSS remain as relevant today as when they were first invented decades ago is because they solve a lot of problems.
Do you have a problem with network faults? Your OSS helps to solve them expeditiously.
You have a problem with efficiently coordinating the million different activities that your workforce has to work on every day? Your OSS helps to streamline and optimise it.
You have a problem figuring out how to best optimize the allocation of CAPEX and OPEX to deliver cost-effective services and a reliable network that customers can’t wait to use? Your OSS and BSS help to optimise the return on that investment and performance of the asset.
You have a problem knowing what to charge and how much your millions of subscribers have to pay for services used at any given moment? Your BSS helps with invoicing and collections (amongst many other financial activities).
Those are big challenges and these are just a few out of hundreds that we solve each day. Our OSS and BSS are great at finding and solving problems. That’s a big tick on point #1 above.
However, to point #2 above, we solve incredibly valuable problems; some of telco’s biggest problems in fact. Unfortunately, our industry isn’t always so great at articulating how valuable the problems are that we’re solving. Other groups are great at taking credit for the problems that are actually solved by OSS and BSS. Moreover, modern telcos are so dependent on OSS and BSS that when things go wrong, OSS / BSS are seen to be the problem, rather than the solution to the problem. Alternatively, we sometimes spend so much time and effort focusing on the little problems, not the big, valuable problems, that we aren’t given suitable credit.
We can help you with your problems!
Finally, on to point #3, many of the problems cited above are common to telcos the world over. With a large customer base of prestigious global clients, SunVizion has a rich pedigree for solving large, valuable problems. If you’re seeking better ways to solve your biggest problems, we’d be delighted to show you how we do things differently.
