The Word from TeleManagement World (cont'd)

Telcordia For Sale: Who’s Buying?
With Telcordia essentially on the auction block, talk on the exhibit floor swirled around the company. Curiosity focused largely on whom the potential buyers are, what the valuation might be, and exactly what the buyer would buy. Telcordia is not permitted to provide detailed comments on the sale activity, other than to acknowledge it. CEO Matt Desch, during his Q&A in this issue of Pipeline, did stress that Telcordia is itself actively pursuing this sale and that his aim is to find the right parent to help foster Telcordia’s current path.

Watchmark-Comnitel Acquires Metrica from ADC
On other acquisition fronts, Watchmark-Comnitel announced on October 22 plans to acquire the Metrica Service Assurance group from ADC Telecommunications for an unspecified amount. The unified entity will combine Watchmark-Comnitel’s SQM and SLA capabilities with Metrica’s performance management product, which is widely deployed in wireless operators throughout the world. As an end result of this acquisition, Watchmark-Comnitel not only rounds out its service assurance product suite, but extends its reach into many new accounts and markets it was either just developing or had not yet entered. The company was sparse on details in terms of any organizational changes, sales strategies or product specifics and explained that it was about to begin a months long process to answer a range of go-forward questions.

Major competitors Agilent Technologies and Telcordia Technologies had little to say in response to the acquisition. A Telcordia spokesperson agreed that the marriage made sense, but stressed the challenges of product integration and keeping the range of Metrica customers satisfied with their existing installations. Agilent declined to comment, stating it generally does not reply to inquiries regarding its competitors' activities.

More OSS Movers to Watch
Several companies, both present and absent from TMW, have provided evidence recently that OSS is witnessing an upswing, not only in sales and global reach, but in value and strategic importance. Nokia, Syndesis, Ace*Comm, and NetCracker are four examples of such companies.

Nokia
Nokia announced at TMW that it is increasing its focus in the operations arena in response to customer demand for better service management applications. Nokia’s operations group intends to operate similarly to an ISV. It has already built what it calls a multi-vendor OSS portfolio with solutions in radio access configuration, service assurance, end user device management and customer experience enhancement. The group is also looking to leverage its experience with mobile data solutions in the convergence of mobile, cable and telco services, with an emphasis on IP mobility.

Relatedly, Nokia and other leading mobile equipment vendors announced plans to collaborate around multi-vendor management and better horizontal communication among network elements. Whether Nokia has more success in OSS than past equipment vendors remains to be seen, but the company's investment is a sign that its prime network business would benefit from an increased emphasis on OSS .

Syndesis
Syndesis did not release specific news during TMW, but the company is actively engaged in some of the largest and most sophisticated OSS undertakings in the industry. Active engagements include SBC, which is racing to launch triple-play, fiber-to-the-curb services and has recognized Syndesis as a key supplier two years running; Bell Canada, for whom Syndesis is a long standing supplier; and Telecom Italia, which is becoming notorious not only for its work ethic, but for its success in implementing NGOSS principles. Reports suggest Syndesis is also fostering a relationship with one of continental Europe’s largest multi-service network operators. The company is seeing this success partly as a result of growing interest in multi-layer, multi-technology service fulfillment and network upload solutions, and due to its reputation for attentive service to its customers.

Ace*Comm
Ace*Comm is one of the few public OSS companies, and one many were ready to count out during the downturn. The company has experienced a strong rebound under CEO George Jimenez’s leadership. Ace*Comm recently announced an 89 percent increase in earnings over last year as well as VoIP-related contract wins in Europe and North America. Ace*Comm also recently – and quietly – acquired Intasys for billing solutions and customers, as well as a wireless activation vendor named i3 Mobile. The company also added further wireless mediation, billing, bill presentment and intercarrier settlement after designing an entire solution for a large carrier in Bangladesh. Jimenez says he plans to expand the company’s OSS portfolio further and is examining “bubble assets” that are well designed and worth adding. Jimenez says this expansion is being driven by his customers who are less interested in a pure-play mediation vendor than they would be with an OSS partner that offered a greater range of solutions.

NetCracker
NetCracker is in the midst of a major expansion, is hiring globally, and recently moved to new headquarters in Waltham, Mass. In just the past few months, the company has announced wins with Time Warner Telecom, Covad Communications, Telstra, and the largest carrier in the Baltic states, OmniTel. The company also acquired AVD, a professional services firm in Russia with which it has maintained a delivery relationship for some time. These announcements follow a steady stream of wins for NetCracker, one of the few OSS players to exit the downturn stronger than it entered.

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