OSS Needs to Leap Forward

Will consolidation make it happen?

By Barbara Lancaster

Most of the time, I look at the world of Operations Support Systems through the service provider's eyes. I see essential systems required to run operations and help earn revenue. At other times I have the perspective of an OSS vendor. I see talented people fighting in a crowded market place to win customers. Occasionally I try to rationalize these points of view to make sense of it all, but it proves to be a road to eternal confusion and thus I only attempt to resolve this conundrum during holidays. When I consider who might win with OSS consolidation and when the sector will really consolidate, it's clear to me that ultimately we will see a leap forward, and not a slow crawl. Follow my logic.

The Service Provider’s Fine Hat
With my Service Provider hat on - a business-like piece of formalwear to be sure – I wonder why OSS must be so difficult? Why does buying and implementing a new system have to be such a horrible experience? Why are all these vendors out to trick me? Why are there more vendors than customers? I see a market served by a large number of competing OSS vendors, who seem to take special pleasure in making product-against-product comparisons as difficult as they can.

Every OSS purchasing decision contains big elements of uncertainty. Each Service Provider's OSS environment is unique and any change or addition needs hundreds of moving parts to be expertly managed. I certainly don't need unique selling propositions from my vendors. What I want is to specify what I need and then choose the best from among a few good suppliers who can meet my needs exactly, no more and no less - no functional overlaps to pay for, no gaps to work around.

The service provider wonders why the OSS sector can't get its act together. Why can't we have a relatively small number of competent, trustworthy suppliers offering a simple range of broadly comparable products? That doesn't mean they all need to be the same, but some basis for comparison is needed. If I have to choose between a Kia and a BMW I know that at least that they'll each have an engine, four tires and can get me to the supermarket. If only OSS applications were as predictable and fundamentally comparable.

If it were possible to wave a hand and create positive change, I'd fix it so that every time I needed to buy a new system I'd be able to choose from just a handful of vendors. These vendors would have broadly comparable offerings that can meet all of my essential requirements. A simple basis for understanding and comparing these vendors would save me months of equivocation, ambivalence, soul-searching and heartburn. Ultimately, I'd leave just the right number of vendors in business, so I could negotiate prices by setting them against each other. I like competition, but what I need is intelligent consolidation of the OSS sector.

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