article page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

industry, telecom won't be in the worst shape... at least not right away.

Players in the wider revenue assurance arena seemed to see tough economic times as an opportunity to demonstrate the necessity of reducing revenue leaks and maximizing revenue. The general feel of vendors seemed to be that since they create solutions that bring higher ARPU, lower churn, and more streamlined and efficient networks, generally, their jobs were more secure than some. That all remains to be seen.

The show had an expanded focus on cable issues, with a few events and a conference track aimed primarily at cable providers. However, the expanded cable focus is still a relatively small component of the overall event, and seems to be driven by a small pool of vendors and Forum staff. Though nascent in its development, it’s still a bit of an afterthought, and it will be interesting to see if the Forum’s commitment to Cable will grow beyond lip service in future events.

In addition, there was a relatively large defense industry contingent at the event. According to the TM Forum’s Martin Creaner and Keith Willetts, an estimated 50+ representatives from groups like Boeing and the US Dept of Defense were at the event to talk about standardization and other advances in communications. That was driven, in part, by the event's location, but is also indicative of the ever-changing nature of the TM Forum.

FORUMVILLE

This year, TM Forum localized all of its TMF activities into one central location, dubbed “FORUMVILLE.” This area contained a demonstration theater, Catalyst projects, areas for discussion of standardization and other Forum-related education, and the Content Encounter, Phase 3. The Content Encounter, now just over a year old, served, in its third iteration, as a place for vendors to

and conference track, makes it difficult to know how many people who were registered to attend actually made it to the event. Furthermore, at least one exhibitor told to us that they were fully aware that this would be a “vendor show,” but felt that it was important to attend, anyway.

The economy was clearly a consideration for many possible show attendees, and travel bans are in full effect all over. Furthermore, while Creaner and Willetts said that most booth contracts were signed this summer, before the effects of the economic downturn were really being felt, that only guarantees a higher vendor attendance. It’s the CSPs the exhibitors at Management World really want to talk to, and those CSPs seemed to be few in number at Management World Orlando. Plans are in the works to return the event to Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando in 2009 (with the show moving back to early December). All that’s left to do is take a “wait and see”