The changing role of IT

Complexity, competition, cost, and customer demand are taxing OSS/BSS in every area of CSP operations. IT will always be responsible for maintenance, and as more off-the-shelf platforms and systems are procured, it will also be responsible for integration, application programming interfaces (APIs), adaptor libraries, and maintenance of complex software ecosystems. There will always be legacy OSS/BSS to contend with, and IT is tasked with simplifying the operation and maintenance of legacy OSS/BSS so as to reduce costs and improve performance. As a leader in these efforts, IT can make transformation easier by applying structure and standards for quality that apply to both internal solutions and vendor solutions. The volume and variety of interfaces, data, OSS/BSS, and IT infrastructure is overwhelming, but rather than add to that list, it’s up to IT to optimize and simplify.

IT will have to shed its image as a mysterious entity into which large amounts of money flow and—two years later—complex, high-maintenance software comes out. That’s how both OSS/BSS and IT work today, but major changes are in store: for CSPs to compete as retailers of connected products, IT has to define and enforce standards for program management and software quality. CSPs are expecting a lot from their IT and OSS/BSS partners, and unless they can deliver quality, the opportunity will be gone.

IT will become the gatekeeper as it sets standards, works with a company’s business units to define requirements and manages the procurement process. IT maintains a test environment and evaluates products and/or upgrades prior to delivery, while the PMO manages delivery projects rather than development projects and ensures that internal standards for performance, interoperability, reliability, security, and quality are met. No matter’s still a need for project coordination, requirements validation and testing.

Again, quality is an important part of the dialogue in telecommunications. The value of network virtualization, software-defined networking (SDN), self-organizing networks (SONs), mobility, convergence, machine-to-machine communications (M2M), and more relies on the quality of software and systems deployed by CSPs, so let’s celebrate the return of “five nines” quality. It’s a trend I’m counting on.