Letter from the Editor - May 2014

By: Tim Young

“We should strive to welcome change and challenges, because they are what help us grow. Without them we grow weak like the Eloi in comfort and security. We need to constantly be challenging ourselves in order to strengthen our character and increase our intelligence.” 

--H.G.Wells, The Time Machine

One decade ago, in May of 2004, Pipeline published its very first issue. You can still read it, along with every other issue we’ve ever done, in our archives. It’s our own little Wayback Machine of sorts, and it’s interesting to look back and see not only how we’ve progressed in terms of layout and site functionality, but the growth and change in the topics we covered.

In that first issue, we addressed the development of OSS as a market, which we then declared to be in its adolescence. We discussed the ROI challenges of OSS investments. We covered regulatory challenges and vendor credibility and emerging standards.

A decade later, those essential challenges seem familiar, but the capabilities of networks, CSPs and the support systems that make everything run are vastly more sophisticated. The need to view OSS as a discrete silo, divorced from other communications IT solutions, has diminished as CSPs strive to gain a more holistic form of intelligence and control over their business lines. Those lines, meanwhile, have evolved considerably, becoming far less about individuals and businesses communicating with one another from fixed locations and becoming more about everyone and everything communicating and accessing data everywhere.

Along the way, we at Pipeline have consistently endeavored to deliver in-depth, actionable information that helps you run your business in a way that is leaner, more agile and more resilient. As we continue to challenge ourselves in this way, we hope that you’ll continue to follow us and that we can all, together, strive for a stronger, wiser future.

In this issue, we explore the current state of support systems, including analytics and business intelligence, billing, revenue assurance and more. We check out when automation is the only way to go and when there is no substitute for good old-fashioned professional services. We also bring you the very latest on our 2014 Innovation Awards, for which over one hundred nominees have been evaluated and some really impressive semi-finalists have emerged. And, as always, we provide you with the latest in news and information from the communications and entertainment technology (COMET) industry.

Thanks for joining us over these past ten years. Here’s to many more.

Best,

Tim Young
Editor-in-Chief