Reflecting on the the recent TeleManagement World event in Dallas, Jim Warner, TM Forum president remarked "clearly, the industry is back and raring to go."
Deals were being made, the mood was upbeat and people were flocking to hear about a range of leading edge topics that will spell success or failure in the months and years ahead. While it�s impossible to capture everything, here are the handful of things that stand out.
Competition is starting to get really serious. Cities are deploying municipal WiMax or WiFi networks, cable companies are signing deals to offer mobile service and everyone is scrambling to develop their own version of the triple/quadruple play. Choices will proliferate and the providers that will reap the rewards will be those companies who are able to give customers what they want, when they want it and at a price they want to pay.
What are the implications?
Business Transformation is an immediate imperative. For the past few years, most companies have focused on becoming more efficient in an effort to cut costs and reduced operating expenses. That�s good � but it�s not enough. Service providers must remake their business model. It�s innovate or die. This means creating an organizational and cultural environment that doesn�t just tolerate risk but encourages it. Companies need to be able to develop and deploy new services and get them to market in months or miss out on an opportunity. It also means developing systems, processes and attitudes that enable and foster a �customer first� environment. Fortunately, a way forward exists.
Next-Generation OSS (NGOSS) is real with numerous �live� deployments worldwide. And, future work on NGOSS will follow three distinct paths. The frameworks themselves will be enhanced via industry submissions to add levels of detail based on real-world experience. In addition, implementation �depth� will be added using an OpenSource-like approach to gather and make available specific, testable implementations that can speed development and deployment of new software. Lastly, NGOSS will be broadened to include new areas such as IMS, the pathway to new service innovation as well other transformational imperatives such as the management of the whole customer experience.
Deals were being made, the mood was upbeat and people were flocking to hear about a range of leading edge topics that will spell success or failure in the months and years ahead. While it�s impossible to capture everything, here are the handful of things that stand out.
Competition is starting to get really serious. Cities are deploying municipal WiMax or WiFi networks, cable companies are signing deals to offer mobile service and everyone is scrambling to develop their own version of the triple/quadruple play. Choices will proliferate and the providers that will reap the rewards will be those companies who are able to give customers what they want, when they want it and at a price they want to pay.
What are the implications?
Business Transformation is an immediate imperative. For the past few years, most companies have focused on becoming more efficient in an effort to cut costs and reduced operating expenses. That�s good � but it�s not enough. Service providers must remake their business model. It�s innovate or die. This means creating an organizational and cultural environment that doesn�t just tolerate risk but encourages it. Companies need to be able to develop and deploy new services and get them to market in months or miss out on an opportunity. It also means developing systems, processes and attitudes that enable and foster a �customer first� environment. Fortunately, a way forward exists.
Next-Generation OSS (NGOSS) is real with numerous �live� deployments worldwide. And, future work on NGOSS will follow three distinct paths. The frameworks themselves will be enhanced via industry submissions to add levels of detail based on real-world experience. In addition, implementation �depth� will be added using an OpenSource-like approach to gather and make available specific, testable implementations that can speed development and deployment of new software. Lastly, NGOSS will be broadened to include new areas such as IMS, the pathway to new service innovation as well other transformational imperatives such as the management of the whole customer experience.