“Customer Centricity”, “Operational Efficiency”, “Speed to Market”, “Value Added Services”, “Retention and Loyalty”, “Subscriber and Revenue Growth”– speak with any business leader in the Telecommunications industry today about their strategic vision and you will hear some combination of these or similar phrases. As you speak with their technology counterparts you will most likely hear phrases or terms like “Network Virtualization”, “Network Monetization”, “Agile Service Delivery”, “Cloud Enablement”, or “Digitization” as enablers for the business to meet those objectives.
At the core of all those objectives and enablers are a company’s BSS and OSS platforms. These platforms are the foundation for all customer service interactions, sales transactions, and revenue management. They enable network provisioning, resource management, and service assurance. In short, the majority of a Telecommunication Provider’s business objectives will only be as successful as their BSS and OSS platforms allow them to be. Thus, it comes as no surprise that in the market for B/OSS transformations is projected to reach $70 billion in 2025.
The Transformation Imperative
Telco’s recognize the need for these transformations, however they also recognize that they are extremely costly, typically have had a high risk of failure, and the ROI is often difficult to track. In addition, because they are traditionally multi-year programs that cross multiple business and technical functions, they require a high level of sustained focus and coordination across organizations with ever changing priorities. While there is no simple answer as to how to best make these programs successful, here are some foundational items to consider as you embark on a BSS/OSS Transformation journey.
- Best of Breed vs. Best of Suite
As technology has evolved so has the decision between best of breed vs. best of suite. It used to be pretty straight forward: Best of Breed in theory was less risk and lower cost because you were dealing with a single vendor with supposed pre-integrated ecosystem of platforms. Best of Suite was typically higher risk and cost because of multiple vendors and more complex integration but in theory you would have more robust functionality and more control because of a multi-vendor/multi-product strategy. Those assumptions didn’t always play out in practice for a variety of reasons (e.g. lack of actual integration in BoB and inability to realize full functionality in BoS because of the lowest common denominator of functionality between BoS platforms) but the concepts were generically true. However, with today’s integration advancements and cloud technologies the traditional distinctions between best of breed and best of suite are becoming somewhat blurred. Vendors have responded to market demands by enhancing integration, specialization, flexibility, and customer-centric features, providing organizations with more nuanced and adaptable options for BSS transformation. This question has evolved to be less about the traditional BoB vs. BoS approach and more about the level of control an organization wants over architecture, program execution, eventual operational aspects, and overall customer interaction. - Phased vs. Big Bang
This terminology is often referenced with customer migrations as part of a Transformation program, but it is also very applicable to the strategy an organization undertakes regarding the implementation of ecosystem components and applicable functionality. In the not-too-distant past doing partial or phased transformations was extremely difficult because of the integration, operational, and cost challenges associated with the approach. BoB approaches inherently leaned toward a “Big Bang” approach because a key part of the BoB approach was pre-integrated components which didn’t lend themselves well to a phased approach. Complicating matters, various BSS/OSS components had overlap in functionality or were so tightly coupled that trying to pull pieces out of them to enable a phased approach was often not worth the flexibility that it supposedly promised. Similarly to the BoS vs. BoB conversation outlined above this concept has evolved significantly over the last several years. With improved technologies more and more companies are now choosing to go with isolation strategies that allow them to bite off transformations in smaller chunks reducing risks and enabling them to realize business benefits more quickly. While still generally more costly than Big Bang approaches the flexibility and incremental business benefit recognition that phased approaches bring is making them a much more common approach to large scale transformations. - Don’t underestimate the complexities of Integration
As mentioned previously integration has become a bit less complex in recent years due to advancements in technology and one would expect that continued advancement in Artificial Intelligence will make it even more so. However, even with these advancements in technology the integration of the various applications is still one of the leading causes of BSS/OSS Transformations not meeting their intended objectives. One key reason for this is that most vendor applications haven’t fully kept up with the technology shift. For example, one important trend is the concept of biller isolation. Traditionally the “biller” has been the core of not just the billing aspects, but it was tightly coupled with the catalogs, ordering, and provisioning processes. As Telco’s shift to removing these processes from the biller it requires extra customization to the billing platform to reduce or remove it from the above processes. This causes integration issues as those links are decoupled and the existing process flows within the biller are modified. This is especially true where complex MACD or converged/multi-play orders are involved. - Stay focused on key success factors
Often when companies look at large scale transformations the majority of their focus is on the vendor platforms and technology implementations. However, one of the primary reasons for transformation failures is the constant change that occurs within a program. Companies need to prepare for transformations by understanding what is key to their business vs. what is not. Often times business processes have evolved over time based on the existing system capabilities, rather than a conscious business decision. Taking the time to better understand the intent of these processes and adapting them to the capabilities that come with the new platforms is key. Support organizations also need to be willing and able to adapt to new platforms and ways of working. For example, organizations moving toward a managed services type of structure need to understand that it isn’t just a technology organization shift, it will impact the entire SDLC process and all organizations involved therein. Incorporating vendor processes and cultures into your existing processes and cultures isn’t a simple thing and should be factored into all vendor and transformation decisions. In addition implementing a talent and change workstream early on in a program will go a long way in enabling eventual adoption of new platforms and associated support processes. - Culture and Process
Let’s dive into this a bit more as this is an important, and oft overlooked, aspect of large transformations. Each company (and likely organizations within a company) has their own culture. This is true of the Telco, the application Vendor(s), and SI(s). Simply assuming that a given application Vendor or a given SI is just going to automatically adapt to a Telco’s culture is a recipe for failure. Cultures not only drive individual behavior but operational processes are also an outcropping of that behavior and associated culture. For example, how you might interpret and implement Agile methods may be different than how the Vendor or SI interpret and implement Agile methods. How your culture outlines how to handle conflict may be completely different than how your chosen Vendor’s culture teaches how to handle conflict. You won’t change a company’s culture just for the transformation program but understanding one another’s culture and documenting and aligning on ways of working before diving into execution is a foundational piece of a successful transformation program. - Learn from other’s successes and failures
Ask questions, look for suggestions, network with multiple vendors and System Integrators and, if possible, peers at other CSP’s that have solved, or tried to solve, similar challenges. Learning from others about what decisions were made, why they were made, and what they might do again vs. what they might do differently will be extremely beneficial as you make decisions leading up to, and during the transformation journey. Keep in mind that while the broad challenges and risks that come with transformation programs may be similar across telco’s, the solutions to them usually are more specific to your given situation and organizational goals. However, knowing how others have solved similar challenges will help you as you work through specific solutions for your given situation. This seems like such a simple concept, but I’ve been amazed at how many leaders dive headfirst into transformations with strategies developed simply based on internal conversations with their chosen vendors. No single person, vendor, or SI has the market on transformation knowledge. Take the time to learn from the successes and failures of others that have been there before.
Not a “One Size Fits All”
The old adage “if you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times” is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to BSS and OSS Transformations. While some challenges and solutions may be similar, many will be specific to your organization’s specific goals, culture, structure, processes, and existing and target platforms and technologies. The points outlined in this article are just a few of the many things to consider when formulating a Transformation roadmap and strategy. By understanding the challenges, engaging the right partners, and adopting a collaborative approach, telcos can navigate the transformation landscape by successfully implementing the necessary BSS/OSS foundation enabling them to achieve their key business objectives.
