Today’s communications industry is characterized by unprecedented complexity and dynamic forces of change in virtually every aspect of its environment. Faced with increasing customer demand, pressure on operating margins and increasing competition, Communications Service Providers are now adopting a top-down, end-to-end Service Management approach, managing their infrastructure in the context of the services delivered and ultimately the customer’s experience.

While leading Communications Service Providers now recognize that few areas offer broader potential for enabling transformative change than Operational Support Systems, standardization has come slowly to the industry. Accordingly, the benefits that other industries have realized from information technology have eluded some CSPs.

The rise of the TM Forum as a leading authority on OSS standardization is evidence of the need for transformation in the industry. The Forum has driven the creation of a series of programs critical to the advancement of OSS, especially in the emerging area of Service Management. A number of CSPs and their technology partners have achieved early success in implementation of standards compliant capabilities.

The objective of this paper is to discuss industry efforts to move toward a more efficient, flexible OSS infrastructure, and the early adoption success and market driven approach of a leading service and resource management company, EMC.

Released: April 2008

Authors: Rob Rich (robert.h.rich@gmail.com)

Source: Rich Media & Communications