OSS

NEC buys NetCracker for OSS and SDP presence

NEC is buying OSS firm NetCracker, a move we think sends the clearest signal so far on the importance of operations software in the telecom space. NetCracker is known for a strong service delivery platform (SDP) software position, a class of operations and service feature strategies that focus on hosting features and operations elements on specialized platforms.

We believe that telco equipment vendors will generally beef up their OSS positions, but in particular will be beefing up their SDP positions, as consumer services and partnerships with higher-layer players change the nature of service provider revenue targets and infrastructure priorities.

NEC sees this as an entrée into the telco space, and they’re right. The price of playing in major deals in the future is going to include the ability to supply integrated operations solutions. If they’re your own, you have differentiation. If they’re someone else’s, you’re heading down the road to plumbing.

Vendors lag in TM Forum issues like SDPs

The TM Forum (TMF) meeting in Nice this year seemed to show that the body is becoming more relevant to key issues like service delivery platforms (SDPs), content, and even advertising, but that the vendors involved in the process are lagging in their productization of these advances. The product announcements at the meeting were pedestrian and vendors are often defensive in their role in working activity, demonstrating a desire to direct the processes to the benefit of their companies in the near term. We believe that the programs will win out, since both the survival of the body and the support of the network operators and service providers that buy the systems and software will depend on relevance to current market needs.

Oracle launches telco OSS initiative

Oracle is launching a major telco OSS initiative based on conformance with the Telemanagement Forum (TMF) SID data model and architecture. The move is an evolution of Oracle’s growing interest in the carrier market, but it also represents a key step in its competition with IBM and perhaps for the industry as well. The Oracle OSS model includes the ability to import information from other information systems, but it also integrates many of what would ordinarily be seen as enterprise applications, such as ERP. This increased focus on business applications for OSS processes is reflective of the TMF view but also tends to favor software players like Oracle against middleware/hardware players like IBM. For the industry the move likely means much greater service provider focus on OSS processes, since the giants of the industry are now contending with each other in that space and elevating their issues to be visible to senior management. We believe this will put additional pressure on network equipment vendors to take some stand in the OSS and service management space,or risk being marginalized under the software umbrella of others like Oracle.