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COTS Point-Solutions, In-house development, and Frameworks |
Let�s look at some of the choices that need to be made in managing new resources and services within a Communication Service Provider (CSP).
Each CSP must weigh the pros and cons of each option based upon experience, skills, time-to-market, and future needs.
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Point-Solution
COTS Point-Solutions can be deployed easily into existing systems without the need for customization. The Independent Software Vendor (ISV) licenses the COTS product and will also charge additional for support, maintenance and upgrades unless it is an open source solution (This we will reserve for a future blog posting). COTS requires little experience and lead-time, however, due diligence is required to insure that it is �fit for purpose�.
Furthermore, in today�s rapidly changing market with next generation services, consolidation, and competition - investing in COTS may meet short-term but not necessarily meet long-term needs. Is the COTS solution flexible and open enough to be integrated within the total Operational Support System (OSS) end-to-end environment and also can it be customizable for future network and/or service resource management tasks.
In-house Development
Developing the solution from scratch can provide tremendous flexibility however long-term maintenance is a major concern. Who is going to support the solution? Who do I call when there is a problem? These are just some of the concerns I have heard.
Also basic features and functions such as protocols, messaging, modeling, and graphical user interfaces require specialized skills that may be costly to recruit and retain over time. Still many CSPs elect to retain some level of control and require in-house development to meet custom internal requirements unique to their business and user needs.
Operational Support System (OSS) Framework
OSS Frameworks were once heavily leveraged in the early-to-mid 1990�s for their flexibility and adaptability and were superceded by COTS point-solutions in the late-1990�s while the dot-com bubble was growing. Then in 2001 the �telecom winter� challenged all solutions while buyers sat out the storm. Subsequently we have seen consolidation at the Independent Software Vendors (ISV) level and CSP level across the board.
Today we see a resurgence of frameworks and middleware as the CSP demands out-of-the-box features and functions balanced with high availability, distributed scalability, openness, flexibility and adaptability. These topics will be discussed in future blogs but for now � to close here - striking a balance, making technology decisions, and ultimately solving the business problem in a timely manner based upon available talent, time, and resources is the key for the Next Generation OSS.
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