New Approaches to OSS/BSS as a Managed Service
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The new digital convergence holds the promise of new revenue opportunities for Communications Service Providers. With these opportunities come many challenges – the need to meet fast-growing capacity demand, rapidly launch new products, boost ARPU, maintain outdated legacy systems, etc. Combine this with the changing economy and some CSPs are considering the benefits of outsourcing part or all of their operations – including next-gen and legacy O/BSS, Service Operations Center, Network Operations Center, Customer Care, and Services Desk – to trusted third parties.
Learn how CSPs can leverage managed services as a strategic differentiator to launch new services faster, execute modernization and innovation projects, drive a better customer experience, and become more competitive – without having to worry about managing their own network and IT/datacenters.
This webinar will address the following key issues:
- Identifying key imperatives and making the business case for OSS/BSS as a managed service
- Evaluating successful models that have delivered sustained value
- Adopting different approaches using new technologies and best practices
- Achieving business and operational agility
- Reducing CAPEX and OPEX by adopting a managed services model
- The benefits of partnering with a managed services provider to design, build, host, and run back-office infrastructure, applications, and non-core business operations
- Combining a knowledge of Network, IT, Communications Operations and Management Solutions, and tools and methodologies in one package
Thank you all for your questions, the Q&A session is now closed.
Do “managed services” include any capabilities using TR-069-based solutions? For example, does a managed service provider use a modem vendor’s ACS/RMS in its managed service offering? Who controls remote diagnostics and troubleshooting capabilities?
While I am not 100% sure, the answer would be Yes. Since NetCracker does not offer outsourcing of networks, I may not be the best person to answer this. Regardless, if the network and its operations is outsourcing, the managed service provider would control all remote diagnostics, and troubleshooting since they would be responsible for running the network. You would hold them to various SLAs: Network uptime, MTTR, QoS and there would be penalties if they are not able to meet those.
Dear Sanjay, our main problem is the legacy systems and application, we are thinking to launch a tender for BSS/OSS in order to remove all legacy systems and enjoy the advantage of new BSS/OSS, do you think that this strategy is correct? what are the cons?
Broadly speaking, service providers have taken two approaches: Cap legacy BSS/SS spending and keep it in a maintenance mode, while focusing on deploying the next gen BSS/OSS. This approach works when the legacy business/network is holding steady or declining slowly. The legacy business still provides a good source of revenue and is profitable and so it must be supported. The second approach is to get rid of the legacy BSS/OSS as it is a huge cost because the revenues from legacy business is dropping very quickly and does not justify the high cost of maintain the BSS/OSS. This case your approach would be sound….get rid of legacy..it costs too much and focus on next gen BSS/OSS.
CAPEX/OPEX savings under managed services is obtained/achieved from where?
The most obvious and direct impact is from savings in Labor costs. The managed service providers effectively takes over (or as it often referred to in the industry, “re-badge”) your employees in the network or the BSS/OSS functions. Some the largest Managed Service contracts have absorbed up to 8000 service provider employees. That is a very large saving. Other important areas are: license costs, hardware costs, integration costs…..
Sanjay,
You mentioned other reasons for service provider dissatisfaction. Can you please elaborate?
Yes, the survey responses cited many others: the challenges of transferring the labor pool, ensuring that the Managed service provider can retain the skill set and knowledge base in the transferred employee, lack of transparency in pricing and cost associated with the managed services, supplier not able to upgrade the capabilities and deliver functionality as promised. As mentioned in the webinar, the decision has to be more than saving in OpEx, it really has to do with the competency of the Managed Services provider.
Thanks for this session. In the OSS transformation that can be considered, can all or most of the OSS job be transformed ?
Gilles – OSS IT Director
I assume your question is “can most of the OSS jobs be transferred”. The answer is Yes. That is one of the prime objectives for managed services, take the labor costs off your hands, upgrade and transform your OSS to become next-gen and deliver to you three key benefits: OpEx savings, upgraded functionality and capabilities to meet your business requirements and not have to deal with day to day running of your OSS.
As a proposition, how does managed services compare with the other big OPEX reduction strategy: Software as a Service and Cloud based OSS/BSS solutions?
SaaS and Cloud based OSS/ BSS definitely provide an alternative (and as yet untested) models for Cap Ex and OpEx reduction. It will require from the supplier side: the capability for their solutions to be hosted in the cloud and from the service provider side, the confidence that a function as mission critical as BSS / OSS can be offered in such a manner.
Hi, what exactly is a managed service and which areas of operations does it mostly cover
As covered in slides 6 and 7, Managed services can be thought of as complete outsourcing of an IT, or Operations, or Network which is then consumed by the service provider as a service without bearing the cost of ownership. Today, the most prevalent form of managed services is use of Network as a managed service, primarily on the mobile side. Increasingly IT, BSS and OSS are being considered as prime areas to be outsourced and consumed as a managed service.
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