OSS Foundations Uncovered in Athens

Pamela Hakim, VP Marketing, Telcordia

At Telcordia Interactive 2009: Foundations last month, we set out to uncover the concepts, priorities and strategies that the Next Gen OSS community regard as critical for stability and growth. It’s clear that service providers regard Service Assurance as increasingly important, especially those looking to recoup their investment in the network through focusing on enterprise customers. Both Oni Telecom and OTE highlighted this fact in their presentations.

On the network technology side, fiber was front and center. Accenture explained the choices to be made in rolling out fiber for next gen access; Cincinnati Bell put this into context through a ‘case study’ of their implementation and described how to achieve near 100% order flowthrough with the help of the Telcordia Fulfillment Suite. Sessions from ESRI and the Telcordia Planning & Engineering team demonstrated the critical role of GIS-based solutions for ensuring proactive, rapid conversion from market potential to paying customers.

The Telcordia partner community ensures service providers have access to the technology and expertise that will help their businesses flourish. A great example of this was presented by T-Com Croatia and GISDATA, with an impressive account of how they have managed an OSS transformation, providing increased flexibility and automation through order management, and implemented a next-gen service catalog in the process.

Finally, Telcordia shared its strategy and vision of how service providers can realize their potential by directing OSS investment to impact key business processes; with a focus on pre-integrated solutions for Mass Market Broadband, Wireless Operations and Enterprise Services. Real-world examples underscored the importance of experience as the critical ingredient in delivering solutions that enhance business value. Telcordia CEO, Mark Greenquist, reiterated to customers and partners Telcordia’s firm footing and unique strength and depth to be a long-term partner, supporting service providers around the globe however their priorities evolve.

At the Partner Business Forum, Telcordia’s new Partner Program was introduced. The program is designed to give partners easier access to the tools, resources and deep expertise needed to drive business and provide superior customer satisfaction. Highlights included in-depth descriptions of the support available from Pre-Sales and Marketing through Delivery and Education Services.