For those with long histories working in the telco industry, it may elicit a wry smile to hear the buzzword that Digital Transformation has become in today's business landscape. Organisations across almost every industry are embracing technological advancements under the banner of Digital Transformation. It makes sense to use digital technologies to stay competitive, deliver superior customer experiences and drive operational efficiencies of course. However, for the telco industry, the path to successful digital transformation has been one we’ve walked for decades. This experience has made us well aware that these projects are often fraught with challenges and hurdles that require careful navigation.

Customers expect uninterrupted network connectivity from their telco services providers so telcos have to grapple with the enormous task of sustaining peak network performance for every minute of every day. This involves managing the sophisticated mix of physical, logical and virtual resources utilised by today’s networks, all while adapting to a constantly evolving customer / service landscape.

We all know that Operational Support Systems (OSS) are an integral component of modern telecommunication networks. We also know how important they are to enable efficient management, control, and maintenance of network infrastructure. Implementing them well is essential for any modern network operator. However, if you’ve implemented OSS transformation projects, or are currently on the journey of implementing an OSS, they can often be fraught with challenges that make even the most seasoned OSS expert question their sanity. They can be so challenging that if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.

Generative AI (artificial intelligence) models like ChatGPT have grabbed the world's attention over the last year. In response, many applications of generative AI have been appearing across almost every industry. As a technology leader, the telecommunications sector, particularly the Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) industry, is no exception.

 

You already know that the telecommunications industry is one of the most critical industries in the world, responsible for keeping people connected and businesses operating. The global network of communications infrastructure requires constant attention, maintenance, and upgrading. Obviously, this requires a large and diverse workforce.

When young people ask me for career advice, I always tell them: “Don’t just focus on your own accomplishments. Be a collaborator,”

The quote above comes from Harvard Career Expert, Heidi K. Gardner, in her article, “The No. 1 ‘desirable skill’ that very few people have—especially men.” In it she describes how her research unlocked an important and often overlooked insight: “People who figured out how to collaborate across teams gained a major competitive edge over those who did not.” Collaborators have been shown to deliver better results, have more satisfied customers and get promoted faster. 

When you think of OSS and BSS transformations, do you think of them as a technology challenge to solve, a people challenge or a business challenge? Or maybe a combination of all of the above?

Most of us in the OSS industry love to solve technology problems. Luckily there are lots of problems waiting to be solved in the telco industry, so that’s kept a lot of OSS / BSS people busy over the years. Some of the problems solved have been as simple as they are ingenious. Others have required quite sophisticated solutions. Our developers can really make our code-base sing and deliver amazing results, can’t they?