Light Reading today launches Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) Week, five days of focused content that covers many of the topics and technologies identified in the SPIT Manifesto published in February. (See The SPIT Manifesto and LR Ramps Up SPIT Coverage.)

That Manifesto explained what SPIT is, and why we think it's increasingly important. (See Putting SPIT in Focus.)

It also allowed us to unleash some new artwork...



In a sense, you could say we've been clearing our collective throats during the past month or so as we've worked toward SPIT Week (March 1-5), during which we'll be shouting about the importance of Service Provider IT. (See Analysts: SPIT Is Hot Stuff.)

And there's been plenty of SPIT activity [Ed note: SPITTING?] during February. (See Developer Apathy Could Curb Telco App Stores, Qwest Cloud Courts Middle Market, IBM Makes Intelliden Buy, and MWC 2010: Ericsson Opens App Store, for example.)

We're kicking off SPIT Week with a Special Feature on Telecom Service Brokers, which have emerged as important weapons in operators' armories as they deal with a new era of service and application delivery and development, migrating from their legacy platforms to new network and IT environments. (See Who Makes What: Telecom Service Brokers.)

We also have a LRTV interview with Ravinder Jain, the CIO of Aircel Ltd. , India's fifth-largest mobile operator. In the interview he talks about the growing importance of the CIO in modern service providers, and how the CIO's team is no longer confined to the back office, but is increasingly involved in front-line business transformation processes. (See Aircel's CIO Talks Innovation .)

In addition, Heavy Reading analyst Caroline Chappell explains why customer experience management (CEM) is "quickly emerging as a key component of network operator efforts to reshape their business models to conform to new 'telco 2.0' market realities." (See The Buzz About CEM.)

Throughout the remainder of this week, we'll take a look at the SPIT capabilities of some of the leading telecom and IT vendors, run further insightful industry analysis from some of the leading brains at Heavy Reading, check out the BIG SPITTERS of the OSS/BSS sector, and more.

As usual, we'll be interested to get your feedback on our coverage of, and approach to, the SPIT sector, so please post your comments on the message boards below. — Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading

Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to Three OSS Imperatives: Customer, Cost & Cloud, a Light Reading Virtual Event for service providers that need to understand how to adapt and transform their operational support systems to put customers first, drive out cost, and support new cloud-based services. To take place on Tuesday, April 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time, access is free. For more information, or to register, click here.