Next Generation Services, formerly known as Boardwatch, is updating its taxonomy of the OSS sector, and is calling on the telecom software sector to help refine the lists of the companies active in this market (see Who Makes What: OSS Update).

The taxonomy splits the telecom software market into 13 categories:

1. Billing Systems
   
2. Revenue Assurance & Fraud Management
   
3. Mediation Systems
   
4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
   
5. Element Management Systems
   
6. Middleware
   
7. Resource/Inventory Management
   
8. Service Assurance – Fault Management
   
9. Service Assurance – Performance Monitoring
   
10. Service Assurance – Service Management
    
11. Service Assurance – Test & Measurement
    
12. Service Fulfillment – Activation
    
13. Service Fulfillment – Provisioning

The same process was undertaken just over a year ago, but industry consolidation, particularly through acquisitions, means the lists of companies are somewhat different today. Like last year, the final set of categories and lists of companies we settle on, after feedback from the industry, will form the basis of a market perception survey to be undertaken by Heavy Reading, the research division of Light Reading.

In that survey, service providers from all over the world will be asked which companies they recognize as players within the specified market categories, and also which vendors they believe are the market leaders in terms of: price; technology leadership; product quality and reliability; and service and support.

To find out about the report that followed last year's initial taxonomy, check out these articles: Heavy Reading Takes on OSS, Report: OSS Brands Lack Impact, and The OSS Identity Crisis.

If you know of a company that should be included in the taxonomy, or can identify a company that should or should not be included within certain categories, then let us know. You can do that by adding to the message board at the foot of the taxonomy's introduction page, or by sending email to [email protected].

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading