Amdocs just got a boost in its 5G policy and charging capabilities, and that's no BSS.
The Chesterfield, Missouri-based purveyor of back-office software for telcos, media companies and enterprises declares on its website that its mission is "to enrich lives and progress society." That path enlightenment includes gobbling up an Irish business support systems (BSS) vendor.
Amdocs said today it would buy Openet for $180 million. Openet had hauled in around $140 million in the past two years, the two companies announced.
In the past year, Openet's software has hit the right note with several 5G core vendors – including Samsung and HPE – becoming their default 5G policy and charging function.
Amdocs very well could have been sick of losing out to Openet in customer engagements. The vendor has said that about three years ago it retrenched, refocused and aimed to take on deals where it could make headway versus Ericsson, Huawei, Amdocs and bigger competitors. It said at the time it was investing in rewriting its BSS solutions from scratch to make them cloud native and 5G ready.
Openet also added partnerships with NTT Data, AWS and Accenture, to name a few, realizing that it didn't have to fight the OSS/BSS giants all by itself.
The operator wins started piling up for Openet shortly after its 2017 retrenching. Its recent deals have included wins at Iridium, VADSA, Bell Canada, Telkomsel and SaskTel. Openet just recently expanded its footprint in BT, where it was already providing the charging solution to BT Mobile.
In 2017, Openet's CEO Niall Norton told Light Reading the company started winning when it embraced automation, interoperability and used its size to its advantage. "We were a fit-looking pygmy," he said. "If you are getting chased by a lion, you don't have to be the fastest. You just have to be faster than the guy behind you."
Norton also used that interview to compare Amdocs to a dinosaur, noting that its technology was behind the times. "We are not here to peacefully coexist with Oracle and Amdocs," he told Light Reading at the time. "With this technology, they are dinosaurs."
And, yes, Light Reading's editors also shortlisted the firm as one of the outstanding digital enablement vendors in 2020, where larger firms like Amdocs and Netcracker were also favorites to win.
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With Automation, Openet Aims to Be Lean, Mean BSS Machine
— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading