Sage Points Out Pressing OSS Issues

Security is a major OSS concern for service providers. Many service providers are concerned with the security of SNMP protocol.

Inventory management is a major source of pain. Service providers report losing significant money as a result of under-utilized network assets. However, many find it necessary to develop their inventory management software (IMS) internally because they have been unable to find an integrated off-the-shelf IMS package that meets all their needs.

One OSS size does not fit all. Although service providers would prefer a "plug-and-play" OSS solution, they do not believe this is possible due to the uniqueness of providers' networks. Consequently, the ease with which an OSS package can be configured and customized is a crucial vendor selection criterion.

Integration of OSS systems across service areas is limited. Software limitations and inter-departmental politics are obstacles to integration of voice and data OSS systems.

"Self-healing" is a much-desired OSS feature. Service providers want device and event correlation to automatically identify network problems and to automatically fix them when a truck roll is not necessary, but many remain skeptical that OSS vendors can deliver on this promise.

SLA management software capabilities are still low. Few service providers can be automatically notified of SLA breaches currently, much less pro-actively notify customers of breaches. Most participants believe that SLA management will become an increasingly important competitive differentiator, however.