The "monetization of the cloud" and service management issues, "especially related to 3G and the migration to 4G" are likely to be the hot topics at next week's Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) jamboree, Management World 2010, according to Heavy Reading senior analyst Ari Banerjee. (See Sun, Sand, SPIT & Software and The SPIT Manifesto.)

Banerjee, who recently joined Heavy Reading from Yankee Group Research Inc. and who is heading to Nice, France, next week for the confab, says the development of cloud services, and how to make money from them, are hot buttons for the vendors and the TM Forum , which organizes the event. (See Management World: Making Sense of the Cloud.)

But he sees mobile service management and service assurance, with a particular focus on helping operators migrate towards Long Term Evolution (LTE), as "absolutely critical" issues, "not just in terms of network management, but in terms of service experience and the customer experience." (See SPIT Watch: Knowing Me, Knowing You and The Buzz About CEM.)

The analyst also expects to see increasing evidence of vendors "investing in convergent charging systems to help service providers monetize [their services and applications] in different ways... to enable tiered services." Such systems include converged pre- and post-paid billing systems and the integration of policy control capabilities into charging platforms, a product strategy that's already evident in the portfolios of a number of large and specialist vendors. (See Bell Mobility Deploys Openet, Libyan Operator Bills With Ericsson, AlcaLu Wins BSS Deal in Vietnam, Orange Botswana Picks Volubill, Kabira Heads to OSS 2.0, and Redknee Upgrades TCB.)

Banerjee, who is being joined in Nice by fellow SPIT expert Caroline Chappell, says the annual event is "an event where people go to learn... They're not just showing up because it's Nice and nearly the summer time. There are a lot of good opportunities for face-to-face discussions and a lot of educational sessions." Banerjee will be participating in a couple of the sessions himself.

"There are always a lot of takeaways," he adds (though why he can't just get room service or go out to eat is another question).

For all the SPIT news leading up to the event -- plus reports from the show floor, updates from the conference halls, and gossip from the coolest bars in Nice -- keep an eye on our special Management World 2010 Show Site.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading