Stratecast reports increased demand for off-the-shelf OSS/BSS products from convergent service providers

June 11, 2007

2 Min Read

NEW YORK -- Visionael Corporation, a leading provider of next-generation service automation and delivery management software and services, today announced that Frost & Sullivan's Stratecast Division has released preliminary data from an in-depth research report finding drastic changes in communications service provider (CSP) buying habits for customized OSS/BSS solutions. The report, which interviews mobile, wireline, and cable service providers responsible for management of hundreds of millions of subscribers/access lines, was previewed today at the Visionael Advantage conference, in New York City.

According to Stratecast, with competition growing fierce among service providers for triple play services, CSPs are making the move towards commercial off-the-shelf products that do not require customization. Previous Stratecast research in 2005 showed that 16 percent of CSPs questioned were implementing highly customized OSS/BSS solutions. This figure has now plunged to two percent.

Reasons given by communications service providers include no longer being able to accept 18-24 month implementation cycles for fulfillment solutions, and out-of-control ongoing costs to maintain, update, and test custom or homegrown OSS/BSS software. The study cites one executive from a mobile and wireless service provider who went so far as to say, "Any manager authorizing customization will be sacked!"

The stakes are high for service providers, with annual OSS/BSS spending estimated to be 20-25 percent of CAPEX. Based on combined estimates, annual service provider CAPEX is expected to be $150-$250 billion. This results in OSS/BSS capital spending estimates of $30-$62.5 billion annually, which does not include professional services beyond those required to install the solution or managed services.

At Visionael Advantage, Dr. Lorien Pratt, Global Director, Infrastructure and OSS of Stratecast said, "In the past, OSS/BSS vendors developed products and CSPs had these changed to meet their needs exactly and exclusively. Now, many CSPs have expressed their desire for significantly reduced customization requirements. They are willing to give up some of their exclusive requirements to save money and time. That bodes well for a company like Visionael, which provides a plug-and-play, next-generation OSS inventory, provisioning and activation solution."

"Stratecast's research validates the feedback that we are receiving from our customers," said Craig Nichols, CEO, of Visionael. "The move by service providers to introduce products that are easy to deploy and deliver automated revenue-generating services can make the difference between success and failure in today's competitive market."

Visionael Corp.

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