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The "Click to Buy" Network: How BSS and OSS Must Evolve in a 5G-Centric World

The "Click to Buy" Network: How BSS and OSS Must Evolve in a 5G-Centric World Image Credit: Vitalily73/BigStockPhoto.com

What if buying a smart building platform was as easy as buying a book on Amazon?

Communications service providers (CSPs) familiar with enterprise customers might find this concept somewhat far-fetched. A smart building platform is a highly complex solution, featuring many different components that must be integrated, configured and delivered to meet the demands of the individual customer.

The idea that an enterprise customer could “click to buy” any kind of complex, IoT-based platform might seem unrealistic at best. Process-wise, it’s more like commissioning a book than buying one.But as CSPs transition to delivering advanced 5G services, like cloud gaming and smart manufacturing, CSPs need to think creatively how they will meet the rising number of IoT-connected devices.

Approaching the opportunity one RFP at a time just isn’t scalable, nor is manually configuring, delivering and managing every individual solution. The way forward lies in automating as much as possible – from the front-end ordering process to back-end service delivery and assurance.

Six ways BSS and OSS must evolve to meet enterprise demand

For CSPs with legacy, on-premises BSS and OSS, that’s quite a challenge. But with greenfield operators coming to market with flexible, cloud-native systems, it’s one that needs to be tackled for established CSPs to maintain a competitive edge and unlock the revenue potential of 5G.

Crucially, it doesn’t mean doing away with existing BSS and OSS, which are significant, strategic investments and critical to running the business. But it does mean looking for ways to make them more responsive to new enterprise needs over time. We see that happening through six key pathways:

1. Digital storefronts: The winners in the 5G-powered enterprise space will be the players who make solutions easy to buy. CSPs are already experimenting with eCommerce-style digital storefronts that allow customers and partners to order custom IoT-based solutions by selecting components like sensors, SIMs, connectivity and SLA terms. Flexible charging software will be the key to making this work.

2. Cloud-native and microservices: Legacy on-premises applications can’t be modified fast enough to meet emerging demand. BSS and OSS must be native to the cloud and built using microservices, so they can scale to meet increased demand, provider greater reliability, and be modified on the fly as new customer needs emerge. For CSPs that can’t go fully cloud-native today, starting small with new apps or services could be a way forward.

3. SaaS delivery: There are many reasons why spending on software delivered on a monthly subscription model in the public cloud (AKA SaaS) grew by 23% in 2021. SaaS-based BSS and OSS have a lower total cost of ownership as they don’t require on-premises infrastructure and maintenance. They’re continually updated to provide the customer the latest version rather than requiring a major upgrade every few years; and they move IT costs out of capex budgets into predictable opex spending. SaaS also helps accelerate the pace at which CSPs can launch  new enterprise services.

4. AI everywhere: Every enterprise use case is different, making it unsustainable for CSPs to design, deploy, assure and manage every solution manually. AI will be an integral element of new-style BSS and OSS, powering everything from customer recommendations (for example, “organizations that bought this type of sensor also bought this type of connectivity package”) to real-time, automated network optimization and assurance.

5. Open APIs: Access to network functions and data will be the key to many of the new 5G use cases emerging in the enterprise space. With open APIs to the network, for example, third-party customer support systems can automatically and proactively notify customers of any issues in network performance, and alert them to action taken to fix the issue.  Open APIs could also help render the network “as code,” enabling an app developer to request a priority service for building tenants, or a prediction about the expected coverage and Quality of Experience at different locations inside the building.

6. Closed-loop automation: All of the above capabilities will come into their own in a network environment that’s capable of sensing and responding to business demand in an automated fashion. It’s possible to imagine an enterprise customer visiting a CSP’s digital storefront, choosing solution components (let’s say a smart building platform), clicking to buy - and then the solution self-configuring, self-deploying and self-assuring in alignment with enterprise SLAs by using digital service lifecycle management.

It's what some in the telecoms industry have started to call business intent-driven operations: in which the CSP’s BSS and OSS are capable of catering to an enterprise customer’s specialist requirements in an automated fashion - with no need for lengthy RFP processes or manual solution configuration.

An easier way to participate in B2B2X ecosystems and industry trials

Importantly, it’s a model that will also allow CSPs to participate more fully in B2B2X ecosystems where the overall solution is offered by an application provider or systems integrator, rather than the CSP itself.

Enabling ecosystem partners to “click to buy and use” components like network slices, sensors, connectivity, data and analytics opens up a huge vista of monetization possibilities - especially with a flexible charging system that allows revenue to be shared between partners in real-time.

Today, CSPs are having to make “educated bets” on which ecosystems to join, as manual processes make it impossible to dedicate time and expertise to all of them. But with a new style of BSS and OSS enabling closed-loop automation, CSPs can massively expand their ecosystem participation without massively expanding headcount.

The barriers to rapid experimentation also fall away, meaning CSPs can be involved in many more proofs of concept and trials of new solutions. By offering solution components on a plug-and-play basis, CSPs can see what works before committing significant time and resources to a particular use case or industry sector.

To embrace the 5G monetization opportunity, start rethinking OSS and BSS today

Many CSPs may feel they’re a long way from having these kinds of capabilities today to support enterprise 5G monetization. There is no single path that works for all CSPs to move from legacy, on-premises OSS and BSS to more flexible, automated and intelligent business intent-driven operations. But with CSPs increasingly looking at enterprise and B2B2X business models as major sources of new revenue, and many prepared to explore cloud-based deployment, there’s never been a better time to start.

Author

Hamdy Farid is the Senior Vice President of Nokia’s Business Applications unit and loves to talk with CSPs and Enterprises about how they can unlock the value of their network investments through secure, intelligent automation. Born in Egypt, Hamdy graduated in computer engineering from Alexandria University, before moving to Canada to tap into the early 2000s tech boom. Today, Hamdy lives in Ottawa with his wife and two teenage children in a trilingual English-Arabic-French home. He’s a self-proclaimed chef who loves to cook and explore various recipes. Counter-intuitively he finds relaxation in the world of motorcycle racing, where he takes pleasure in riding as fast as he can and passing his fellow racers.

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