OSS BSS Transformation: Why Telecoms Must Act Now and Key Strategies to Succeed

Traditionally, telecom operators relied on OSS and BSS to handle the most critical behind-the-scenes operations. And they still do. But with the rollout of the latest tech like 5G and IoT, telecommunications undergo serious transformations which would be difficult to handle with outdated operations and business support systems. That’s why CSPs should move from just talking about OSS BSS transformation to actively implementing it.

However, upgrading OSS/BSS solutions is a complex and time-consuming process that also requires significant investment on your behalf. It’s no surprise that you might hesitate to take the plunge. But the sooner you begin modernizing your OSS/BSS, the better off you’ll be.

In this article, we will discuss the limitations of legacy OSS and BSS and explore how upgrading them can increase revenue and provide a competitive advantage.

How legacy OSS and BSS impede business success

Faster speeds, greater traffic capacity, and higher bandwidth – that’s just a little part of what 5G brings to the table for the telecommunications industry. But the real change lies in network slicing. This 5G architecture allows CSPs to create multiple virtual networks (or slices) on a single physical 5G network infrastructure, each optimized for specific applications, industries, or customer needs. It means telecom operators can offer tailored services to different clients, roll out new service models like NaaS, and open new revenue streams.

However, new revenue streams won’t appear with outdated tech. Legacy operational support systems and business support systems lack the much-needed flexibility and scalability to support new technologies and service models. Here are some reasons why dated OSS/BSS won’t bring your business to success.

Need more details on OSS and BSS? Read our article describing the role of OSS and BSS in telecommunications.

Limited flexibility

Outdated OSS/BSS solutions are built on an architecture that cannot adapt to new technologies, changing customer demands, or emerging business models. Let’s illustrate this bottleneck with an example in IoT.

Let’s say a telecom company is trying to manage a network of IoT devices with a legacy OSS/BSS. First, they have to add each device manually, which delays deployment and frustrates customers. As more devices connect, the more the system struggles to keep up, causing performance issues and potential downtime. Additionally, the outdated architecture can’t efficiently process the huge amounts of data generated by IoT devices. And so on and so forth. So overall, the existing OSS/BSS software poses significant challenges for the telecom operator and restricts their growth potential.

Lack of automation

As said, legacy OSS/BSS solutions typically rely on manual processes. This leads to mistakes and wastes time and resources that could be used for more strategic efforts. Tasks like network configuration, service activation, or fault management end up taking longer to complete.

But if you automate these processes, the situation changes drastically. Take network configuration, for example. Instead of manually inputting settings for each device, an automated system can apply configurations across multiple devices simultaneously. It speeds up deployment and reduces the chances of human error. As a result, CSPs can deliver services faster, enhance customer satisfaction, and reduce operational costs.

Service delivery issues

Outdated OSS/BSS tools often struggle to deploy services across various platforms. When customers try to access a service on different devices, be it a smartphone, tablet, or computer, such systems may fail to ensure smooth functionality and performance.

Consider a customer trying to stream a video on their tablet and a smartphone simultaneously. Suddenly, they encounter buffering and quality issues on the tablet, while everything seems fine on the smartphone. Of course, there might be different reasons for that, but in case of legacy OSS/BSS infrastructure, such things happen due to their lack of flexibility. And needless to say that this inconsistency frustrates customers, who expect seamless service delivery regardless of the device. 

But apart from user experience, legacy OSS/BSS can also lead to poor customer support, inaccurate billing, limited self-service options, and more. As a result,  communications service providers may face increased customer complaints, higher churn rates, and a tarnished reputation.

NaaS incompatibility

Adopting new service models like NaaS became possible with 5G network slicing. However, the transition isn’t smooth for those relying on older technologies. Just like legacy systems can’t keep up with the complexities of 5G technology, they also fall short when it comes to NaaS. Let’s see why this is the case.

Firstly, NaaS solutions need to integrate seamlessly with various network components and third-party services while outdated OSS/BSS systems can’t easily connect with modern APIs and technologies. Besides, NaaS needs real-time visibility and management of network resources to optimize service delivery, which legacy systems can’t provide. 

One more thing that makes NaaS implementation impossible with older tech refers to automation. Or, to be more specific, the lack of it. Legacy OSS/BSS tools are stuck in manual, human-driven processes while NaaS relies on automation for provisioning, scaling, and managing services. That’s why CSPs must upgrade from their legacy systems to fully embrace NaaS potential. And many telecom operators already do it.

Cyta, the leading telecommunications provider in Cyprus, teamed up with Netcracker to modernize its IT infrastructure. This collaboration will replace Cyta’s outdated BSS and OSS with advanced solutions, enhancing customer experiences and capitalizing on investments in their 5G network and fiber optic cable installation. The new system will improve network operations and their efficiency while providing more agile service capabilities.

So as you can see, modernizing your OSS/BSS isn’t just an option anymore; it’s a must if you want to keep up with the market and boost your profits.

BSS OSS transformation: No time to waste

Another reason for you to speed up your OSS/BSS transformation initiative is a gap between the rapid advancement of telecom technology and the slower evolution of supporting IT infrastructure. Remember the switch from 4G to 5G? Although there are ten years between the technologies, the transition felt almost immediate for telecom companies. When 4G was introduced, operators were still adapting their networks to handle its speed and features, which brought new apps and IoT devices to the public. But just as telecoms were getting used to 4G, 5G arrived with even faster speeds and lower latency, pushing many companies to quickly upgrade their infrastructure all over again.

Long story short, telecommunications service providers must invest in upgrading their OSS/BSS systems right now. One of the ways to do that is to switch to digital Support Systems (DSS), which are basically the next-gen successors to those older systems. The sooner your business does it, the higher your ground against competitors will be. New revenue streams like NaaS, better customer experiences, and future tech readiness – that’s what your company will be able to enjoy.

Now, let’s look at a few effective ways to upgrade your OSS and BSS.

Ways to achieve successful OSS/BSS transformation

We live in an era where transformation in software development revolves around the cloud and AI, and telecom is no exception. Modernizing your OSS/BSS means adopting new technologies. Here are some key strategies to upgrade and optimize your operations and business support system.

Re-architecture to microservices

One of the ways to modernize your OSS/BSS system is to build microservice architecture. Microservices can be scaled individually based on demand. If one service experiences high traffic, it can be scaled without affecting other services, leading to more efficient resource use.

Imagine a telecom company rearchitecting its billing system as a set of microservices. Instead of having a monolithic application that handles all billing-related tasks, they break it down into smaller services like invoice generation, payment processing, and customer notifications. This way when they decide to integrate new payment gateways, they can build a new microservice without touching the core billing logic. The same goes for issue resolution – the failure of one microservice is isolated and does not lead to a system-wide failure.

At Flyaps, we’ve got a solid track record in building microservices and migrating to the cloud. We’ve recently teamed up with a leading provider of global roaming services. The company’s internal system used a monolithic architecture, which made it hard to scale existing products and create new ones. That’s why the client decided to upgrade their system and break it down into microservices.

As a result, we developed a scalable platform that connects all internal apps into one unified system. With the microservice architecture, the client can easily add, remove, or modify new services without affecting the entire system. The solution helped our client reduce the time spent on client engagement, speed up time to market, and streamline business processes.

Cloud-native development

Building your BSS OSS in the cloud comes with a bulk of perks like faster time to market, improved scalability, and broad integration opportunities. As most processes in the cloud are automated, the development process is faster and more flexible compared to traditional on-premise systems. Cloud architecture enables more accurate, zero-touch automated execution of processes like service creation, order processing, charging and billing, and troubleshooting. 

Besides, cloud adoption improves integration with open APIs. It makes OSS/BSS systems more agile and allows for the rapid release of new products and services, including the implementation of NaaS.

Learn more about telecom cloud services in our related article. 

Migration to multi-cloud environments

Just like you can completely overhaul your infrastructure and build cloud-native OSS BSS software, you can also move your existing services to one or more cloud environments. Instead of relying on a single cloud provider, you can distribute OSS BSS tools across multiple clouds. It gives you the flexibility to pick and choose specific providers for your specific needs.

Plus, it increases resilience. If one cloud provider experiences downtime or issues, services hosted on another cloud can continue to run smoothly. It helps ensure that critical processes like billing, customer service, and order management, remain uninterrupted.

And when it comes to cost management, a multi-cloud setup lets telecommunication companies be more strategic. CSPs can optimize their spending by selecting services based on pricing, performance, and capabilities, and, get the most value from their cloud investments as a result.

AI and automation

The complexities and huge potential of 5G networks come with both challenges and opportunities that AI can address. So, network operators should consider adding AI capabilities to both their operations support systems and business support systems. Otherwise, they won’t be able to fully capitalize on what 5G has to offer. 

Integrating AI in telecom allows automation in various processes, from customer service to network maintenance. Chatbots can handle customer inquiries instantly, while predictive maintenance can fix potential network issues before they become critical. AI also helps manage the vast number of devices and data that 5G supports. It can analyze network performance in real-time, identify bottlenecks, predict failures, and optimize resource allocation.

If you want to effectively monetize 5G and maximize revenue, you need to adopt AI as one of the key components of your BSS OSS transformation strategy.

Learn more about what benefits you get from adopting gen AI in telecom.

How Flyaps can support your BSS OSS transformation

Thanks to our expertise in the telecom industry, we at Flyaps know exactly what telecom companies need when it comes to digital transformation initiatives, including OSS/BSS modernization. Here’s what we offer.

Application modernization

We can help you upgrade your existing OSS/BSS so that it meets current telecom industry standards. This includes getting rid of any performance or scalability issues, integrating with other required systems, and enhancing the security of your data.

Cloud migration

If you have applications that are currently hosted on your own servers, we can assist you in migrating them to a hybrid cloud environment to ensure better flexibility and cost savings.

Developing cloud-native applications

We can create OSS/BSS software that is designed specifically for cloud environments. Such applications would use modern cloud services and scalable microservice-based architecture, ensuring they can adapt to your needs and handle high demand.

Business process automation

We can set up a comprehensive automation system for your business processes across different departments. This includes tasks like monitoring network hardware, predicting maintenance requirements, generating reports, streamlining billing processes, managing sales and marketing across various channels, and enhancing customer support services, leading to improved business outcomes.

Ready to modernize your OSS/BSS system architecture for improved efficiency, seamless integration, and enhanced data security? Drop us a line and we’ll get back to you shortly to discuss the details.