OSS Line

Mr Pullen Goes to Aria Networks

I blog about what I know and what I like. So, in the interest of transparency you may like to know that I am now working with the network planning and optimization start-up, Aria Networks. And I’m really getting in to it. Such an OSS geek…

I am starting to understand the subtleties of the cool technology Aria’s products are based on, and that means more blogging on this part of the OSS industry.

What I am finding interesting so far is the difference in core technical approach, compared to CrAmdocs/Telcordia/Netcracker.

The Big OSS companies have products based on inventory and process automation. In developing product or offering solutions the first question they ask is ‘how do we leverage our inventory data?’, the second being ‘what process shall we build around checking and updating this inventory?’.

Aria Networks starts with a core, generic process: Routing. It is, after all, what managing and using a network is all about. This is then applied to a problem, such as bulk re-optimization of a network, where services are analyzed concurrently for optimal network use, QoS and resilience.

The upshot of this approach to OSS products is that you get the intelligence out of the box with Aria and can leverage existing inventory or network discovery products to feed the planning, optimization or forecasting  analysis.

CTOs of services providers and OSS vendors have been talking about unlocking the value of their data for a while now. It’s start-ups like Celona, Ontology and Aria Networks that are delivering innovative technology that makes the most of this data.

A Facebook Experiment

As it’s Friday, I’m sure many of you will be spending a small portion of the afternoon on Facebook. While you’re there, swing by the new OSS Line group.

This blog is (I hope) primarily a source of information, writing, tips and the like. It’s not intended to be a community message board. There’s much better platforms than a blog for That Sort of Thing. So, in a moment of Web 2.0 enthusiasm, I created a social networking group to compliment the blog.

I have no idea if it will be useful.

But, following Martin Creaner’s advice from yesterday’s service catalog web-cast, I’ll just create loads of services and see which one sticks! Maybe a LinkedIn group? That Twitter thing? A rock-oriented musical podcast on MySpace?

The Facebook group is about:

> Staying in touch with colleagues and friends in the industry.
> Getting a feel for what’s going on in the industry outside your current organization.
> Get notifications, background and engage in discussion about topics raised at www.ossline.com.

Do you think it's going to be useful or interesting? In web2.0 fashion, I think we should 'suck it and see'. If it's dull, we'll ditch it in 6 months. If it's v.interesting, we'll keep it going...

OSS Line at Tele Management World, Nice, 2009

I will be at Nice again this year to enjoy the sights,  the sounds and the smells of our industry’s principal trade show.

TMW is a mix of the fascinating and the dull, the informative and the vacuous.

It’s difficult to predict what will be of value and what won’t. Some keynotes offer a candid insight in to the industry, and a fresh perspective. Others feel like they were put together on a short-haul business class flight using existing collateral.

above. Sol Trujillo of Telstra. One of the more interesting keynotes of 2008.

Personally, being a bit of an OSS geek, I am a big fan of catalyst projects, at Forumville, down in the basement. Ok, some of the presentations are not well rehearsed, but you almost always get a better insight in to the vendors products, and hints at their roadmap,  than you will find on their marketing stand up stairs.

You want a candid, no-marketing-bs, answer to a question? Ask a flustered engineer after they’ve fluffed the technical demo in a 30 minute catalyst presentation.

No… I’m not really that cruel.

above. The Amdocs beautiful-people manning the stand in 2008.

Two things for you, my intelligent, regular reader:

1. I will be blogging the show as it happens. I’ll try and keep it interesting. No transcripts of the keynotes or anything like that. Only key news, product announcements, highlights, gossips, the latest polo-shirt fashions.

2. If you’re attending TMW this year and have anything you’d like to discuss with me, drop me a line at james.pullen@ossline.com . I will be available to meet over coffee and cakes. Feedback on OSS Line? Project opportunities? Want to discuss blogging your new product? A chat about emerging technologies? Anything!

And to all those marketeers pulling 18 hour days to get ready for next week, our thoughts are with you….

OSS Line (Beta) is Up!

The OSS Line design is just the way I want it, and the domain mapping DNS updates have propagated Internet-wide. So...

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