Two analyst reports have been released that, for this long-time OSS observer, only serve to demonstrate the lack of real enthusiasm these esteemed experts have for our industry.
Squares
First up, we have Gartner Magic Quadrants which pitches OSS vendors against each other in a two-dimensional arena where ‘completeness of vision’ and ‘ability to execute’ are the winning strengths.
Kudos to Netcracker for being the most upper-est of the right quadrant in the new 2014 report.
It’s just… It really isn’t that new. It could have been written five, maybe ten years ago. Just change a few labels on the graph to their pre-acquisition names and it wouldn’t look much different from 2006.
Why so? There is more innovation in OSS than Gartner acknowledges in this report. Cut n’ pasting the usual Big OSS players from last year’s report in to this one isn’t giving due credit to companies who, as much or more than Big OSS, are innovating in bringing big data, analytics, NFV and SDN to OSS.
You can download Netcracker’s branded version of Gartner’s report here. For the companies that are included, there’s some useful background information in there.
Accountants
Are things a bit more forward looking in Analysys Mason’s review of OSS vendors?
Ericsson gets the top spot this year in a competition that is based on market share and revenues. Congrats.
Inevitably, being revenue focused means that Analysys Mason’s report also features only the Big OSS players. Nothing new here.
You can download a sample of the Analysys Mason review of the 2013 telco software market here, including the positions of each vendor.
So, two major reports from probably the biggest analysts in telco software. Neither tell us much new. Neither help us decide which innovative new vendors we should be building relationships with. And other than a sprinkling of buzzwords, both paint a picture of the future that looks just like 2006.
Are our analysts bored of OSS?