(This is a Guest contribution on the RiverMuse Blog).

We loved your post and thanks for reading the Telesperience blog Microsperience!

We believe that even though we’re now officially post-crunch in telecoms, many CSPs have taken a good, long and hard look at how they buy and consume software. Interest in open source software by CSPs of all sizes is definitely on the increase. As you know, one of the “dirty little secrets” of the telecoms industry has been that open source tech can be found in virtually all CSPs’ IT stacks at some level – in fact many ISVs have been using it to lower their own costs for years while still publicly keeping on-message that it’s not really suitable for mission-critical BSS-OSS.

Our research has shown, however, that this situation is changing fast. Partly this is because a new generation of open source solutions like yours (not just technology or tools), are coming to market, and partly because CSPs in many markets are faced with having to do more with less. So to fund innovation they need to look hard at their cost base and reduce waste in the BSSOSS, using these savings to finance new projects.

We’ve also found that interest in open source tech is higher in the telecoms vertical than in other highly transactive industries. We recently asked a range of different types of large companies from telecoms, banking, automotive, computing/IT and government sectors whether they’d consider using open source technology. Eighteen per cent told us they were already using it, 9% are actively investigating using it, 55% said they would not rule out the possibility and 18% said they had no plans to use it. In a separate study we asked just telecoms SPs the same question and this found that, like the previous study, 18% were already using it. However, in contrast 27% were actively investigating using it, 46% would not rule out using it and only 9% said they had no plans to use it. This shows that telcos are more advanced in utilizing or evaluating open source solutions than the average enterprise.

Not only is interest in open source solutions high in the telecoms vertical but we discovered interesting trends amongst those adopting it. The (uninformed) consensus is that CSP adopt open source to lower costs. In fact, although this was certainly why many were attracted to open source initially, it’s not why they stayed. Far more attractive to them than just lower costs was the fact that many open source solutions are built using the most up-to-date technology available, and that they were capability-rich due to the sheer speed of innovation.

My advice to CSPs is therefore to not get hung up on what is essentially an alternative business model, but instead to evaluate open source solutions on exactly the same basis as any other software. One of the big hang ups in the telecoms software market has been that many CSPs are wary of being held hostage by a single vendor, and also that they realize that differentiation is increasingly going to come from software not networks. Open source seems to have a strong message for this fear – take control of your own destiny and don’t just accept a generic one-size fits all offering. There’s some really good software out there in the market today. Some of it is from ISVs and some from open source vendors. There’s no single ‘best’ solution for everyone – you have to evaluate the stand-out offerings against your own individual needs. What I’m saying is that dismissing a solution just because its open source is dumb and, if you take a look at the stats above, it’s certainly not what your rivals are doing.

Teresa Cottam

Research Director, Telesperience