Addressing Critical Shifts in OSS/BSS to Support New Customer Strategies

Business Wire, Feb 28, 2008

Frost & Sullivan to Host the 2(nd) Annual OSS BSS Asia Pacific Executive MindXchange Summit from March 27-28, 2008, at Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Singapore

SINGAPORE -- In today's dynamic environment, global communications service providers (CSPs) are recognising that Operations and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) are fast becoming 'part-of-the-service,' rather than just the back-end support functions that have defined them in the past.

To address the myriad of innovative offerings and personalized lifestyle services that can be provided today, CSPs are progressively moving away from silo-styled back-office operations to more effectively focus on the customer experience.

Business transformation is a mantra that is affecting almost every organization as the shift to customer centricity continues. Critical to this effort is the retooling, and often consolidation, of OSS/BSS along with significant change in internal processes to meet new business needs. For most operators, this requires substantial capital outlay, especially for BSS functions, and a focus on essential business needs while keeping pace with a growing customer base.

As CSPs grapple with the challenge of providing customers a seamless communications experience, managing the new requirements that govern the entire value-chain are essential for long-term success.

"It's no longer just about the network," says Karl Whitelock, Senior Consulting Analyst at Stratecast's OSS/BSS Global Competitive Strategies practice. "Operators must now be generous in addressing customer needs while being mindful of cost and time-to-market factors that make for an improved customer experience.

"Through the aid of technology evolution, with the network, with mobile user devices and with convergence of the media, entertainment and advertising markets, customers today have choices about their services, about who provides these services and about how much they will pay for them," he adds.

The communications industry has traditionally been technology-driven, but increasingly, the focus on customers is essential for addressing changing market demands. Service providers are retooling their systems and processes with partner support, to assist them in achieving service quality through a flexible service management environment (customer care, provisioning, billing and assurance) that not only allows for cost-optimization, but for faster and more effective ways of addressing customer expectations.

Frost & Sullivan's exclusive Executive MindXchange summit on OSS/BSS will address the communications industry's critical business challenges and the role of OSS/BSS systems as an enabler of new services and revenue generating opportunities. The summit will focus on customer centric operations, measuring the customer experience, convergent billing and service fulfillment, service delivery platforms and service oriented architecture for enhancing OSS/BSS as new service enabler.

This two-day event, to be held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore, from March 27-28, 2008, is designed to be highly interactive, featuring end-user case studies, panel discussions and opportunities for networking and sharing best practices. Speakers include representatives from Vodafone Pacific, Oracle Communications, Tech Mahindra, Orange Business Services, Telecom New Zealand, Chunghwa Telecom Lab, Reliance Telecommunications, Telekom Malaysia, amongst others.

From Stratecast, a division of Frost & Sullivan, Karl Whitelock, Senior Consulting Analyst, and Susan McNeice, Program Manager, both within the Stratecast OSS/BSS Global Competitive Strategies (OSSCS) practice will share their expertise and knowledge regarding today's most significant strategic business issues.

Media partners for the summit are Billing OSS, Billing supplement, ChinaTechNews, Connect World, Developing Telecoms, Global Telecom Directory, Telecom Asia and Wireless Asia. The summit is supported by Oracle Communications, Tech Mahindra, Comverse, Nokia Siemens Networks, Openet, Axiom Systems, Clarity, Fastwire, InfoVista, Subex, TTI Telecom, Global Revenue Assurance Professional Association (GRAPA) and ITU-APT Foundation of India.

For more information/registration details, please visit www.frost-oss.com. Media passes are available to the press. To register for the summit, you may also send an email to Surbhi Dedhia, Corporate Communications at sdedhia@frost.com with your full name, media/company name, title, telephone number, fax number and email.

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