Will OSS Consolidation Benefit Carriers? (cont'd)

What It All Means
If most of the leading companies in OSS aren't planning acquisitions, then consolidation isn't really happening. Notable acquisitions have occurred every six months or so, but this represents aggregation more often than consolidation. Examples such as MetaSolv's acquisition of Architel and Watchmark-Comnitel's acquisition of Metrica are essentially changes of ownership for a product group. Ace-Comm's acquisition strategy and NetCracker's purchase of a firm with which it was already working are examples of aggregation - this is not a condemnation either company's growth strategy. Perhaps the one caveat is Telcordia, whose acquisition of Granite Systems is an example of consolidation – one competing vendor buying another, and resulting in fewer total players in the market.

If consolidation isn't really happening, then it can't very well help to solve OSS 's big problems. If nothing else, the period of aggregation should attack the integration tax, and it is essentially the responsibility of the vendors involved. Solving this problems will make aggregated entities far more attractive to larger players that may not want to deal with such tactical details. Telcordia, however, may be the chip leader at OSS 's “hold ‘em” table. Its actions in the marketplace certainly could spur other large players – like HP, Agilent, Amdocs or even a major SI – to change their tunes and become more acquisitive. However, only when such activity begins will it become evident whether the “big guys” back up their words and solve carrier's biggest OSS challenges, or whether it will remain business as usual.

«Prev   |   1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   Subscribe

Send Comment

© 2004, All information contained herein is the sole property of Pipeline Publishing, LLC. Pipeline Publishing LLC reserves all rights and privileges regarding the use of this information. Any unauthorized use, such as copying, modifying, or reprinting, will be prosecuted under the fullest extent under the governing law.