Is Conformance a Dirty Word?

Conformance sounds like a dirty word. It also is an old word. Been around since 1606 – not in telecom of course. That didn’t come for another 300 years, give or take. Innovators aren’t conformists. Rock stars aren’t conformists. People who own iPhones think they’re not conformists when that’s exactly what they are.

Even in telecom, which has a rich history in standards that require conformance, the word has become suspect. It is a fine and desirable word for the folks in the trenches developing and implementing technology. It rolls off the tongues of testing vendors like water off a duck in the Peabody lobby. But to the marketing folks who tend to set the direction for service providers these days, conformance is the other “c" word (the first being competition) and it too goes unspoken in their circle.

Marketeers don’t think their companies can differentiate themselves if they conform to too many standards. And if they were being asked to do so to an excessive degree, their fears would be justified. But this week at Management World Americas, I have heard the word conformance more than I have in a decade. As it turns out, non-conformity didn’t do much for all the non-conformists of the 2G world. And so here we are again talking conformity.

The TM Forum is doing most of the talking as it promotes its Frameworx standard and the increased adoption it has seen lately. The knee-jerk reaction to such talk closely aligns with marketing’s: Conformance inhibits innovation and differentiation. However, at the level the TM Forum is asking the industry to adhere to standards – mostly interfaces and best practices for common functions – won’t hurt anyone’s ability to differentiate. It may in fact help it by reducing the time, effort and money to integrate your systems so you can spend it on differentiation.

There is also the question as to whether or not anyone has ever actually won a contract because they were NGOSS or Frameworx compliant or lost one because they weren’t. And it does appear that conformance is showing up in more service provider RFPs. The weight given to that section of the RFP will depend on how successful the Forum is in driving the ideas home with service providers. Martin Creaner, president and CEO of the TM Forum, says many of the forum’s efforts are driven by its various committees which happen to be peopled by service providers — the Frameworx standard included.

Conformance is not bad thing, unless you appear to be doing it.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@vpico.com.