Human Factors Key to Successful OSS Transformation

OSS transformation is not just about systems. In fact, systems likely are third on a priority list, according to OSS experts on the opening plenary session Tuesday at the Billing & OSS World 2008 Conference & Expo in Chicago.

“First is culture or process, second is organization and third is the systems to support that,” said panelist Leonard Sheahan, senior director of product marketing at Oracle.

Panelist Felipe Alvarez, president of RCN Metro Optical Networks, added, “It’s easy to fall into the trap of addressing systems first because it’s logical.” At his company, which has been managing the integration of its acquisition of NEON, the focus has been on the organization. “We had to step back and determine if we were on the right path.”

Panelist Scott Jenkins, manager of application development for IT network systems at Sprint Nextel, agreed, noting that especially in the case of a merger integration, it’s easy to consolidate systems for immediate gains, but long-term, you have to look at processes. Otherwise, you will fall back on what you are comfortable with.

Sheahan offered a colorful analogy: The old cow paths in London have been paved, not because they were the best route from point A to point B, but because that’s what people were used to. It’s important not to make this same mistake in OSS transformation, he advised.

“System transformation has to be accompanied by business transformation,” said Dhananjay Pavgi, senior consultant – OSS product management Americas for Tech Mahindra Ltd. “It’s not a good idea to have systems before process because you miss [the opex savings.]”

IBM’s Robert Pucci, BSS/OSS Global Solutions Technical Lead, conceded that the organizational transformation can be a “rock in the road.” However, he said, if you have systems and business process layer engineered properly, you can let the organization catch up.

Alvarez says it’s human nature that people resist change in part as an effort to protect their jobs. At RCN Metro, the company is taking an incremental approach to organizational change with Revision 0 being the existing structure and change occurring as Revision 1, 2, etc. “We are hammering away at it. It has to be done,” he said.

The key is to communicate change throughout the organization, added Jenkins, noting that it’s different at all levels of the company and you need to explain what’s happening, why it’s happening and what it means to them. Otherwise, he said, you will have a hard time being successful.

Oracle’s Sheahan agreed, citing the dissimilar results of two separate implementations that took different approaches. In one, there was a strong mandate at the executive level but resistance on the front lines. The second implementation included thought leaders from every level of the company to be part of the transformation team. In that case, the team enabled communication and the successful transformation.

Sprint’s Jenkins said it’s also important to manage expectations at every level. If the marketing team is expecting service support for a new product rollout within 30 days, they may be disappointed.