Recent Entries

• The Audacity of Exclusivity

  by John McVey March 1, 2013
  Attention Telco procurement, vendor management, legal personnel and anyone involved in purchasing COTS products and system integration services.  During contract negotiation, never accept any terms and conditions that dictate you, the Telco, agree that any and all configuration and customizatio...
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• IT Transformation Programs…let the madness begin.

  by John McVey April 20, 2010
    I’ve been involved in two (and soon possibly three) IT Transformation programs throughout my career with IT investment dollars in the billions and programs lasting many years.  IT Transformation programs are a heaven-sent for systems integrators, product vendors, independent consultant...
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• Ways to ensure an accurate Network Inventory

  by John McVey April 19, 2010
  I've previously blogged at length about the importance of Network Inventory Management in the OSS.  I received numerous questions and positive feedback from many...thank you. I wanted to highlight one specific comment (paraphrased) below: Engineers do not trust the data held within inven...
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• In the market for an OSS/BSS product? Just know selecting the best product is only half the battle…

  by John McVey February 21, 2010
    Have you ever been involved in an OSS vendor selection process – or for that matter, any software selection that involves selecting between multiple vendors? If you haven’t, if done correctly the process ranges between 4-8 weeks and should start with the buyer (carrier) creating an RFP ...
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• Configuring & Modeling Network Inventory

  by John McVey February 7, 2010
    Why is it that most of the major network inventory vendors do not provide a library of network equipment/devices? It has to be frustrating from a carrier perspective to think you’re getting a software product that will allow them to manage their equipment, capacity, etc.…only to find ...
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• Don't be too 'agile' when implementing network inventory

  by John McVey January 13, 2010
  If you find yourself implementing a next-generation network inventory application/solution...and someone attempts to convince you to use an agile development approach (e.g. RAD), don't be fooled...it won't work! Agile development approaches are proven methodologies; however, when it com...
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• Offshore Development...The Methodology is Key!

  by John McVey November 30, 2009
  If I were to guess, I would bet a majority of IT and Business Executives in the telecom industry cringe whenever they hear their strategic partners (SI’s) try to sell them on using their offshore development center to develop their strategic solutions.   I can understand why…their previous...
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• Network Inventory Management in OSS

  by John McVey November 5, 2009
  Network Inventory Management is the most important component in the OSS architecture. If you disagree with me...just think about it for a second.  How can carriers provision new service orders from customers (or subscribers depending who you are) if the carrier does not have a fundamental ...
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