www.ovum.com OSS/BSS market overview and vendor landscape, 2Q13-1Q14
Market overview 2
Publicly announced OSS/BSS contracts, 2Q13 1Q14 Source: Ovum 3
The global OSS/BSS market, 2Q13 1Q14 Overall, the number of publicly announced OSS contracts has remained fairly static over the four quarters to the end of 1Q14, perhaps demonstrating that the industry is in a healthy state of growth as support for newly rolled out networks takes centre stage. BSS contract numbers appear to be in decline, despite growing interest in areas such as integrated policy control and online charging systems (OCS), customer experience management, and realtime customer contact. Behind the figures, however, is a sector in a state of consolidation, both in terms of M&A and technological activity. The net effect is to reduce the number of contract wins reported per vendor, giving the overall impression of decline. The main market drivers for both OSS and BSS products and services is the move to all-ip networks, particularly in the mobile sector. Networks have never been so complex as they are rapidly becoming, and OSS/BSS vendors are providing the means to control them. As such, the combined market is likely to remain buoyant for the foreseeable future. 4
Vendor landscape 5
Top 10 OSS vendors 2Q13 1Q14 This chart reflects the demand for network management products and services, with three of the main infrastructure vendors appearing at the top of the chart. The majority of network management contracts are included in infrastructure deals. Nokia s recent divestment of its BSS assets seems to be paying off as the company concentrates on mobile broadband infrastructure and OSS. Alcatel-Lucent is also benefiting from LTE rollouts, but has picked up some significant fixed-line contracts as well. Ericsson continues to dominate the outsourced network management segment, with the vast majority of its contract wins over the period in this area. NetCracker is the best of the rest, picking up a number of OSS transformation projects, with the emphasis on network planning and optimization. Source: Ovum 6
Top 10 BSS vendors 2Q13 1Q14 Demand for revenue management products, particularly integrated policy control and online charging platforms, has put Redknee at the top of the list for the period covered. This shows not only that policy and charging is a growth area, but also that the telco IT market is no longer the sole preserve of the large infrastructure vendors. Comverse benefitted greatly from a series of regional contracts from Eastern European operator Vimpelcom. The company has implemented realtime charging and billing, and provided enhanced CRM across the operator s Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) properties. Equinox too has found rising demand for its revenue management products, particularly fraud management and mediation. Growing demand for the latter suggests that incompatibility between billing and charging systems is still an issue, despite efforts to address it through standardization and various industry initiatives. Source: Ovum 7
OSS/BSS landscape, 2Q13 1Q14 The top 10 vendors combined in both OSS and BSS segments own less than half of their respective markets. This suggests that despite a great deal of vendor consolidation in the last couple of years, there is still plenty of room for smaller, specialist vendors with point solutions or who offer services. Developments in OSS have been relatively low key until recently, with new products centered on areas such as improved data collection and realtime dashboards customized for various groups within the operator s organization. However, the gathering pace of the transition to all-ip networks has made it increasingly clear that OSS will need to keep up with BSS as it increases in complexity. The accent is firmly shifting toward order-to-cash systems, service assurance, and support for future developments in near-field communication (NFC) and software-defined networking (SDN), and vendors active in these areas are becoming prominent in the market. The BSS market continues to be driven by concerns over revenue management and realtime charging. While we expect this trend to continue, demand for business analytics and business intelligence systems will only increase. Vendors that can offer integrated packages in these areas are likely to profit, as while most operators will eschew a "big bang" approach to replacing existing BSS, they will be very keen to replace the elements they deem most important in the short to medium term. 8
BSS/OSS Contracts Database The most comprehensive record of publicly announced BSS/OSS contracts The underlying data used in this analysis is taken from Ovum s OSS/BSS Contracts Database, the most comprehensive record of publicly announced awarded contracts available. The database is updated quarterly and tracks contracts across five sub-types, and 47 separate product areas. For more information on how subscribing to this database could help your business contacts us: enquiries@ovum.com 9
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