Operations support systems (OSSes), which include the types of services offered by many telecom expense management (TEM) firms, are becoming increasingly popular among enterprises. That’s the conclusion Insight Research reached after taking a look at the OSS market.

 

Globally, Insight predicted that the market for OSSes (defined as “computing and software IT infrastructures that performs engineering, provisioning and management functions in telecommunications networks”) will be worth more than $46 billion by the end of 2008.

 

Further, the firm said that telecom industry spending on OSSes should lag only slightly behind service revenue growth during the next five years. This indicates that the OSS industry will experience sustainable growth during the forecast period. The prediction is that telecom network operators will increase OSS investments at a compounded rate of just over eight percent during the next five years.

 

In the North American market, investment in software and computer systems for acquiring, serving and billing customers will be somewhat lower, at a compounded rate of almost six percent, Insight predicted in its report. The biggest growth markets cited in the report were Asia Pacific and America-Caribbean, both projected to experience double-digit growth.

 

Insight analyst Robert Rosenberg said the carrier community has recovered its confidence and is now investing in OSSes at almost the same rate customers (both consumer and business) are signing up for new wireline and wireless services.

 

“Our research suggests that terrific growth is ahead for those OSSes needed to support 3G wireless services,” Rosenberg said in the report. “RF planning and engineering tools and the professional service need to support them, carrier-to-carrier billing and service provisioning tools, as well as customer-accessible service management systems all appear to be growth areas in the months ahead.”

 

This research makes two important points. First, providers and enterprises are finding that it pays to outsource administrative tasks associated with telecom expenses. Second, the need for OSSes and TEM services related to wireless assets are now just as important as wireline.