Wednesday, September 27, 2006

IT Vendors vs. NEPs - Round 2.0

IMS Insider raises a flag that many should have seen coming by now. Recommended read. Another variable worth considering in the equation is Open Source Service Delivery Platforms. Shouldn't a Red Hat/JBoss SDP be added to the list of IT vendor offerings?

If IT vendors can get telco platforms right, and we know from recent history that Open Source can get enterprise platforms right, one would think that Open Source will make a major appearence with a telco platform...

The top IT vendors are certainly strong enough to battle head to head with NEPs and eventually win... if NEPs accept such fight. But what if ... instead of fighting head on with IT, NEPs partner up with Open Source vendors to get up to speed with a common Open Source Open Standards platform and find ways to add value in places where they are traditionally strong - telco applications. In this hyptothetical scenario, NEPs will quickly secure viable infrastructure at a minimal cost and will have all the time and money saved to apply to strengthening their portfolio of Telco 2.0 applications. They already have a wide business moat with building custom applications and partnering with open source vendors will help them grow it further.