We’ve been trying to define Cloud-based billing terminology better, but we also need to look at who’s using some of the solutions. Cloud-billing, or really BaaS (because I happen to think that reflects something more sophisticated than lightweight billing for recurring subscriptions) isn’t just for telcos. Now, if a telco adopts a BaaS solution, that probably speaks pretty well to its robustness and capabilities. But, the nature of the cloud-billing space is that it cuts horizontally across a variety of vertical industries, their emerging digital services segments, and the horizontally oriented cloud-based solution providers who
Read More »
A few weeks ago, we began trying to define all of the different terms that revolve around the concept of “cloud billing.” Several experts chimed in on the discussion. In some cases, we’ve made progress on drawing out better definitions. In others, we’ve uncovered more areas that need definition. There isn’t much agreement on what cloud billing is, though there seems to be some agreement on what it is not. So, here’s a shot at refining our initial definitions. Now that we’ve introduced open commenting, please feel free to add your thoughts right here. Cloud
Read More »
My colleague Professor @finegold is currently putting in the hours defining exactly what we mean by the ‘Cloud’ billing. The range of definitions is vast – from basic subscription models for SMEs to what could be termed Managed Services. In amongst the foggy advertising and promotion I believe we are seeing the appearance of the next wave of cloud billers. The complexity of telecoms billing which our vendors take for granted are immensely valuable to a host of other industries and there is a huge opportunity for them to move in. Cerillion, for instance, has
Read More »
Picture a muscle bound brainiac, truculent yet cerebral, testosterone-driven yet deeply educated in software engineering; he is the “Bully Geek” and he represents what many large IT organizations have become. Anyone who has worked in software has encountered it or been a part of it – the closed-door IT shop with a “not invented here” philosophy and a “we know better than you Luddites” attitude. IT organizations like this often seize their business peers in a choke hold, controlling all things technical and tolerating no criticism or questioning of its assumptions. Okay, this is an overly
Read More »Just nine days ago, we asked whether Windstream, a company with relatively simple service models could succeed without consolidating its many billing systems. The backdrop for this story is the debate regarding Telcos’ future; must they move up the value chain, or can they thrive as commodity businesses? Windstream is our test case for the commodity play, thus we’ve noted with interest its Carrier Ethernet expansion announcement this week. The announcement states: “Carrier Switched Ethernet provides wholesale carriers access to both ILEC and CLEC exchanges within the Windstream network. With the solution, interconnect ports of
Read More »There’s no governance for use of the term “cloud billing.” It has become so nebulous that it is tough for those seeking billing solutions to determine what it even means. Here’s a first attempt to drive better definitions for all flavors of ”off-site” or “externally managed” billing offerings . Please accept that this is my opinion…today…and that we are certainly interested in dialogue (preferably agenda-free) on this topic. Cloud Billing: When I think of clouds, I think of light, fluffy things without a whole lot of substance to them. There is a whole universe of “cloud billers&#
Read More »Large international operators face many challenges and billing is a major one. In a broad ranging industry survey (registration is needed but worth it), Telecoms.com highlights a range of opinions from a panel of 1,931 readers, of whom 600 work for 260 individual opcos. The questions they pose around Billing are whether operators feel that there are benefits in centralizing and/or standardizing BSS. They are, of course, very different questions. 67.9 percent of the group believed that standardising BSS across the international footprint would be beneficial, while just 35.1 percent believe that centralizing it would
Read More »An engineer walks into a pub and orders “a liter of ale please.” A hacker, who bellies up next to him says, “yeah, I’ll take one of those big beers too.” They’re talking about the same drink, but in completely different ways. The same thing happens when it comes to software. Now that self-termed “hackers” (not the crooks, just people who write code and think it’s a cool term) want to leverage communications network and OSS/BSS capabilities that engineers designed, the language barrier has to be addressed. Voxeo Labs provides a solid example of how
Read More »Cloud-billing is receiving a fair amount of hype, but it may be warranted. There are many good arguments for keeping core billing operations intact. But cloud billers are benefiting from good timing; CSPs need new billing capabilities their traditional platforms were not designed to accommodate. New service, product, pricing, and customer models that are appropriate to services like SaaS applications, M2M, and digital content put so much stress on traditional billing environments, there’s just too much risk in cracking them open. Billing systems also sit at the heart of many business processes that a
Read More »Customers aren’t houses anymore, we’re individuals. And individuals are everywhere, not just within traditional network boundaries. Selling to individuals changes billing radically, as do digital content, on-demand services, OTT models, and the cloud. This video discusses how they all tie together and raise big questions on what billing will become for operators
Read More »
