Understanding BSS/OSS Architecture

OSS and BSS systems run by most CSPs are on-premises software applications with fixed functionality. Designed to manage simpler connectivity services, legacy BSS and OSS systems aren't flexible enough to support new 5G use cases. In legacy BSS systems, order management, billing and charging are based on a relatively small set of fixed, packaged bundles, and customers have limited choices of bundles. More complex requirements (such as a private wireless network for an enterprise customer) must be negotiated individually and are often billed through the professional services division. A legacy BSS system doesn't accommodate a variety of pricing models to allow CSPs to create a digital storefront that makes it easy for enterprise customers to order a 5G network slice or private wireless network. On the OSS side, legacy systems' limited automation capabilities mean that a lot of network provisioning, configuration, fault management and repair work must be done manually.

While manual network management might suffice for a basic network serving a mass market, it falls apart in the face of 5G's complexity. Enterprise customers expect dedicated, high-performance slices of the 5G network with zero downtime. CSPs simply can't manage hundreds or thousands of individual network slices (or other 5G resources) manually and meet the strict service-level agreements (SLAs) they've committed to.