Transformative Times

To trot out a rather dog-eared phrase, "We live in interesting times." But such is the case for the traditional communications service providers that are undergoing their digital migrations. This new online community, Telco Transformation, is tracking service providers, including telco, cable, mobile and even OTT players, as they implement more agile technologies to keep pace with customers' seemingly insatiable appetite for more real-time applications and services.

We'll follow service providers' efforts as they develop and execute new strategies that require IT, BSS/OSS, DevOps, Internet of Things (IoT), SDN, NFV, New IP and cloud system investments and upgrades. Within those categories, we'll also look at how service providers are adapting their respective company cultures as they blend IT with networking departments, for example, and break down the silos between services.

This digital transformation is vital to service providers' capex and opex decisions, as well as determining which companies ultimately win out down the road. One could safely say that migrations of this magnitude are rare in technology -- this transformation will continue to play out over the next 20 years (at least).

The Telco Transformation site is a community effort, which means the content will be guided by the interests of service providers themselves. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how this digital transformation will play out, including the successes and failures.

— Mike Robuck, editor, Telco Transformation