Oracle released the results of independent research questioning senior IT executives at Communications Service Providers (CSPs) across EMEA, the Americas and APAC on the need for consistent adoption of industry standards in their Business and Operations Support Systems (BSS/OSS) business processes

Carried out by Vanson Bourne, the research found that more than half (56 percent) of respondents estimated they would free up in excess of 10 percent of their annual IT budgets if existing industry standards for BSS/OSS business processes were widely adopted, with the average percentage amongst all respondents being almost 16 percent

Inconsistent adoption of industry standards for BSS/OSS business processes and IT infrastructure has led to challenges for CSPs: Three quarters of respondents (75 percent) believe that systems integration costs are higher now than they would be with the widespread adoption of standards, and 65 percent felt the same way about management and maintenance costs

For 57 percent of respondents, the lack of industry-wide standards adoption makes it more difficult for IT departments to respond as quickly as they would like to new demands from the business

When asked which outcomes for BSS/OSS would provide the biggest benefit to their business, 54 percent ranked increasing the agility of the IT architecture to become more responsive to business needs in their top three

Two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents then went on to state that agreed industry standards for BSS/OSS business processes would be very helpful or helpful in achieving this outcome