OSS applications and vendors evolve with the needs of the clients that use them. It is not enough for a vendor to have a robust product and a successful track record. The product's functions and the vendor's experience and differentiators must mesh well with what the IIC is trying to accomplish, as discussed in Chapter 4. Looking at a vendor's history can help an IIC determine its strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, the IIC must know exactly what functions are most critical to its business when choosing an OSS package. The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS 2.1 Vendor Origins OSS vendors tend to come from about six different backgrounds. Many started as consulting companies and gradually developed application packages of their own. A key for evaluating any vendor coming from a consulting background is whether it has shifted successfully into a vendor mode, and whether its revenue model remains largely based on professional or consulting services. If a vendor never shifts out of consulting mode, several problems are bound to occur. First, the company's focus may not be on developing the product SO much as installing and maintaining variants for a growing customer base. Second, this model can be tough for a vendor to scale, as it runs out of resources to maintain either the product or its customers. The key for any IIC is to make sure that the vendor's strengths align with its own requirements. This is especially true for vendors with consulting backgrounds who, in many cases, are very specialized in their capabilities. Many consulting companies have made the shift to being OSS vendors with great success and continue to be some of the market's leaders. Another major category of OSS vendors is the pure play start-ups - that is, OSS vendors that began as OSS vendors. Those that have survived and succeeded are some of the strongest players in the market. They tend to be either very specialized, or stronger supporting certain services than others. The greatest concern for any IIC in evaluating one of th