ple, CRM systems could be the same for all the provided services of the CSP. Also, some of the provided services have been integrated, for example, broadband or voice can nowadays be provided over several types of networks. Moreover, some telecommunications operators have specialized, by focusing only on a part of the traditional telecom operators' functions; this has resulted in the appearance of, e.g., service or network providers. The interviews with the telecom operators and discussions with software ven- dors suggest further that in the near future, operations may be further integrated over the supported technologies, and that the number of network technologies to be supported would decrease, partly due to phasing out of PSTN networks and abandoning copper cable altogether. It seems to be already the practice that in new areas opened for construction building, only fiber cable will be part of the community infrastructure. In less densely populated areas, the use of wireless broadband technologies (e.g., HSPA or WiMAX) is the alternative. Also, nowadays, network access and operations, apparently, could be acquired as managed services, leaving the provisioning of connection to the customer as the only activity for the CSP. This evolution path of the CSPs, from vertically integrated to horizontal, is illustrated in Fig. 1. Until 2000s 2010s 1980s 1990s (present) (near future) MOBILE MOBILE BROADBAND VOICE BROADBAND VOICE VOICE BROAD MOBILE VOICE SERVICE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY PLATFORM SERVICE RESOURCE NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES BACKBONE BACKBONE BACKBONE Fig. 1 The evolution of the industry structure for a telecommunications operator (CSP) Analyzing the Current Phase of the OSS/BSS Software Market As Fig. 1 shows, operations have previously been an integral part of the operator's business. The software supporting the operations was also produced by the operator in-house. Gradually, however, these software development and main- tenance tasks have bee