have some uniformity across companies. Examples of companies that provide OSS- based ASP services include Telcordia Technologies, which offers an interconnect gateway product as an ASP service. Accenture, formerly known as Andersen Consulting, also offers ASP services focused mainly on interconnection solutions. Pure play ASPs and ASPs that try to provide the end-to-end OSS platform are few. IICs have not totally accepted ASP-OSS solutions yet, but there is much interest in the marketplace for such offerings. Examples include Coreon and Network OSS. The key to their success is finding a way to leverage the economics of a common platform while building something unique for each customer. A model that is garnering broader acceptance than the OSS ASP model is the concept of application maintenance outsourcing. One example is BusinessEdge Solution's "Managed OSS" service offering. In this model, the systems integrator maintains the applications in a post-deployment environment, partnering with a data center outsourcer such as Intel, IBM or Compaq to provide IT outsourcing competence and resources that are not application specific. This kind of arrangement provides IICs with the option of running and managing their own virtual data center if they choose, and only outsourcing the application-specific competencies that they may lack and that are difficult and expensive to acquire. 3.7 Handling Mergers and Acquisitions One last complexity in the maintenance model for IICs is merger integration. With consolidation and technology convergence, mergers are becoming more and more prevalent in the industry. Mergers are never easy, but with a disciplined integration approach, an IIC can manage its planning The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS and execution in a manner that will achieve the merger's anticipated benefits. Developing and executing a strategy for OSS and business operations integration can be a challenge for most any company. Although network and customer data conversion may prove to be the merger'