As the SaaS trend progresses, you can now rent hosted software that will run your billing, authentication, and other core services.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [August 9, 2007]

Richardson, Tex.-based IntraMeta is offering an unusual service to ISPs. The company's Broadband Operations Support System (BOSS) is hosted on IntraMeta's servers and available to ISPs of almost any size.

"We're targeting small to mid-sized ISPs," says Kris Efland, IntraMeta COO and co-founder. "We're targeting companies that have either not invested enough in their back office or are experiencing complications. Larger ISPs have spent millions on their OSS. The little guys are forced to deal with off the shelf products or brew their own coffee."

The BOSS encompasses the following modules:

• Subscriber Management
• Mail
• Ticketing
• Domain Name Services
• Network Element Management
• Service Provisioning
• Captive Portal
• Self Help

Although there's no volume commitment, and no monthly minimum, the company charges a per-user fee for the product and is most interested in working with ISPs that have a full-featured broadband offering and are growing quickly.

Working with the system requires documented procedures. Those procedures are then encoded in software. We're somewhat skeptical of this, simply because ISPs like to change the way things are done, and some OSS systems make change difficult.

Efland admits that the provisioning engine is generally for larger ISPs. It helps co-ordinate a company that's so large that different divisions need to work together to provision an ISP. Parts of the provisioning process are automated, and when a task requires a human being, the system calls on a person and waits for them to log in the task as completed. Other best practices can be programmed in, such as checking in with every new customer after 40 days to make sure they're happy.

Efland says that the provisioning system is sufficiently programmable that some companies use it for other internal processes, such as training new employees or tracking big software projects.

He admits that some ISPs don't have documented processes, but says that the process of documenting how things are done can help an ISP become more efficient.

We've heard this from one ISP owner who was shocked to find out how many steps were required in the process of setting up a new small business website at his ISP. After documenting them, he eliminated as many of those steps as he could.

See it for yourself
IntraMeta is about to go on the road and on the web with videos and demos. If they are not ready when this article is published, they will be up on the site in time for the Fall trade show season (ISPCON, VON, etc.). Efland encourages ISPs interested in the product to ask for a demo.

Agnostic
The software is technology-agnostic. Because it's a hosted service, delivered over the web, it can handle any last mile technology.

Efland says his customers often use more than one last mile technology. "We've got a couple of network doing hybrid fiber Ethernet and cable, some do wireless on campus, and some are pure wireless."

Of course, the company has more traditional broadband ISP customers too.

Pricing and availability
The Broadband Operations Support System (BOSS), hosted by IntraMeta, is available now. Pricing was not disclosed, but each module carries a per user per month fee, except for the ticketing system, whose price is based on the number of seats in your call center.

ISPs that wish to install their own copy of BOSS can purchase the software on a traditional software license pricing model.

—End