Industries are constantly changing and evolving because of the increasing customer demand for speedy and reliable as well as flexible systems. For this reason, modernizing the Business Support Systems and Operational Support Systems has been a significant area of focus for service providers. What used to be the most reliable backbone of telecommunications operations is now a bottleneck impeding provisioning and driving maintenance costs up while reducing the scope for initiating emerging technologies like cloud-native architectures and micro-services.
Ravi Sankar has emerged as a pivotal force in navigating these challenges. Through his work, Ravi has developed comprehensive frameworks that simplify the complexities of BSS/OSS transformation, turning overwhelming processes into clear, actionable roadmaps. “Modernization isn’t a tech project—it’s a people project with tech as the enabler,” he asserts. His approach goes beyond system upgrades; it builds cultural alignment and fosters collaboration between cross-functional teams. Under his guidance, telecom operations have seen drastic improvements: provisioning times have been reduced from days to mere hours, operational costs have been slashed, and customer satisfaction metrics have climbed steadily.
One of his most impactful projects involved spearheading a CRM system upgrade aimed at overhauling outdated BSS/OSS infrastructure. The transformation replaced over 50 fragmented external systems with a refined, integrated platform, eliminating 34 redundant systems and significantly reducing licensing and maintenance costs. This shift translated into a 57% reduction in operational overhead, freeing up resources for innovation and growth.
Another remarkable achievement was his role in enhancing service delivery efficiency. Ravi championed the move from manual processes to automated workflows, cutting service setup times by 86%. This wasn’t just a technical victory; it reshaped organizational workflows, empowering teams to focus on higher-value tasks and improving time-to-market for new services.
Customer satisfaction saw a rise under Ravi's leadership. Before modernization, the organization struggled with billing errors and slow service activations, leading to a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 35. Post-transformation, thanks to faster issue resolution and improved billing accuracy, the NPS climbed to 62—a 77% improvement.
There were several obstacles on the path to these achievements. One of the toughest hurdles to cross was to overcome the change resistance within the organization. Ravi made it head-on by carving out specific training programs and having open forums for employees' concerns and active witnessing of the new system benefits. With his talent of patience and empathy, he converted skeptics into advocates, resulting in a 92% adoption rate across the organization.
Data migration was another challenging task. Years of siloed systems had created a tangled mess marked with so many duplicates and outdated entries. It was an extensive program Ravi piloted to clear the data appropriately with proper checks for its accuracy and integrity during the course of transition. This resulted in the migration going on smoothly, thus enabling real-live capabilities and preparing to lead into further innovation.
The revelations of Ravi are not only project-centric. It is about hyper automation and predictive analytics, according to him, that telecom shall be the next horizon. "Don't just automate, anticipate," he advises, visioning systems proactively identifying problems such as billing errors or network strain that will happen before impacting customers. According to Ravi, the adoption of cloud-native architectures and modular designs in the coming days would be the enabling factors of industry scalability as it embraces IoT and 5G.
Going ahead, he believes in the small wins rather than a big bang, as it would make for quick and visible wins, which are important in earning trust and momentum. "Modernization is a marathon, not a sprint," he says, placing the importance of speed within the context of stability.
Ravi Sankar's travel in telecom transformation manifests it as a combination of human-centered leadership with technical prowess. His contributions have redefined operations, empowered teams, and raised the bar for building agile and sustainable telecommunications. As the industry continues to evolve and change, his ideas serve to enlighten those willing to adapt and aspire to transform the future of telecoms.