Transverse
Where it's based: Austin, Texas
When it was founded: 2007
Website: www.gotransverse.com [1]
Why it's Fierce: Transverse provides a simple answer to a complicated problem. The company helps telecom providers with legacy back office systems upgrade their BSS and OSS using an open source platform.
Transverse's flagship product is the Business Logic Execution Environment Platform, or blee(p). This Web-based open source back office system is easy to deploy, the company said, and addresses a key industry problem--how to upgrade billing and back office systems without a major overhaul.
One of the biggest complaints wireless operators have is that their billing and back office systems are usually locked to a certain provider. Once they sign a deal with that firm, it's nearly impossible to swap out or upgrade their systems. In a world of fast-changing business models, carriers need to be able to alter their product catalog, billing mechanisms, mediation and rating systems on the fly. Transverse's open source model makes that possible. "No one in this space has taken a proactive approach to open source," says Jim Messer, president and CEO of Transverse. "So we did."
Messer adds that there is no downside to a carrier or enterprise launching an open source system like blee(p) "because it costs nothing in licensing fees. The worst case scenario is that you have an insurance against an established vendor. In the best case you realize new technologies and build a better relationship with your customers."
What's next: Expect Transverse to cash in on the market's embrace of open ecosystems.
Links:
[1] http://www.gotransverse.com/
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/spectrum-bridge-top-wireless-company-2009-fiercewireless-fierce-15
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/fiercewireless-fierce-15-2009
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/veriwave-top-wireless-company-2009-fiercewireless-fierce-15