Deb Osswald is Research Vice President of IDC's Communications Service Provider Operations service. She joined the company in 2011 with over 25 years of communications industry experience, and is now responsible for driving research efforts around communications service provider (CSP) investments in software-driven IT, including cloud and machine-to-machine (M2M) service enablement platforms, analytics, business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS), service delivery platforms (SDPs), and next generation policy management.

Prior to joining IDC, Ms. Osswald worked for IBM, where she was responsible for the Global Communications Industry’s strategy and market planning. In this role, she both developed and drove IBM's cloud computing strategy for CSPs. Additionally, Ms. Osswald held key strategy and marketing positions with Amdocs and Telcordia, and served as Vice President & Equity Research Analyst with Goldman Sachs covering the communications software sector. She was also Worldwide BSS/OSS Industry Research Program Manager with Gartner. In the early stages of her career, Ms. Osswald provided strategic counsel to U.S.-based CSPs as a Strategy Consultant with American Management Systems (AMS), and spent 10 years with AT&T in various positions involving fixed and mobile billing and operations.

Ms. Osswald earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Rhode Island where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Major in Finance and Minors in Computer Science and Statistics.