Post-conference workshop, An Independent Review of Telecom APIs given at the SDP Global Summit

1. Independent Review of Telecom APIs
Sept 20th 2013

2. Structure: Alan’s Bit
• The Painful Facts!
• Why do telcos need APIs?
• Why all the big numbers?
• Beware the Bait and Switch!
• Where are the Telco API successes?
• Dos and Don’ts of Telco API success
• Mapping the API landscape!
• Where are Telecom API going?
• What needs to change?
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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development

3. Structure: Jean’s Bit
• TeleStax introduction
• What is RestComm?
• HealthSense Case Study: using Telecom APIs to help baby boomers
age safely
• RestComm demo
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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development

4. Structure: Juan’s Bit
• Case Study: Bank using joyn API for self-service
• Case Study: Telco using joyn API for self-service
• Case Study: Leading IVR/contact vendors adding a new channel
using the telco API.
o http://blogs.voxeo.com/voxeotalks/2013/09/04/joyn-voxeo-cxp-a-new-
way-to-deliver-customer-care/
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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development

5. Structure: Dan’s bit
• The Tropo story
• Tropo's products in a nutshell
• Some deployed case studies
• Use cases and other cool stuff
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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development

6. Structure: Luis’s bit
• APIDAZE: facts & figures
• Presentation of the APIDAZE REST API
• Customer case: How a leading European affiliate network increased
its revenue by 15% using APIDAZE
• APIDAZE & WebRTC
• WebRTC integration using APIDAZE
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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development

8. No developed market telco
has successfully engaged
mobile application
developers with Telecom
APIs

9. BUT Telecom API
successes have come from
using APIs internally

10. AND Telecom API
successes have come from
using APIs with existing
partners

11. APIs reduce business
friction. This means the
value is not ‘in the API’ it’s
in the service or data
delivered through the API.

12. Mobile Application Developers
ONLY care about direct access to
a large engaged customer base
that is prepared to pay. Apple
and Android fulfill this need,
Telcos are IRRELEVANT

13. This is the Most Important Slide in the PackRevenue
Product
Internal Telco Developers
Partner Developers
Telecom App Developers
Mobile App Developers
Long Tail Developers

14. Why? graphic

15. Why do Telcos need APIs?
Without APIs Telecoms will become irrelevant as Service Providers because
customers will expect communications to be embedded in their experiences.
— Alan Quayle, Independent Telecom Thinker
 APIs will become critical to maintaining Telecom’s customer relevance
The money is not ‘in the API,’ it’s in the service delivered by the API. APIs are simply
delivering services more efficiently, which opens up new business opportunities.
— Jose Valles, VP Partner Products at Telefónica Digital
 APIs are just a technology, its all about the services
An API strategy is becoming a must…in terms of speed to market with new products,
maximizing business development, and product development opportunities.
— Steve Kurtz, VP Business Development, USA TODAY
 APIs are a global IT trend across all industries

16. What is an API?
• http://www.telco.com/api.php?action=remove_friction
APIs reduce business friction by making it easy for software systems to work together
using existing well understood web technology that any IT person can understand

17. Why do Telcos need APIs?
1995 2000 2005 2010
Why do we need a
Web site?
Of course we have
a Web site
Why do we need
an API?
Of course we have
an API
InnovationUpsell
New business
Operational efficiency Increase footprintAccelerate internal projects
Extend products / services
Make churn harder Partner opportunities
New distribution Device and mobile support
Telecoms is the ‘vital spice’ of any successful business ecosystem
Process automation

18. Easy and Economical 90%
Global comms clouds Laggards 10%
Telco becomes the “path of last
resort” as apps use “easy and
economical” APIs for 90% of
comms
Applications
Customers
Telco
What if a Telco does nothing?

19. Offers
services
direct
Offers
services
direct
Consumers
Business
Commoditizes
pricing
Easy and Economical 90%
Global comms clouds
Laggards 10%
Telco gets commoditized and
detached from customers for
comms services
Telco
Wholesale that’s a good model!

20. Reality graphic

21. Market Requirements: Why are operators spending
money on API?
• M2M to support provisioning and management
• Wishful thinking in building a developer community like Android and
Apple
• Support open innovation and work more easily with partners on new
business models and market opportunities
• Support internal innovation, in some cases focused on specific market
segments like enterprise
• Support open innovation with specific partners targeting specific
market segments
• Experimenting in what APIs could means to their business
• Build specific business opportunities like direct carrier billing (mobile
payments)
• Laziness

22. Dos and don’t of telco API success?
• Focus on internal and partner innovation with APIs
o DO NOT chase long tail developers, telcos are now irrelevant
• Focus initially on doing 1 or 2 services well, e.g. payments and
communications
• Focus on building a business
o DO NOT publish an API and hope hackathons are enough
o You will need sales, marketing, business development and critically support
• Focus on the proposition to the top-target API consumers
o DO NOT waste time on platform or ecosystem game theory
o Build a business first, then focus on the platform and ecosystem

23. Mapping graphic

24. Mapping Telcos across the API Implementation
Landscape
Internal APIs External APIsBoth
Experiment
Broad
Focused
BusinessUseofAPIs
Organizational Focus of APIs
Likely
Evolution
Path
Telecom Italia does not have everything right, for example, they lack the focus on
building API-enabled businesses, but its closer than most.

25. Mapping vendors across the API landscape
Cloud /
BOSS
Assets
IT /
Service
Assets
Network
Assets
IMS
Assets
Transactional APIs
e.g. call control
Informational APIs
(e.g. customer profile)
Developer
Community
Developer
Portal
API
Management
API
Services
Network
Gateway
API Publishers
Voxeo Labs,
Twilio
API Management (including API Security)
Intel Software (Mashery), CA (Layer 7), Apigee

26. Where are External Telco APIs going?
• External Telecom API Roadmap
o Payments: whether to expand beyond digital downloads
o Communications: across all VAS not just calls – RCS, messaging,
number provision, WebRTC, etc.
• Focus on building a businesses around the APIs rather than
publish and wishful thinking
o Sales, marketing, business development and critically support
o Traditional transition from tech-focus to business-focus

29. Brown-Nosed
Middle Manager!

30. Market Chatter
is Monopolized

31. Mobile
Everything,
WebRTC

32. Customers
Services

33. Fixed
Voice
($325B)
Mobile
Voice
($615B)
Fixed
Data
($275B)
Mobile
Data
($275B)
Regulated
Services
($1.5T)
Un-
regulated
Services
($650B)-5 to -7%
5.5 to 9%
3 to 4%
0 to 2%
0-2%
Total Telecoms
Services
($2.15T)
3-6%
+ =
Over the Top Messaging
hits SMS growth
Mobile substitution of fixed
broadband with LTE
OTT substitution,
saturation, competition
Mobile and OTT
substitution
Sources: operator averages across developed and developing markets, supplier estimates, Alan Quayle
1-3.3%
Threats to Revenue
There’s just 2 things we need to focus on

34. Make Telecoms an Essential Spice for every Business Recipe

35. Do more VAS!

36. No. We tried a
similar service in our
market and it failed,
and we’re never ever
going to try again
What do you think of this service idea?

37. No. It will not work in
our market. Because
I’m a 50 year old guy
who understands all
my customers better
than they know
themselves.
What do you think of this service idea?

38. No. A feature of your
service overlaps with
an existing.
What do you think of this service idea?

39. No. We have a
similar service
launched, and are not
going to experiment
to make it better or
address other
customer segments.
What do you think of this service idea?

40. No. Our network can
not support such as
service, even though
such services are
going over the top
today.
What do you think of this service idea?

41. No. It looks a bit like
Joyn, we’re not sure
about it, but because
it looks a bit like
something we may do
in the future we’re not
going to do it.
What do you think of this service idea?

42. No. It must work
across all devices,
even though most
devices will never use
it.
What do you think of this service idea?

43. No. We need
additional (random)
features included
before we could
consider it.
What do you think of this service idea?

44. No. It must work on
IMS (even though it
doesn’t need to).
What do you think of this service idea?

45. No. It must work
across all our
customers from day
one, even though
most will never use it.
What do you think of this service idea?

46. No. It must conform
to our process and
design norms. But
we’re not going to tell
you what they are.
What do you think of this service idea?

47. No. It must integrate
with all our existing
platforms, even
though it can work
fine in the current
configuration.
What do you think of this service idea?

48. No. It must be
delivered through our
preferred SI or NEP,
who will copy / kill
the service
immediately.
What do you think of this service idea?

49. No. You must work
through our app store
/ portal, which we’re
in the process of
closing.
What do you think of this service idea?

50. No. We can only focus on
4 service launches per
year. We only back major
successes like Video
Telephony, Mobile TV,
Push To Talk, See What I
See…
What do you think of this service idea?

51. No. We just don’t
have the bandwidth,
to do our job.
What do you think of this service idea?

52. No. We have a
network lock-down as
we launch LTE so
cannot do anything
for the next 6-9
month.
What do you think of this service idea?

53. No. Bob has left the
business and we’re
waiting on his
replacement, who
never comes.
What do you think of this service idea?

54. No. We’re waiting on
annual budgets to be
confirmed, sometime
in the next 6-12
months.
What do you think of this service idea?

55. No. We’re re-
organizing again this
year.
What do you think of this service idea?

56. No. Someone in the
organization doesn’t
like such services.
What do you think of this service idea?

57. No. That cannot be
implemented without
changing our IN /
product catalog /
CRM / billing /
network.
What do you think of this service idea?

58. No. We cannot bill /
sell services under $5
per month.
What do you think of this service idea?

59. No. We have a
backlog of 24 months
on billing updates,
even though the
service doesn’t need
to be in that pipeline.
What do you think of this service idea?

60. No. You must work
through our
innovation group who
we all hate and ignore
as they’re parasites on
our business.
What do you think of this service idea?

61. No. You must talk with
Bob who will then pass
you to Bill, who will then
pass you to Mary, who
will then pass you to
Paul, who will then pass
you back to Bob.
What do you think of this service idea?

65. Telecom Application Developer EcosystemRevenue
Product
Internal Telco Developers
Partner Developers
Telecom App Developers
Mobile App Developers
Long Tail Developers

66. www.tadsummit.com