The convergence of networks, systems and devices is revolutionizing the communications industry. As technological progress redefines the marketplace, Communication Service Providers
(CSPs) or telecommunications companies (telcos) face a unique set of lucrative opportunities and momentous challenges. Developing economies are opening up to offer CSPs enormous untapped markets. At the same time, emerging players are providing stiff competition through
innovative and competitively priced offerings, taking customer expectations to new highs.
If CSPs are to win this game, they must closely engage with their customers while improving their service proposition. They need to work relentlessly toward reducing costs, improving profitability, becoming agile, and transforming the organization to keep pace with the changing paradigms of the world. This calls for increased operational efficiencies, integrated processes and rapid roll- out of novel and niche products in new geographies.
This paper outlines the four-pronged approach CSPs need to adopt to secure and maintain their leadership position in an industry hit by a tidal wave of change.
For the full report download of “Future of Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) in India”, Go to
http://www.bdaconnect.com/WebUI/ContactUs.aspx?dl_id=B714C0AFB863A41E3E5377BCF18A3D81
I'd appreciate if you leave a comment on the slideshow. You are free to use to use the information as long as you mention the source although I would not be able to share the originals with you since it is not under my ownership alone.
This document is a “distilled” version of the much larger report that Analysys Mason and IAMAI have prepared. The detailed report is available for purchase on IAMAI’s website – www.iamai.in and is an in-depth guide to each of the specific sub-segments within the mobile value added services ecosystem.
This summarised version of the report covers the following areas: The Indian mobile VAS opportunity, policy and market enablers, key trends in the mobile VAS industry in India, key growth areas in services and applications and mobile VAS industry growth forecasts
The key takeaways from this report summary are as follows:
• The Indian non-voice market is at an inflexion point, and the growth opportunity remains significant
• Similar to other mobile-first markets, mobile internet (handset plus dongles / CCDs) will drive growth in non-voice revenues while traditional services stabilize
• However, various market and policy enablers are required in on-deck VAS, off-deck VAS and SMS channels to realize this growth opportunity
• From a market perspective, a self-regulating body for settling issues between market participants can be an effective way to address on-deck challenges
• From a policy perspective, we believe that following a model of market determined revenue share with no special VAS license is the best route
• We recommend establishing an agency under the direction of TRAI to help address off-deck adoption issues and facilitate the allocation and management of a central short code registry system
• It is also recommended that a common standard for local language characters should be mandated on all handsets sold in India to facilitate growth in SMS
• Resolution of above issues also becomes imperative for maintaining market efficiency and balance of power in the evolving VAS value chain
• Among the emerging services, we believe that mobile commerce and utility services will have a significant social impact
• Finally, we believe that mobile internet adoption will result in a proliferation of data enabled services and applications around video, advertising, community, entertainment and enterprise mobility
For the full report download of “Future of Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) in India”, Go to
http://www.bdaconnect.com/WebUI/ContactUs.aspx?dl_id=B714C0AFB863A41E3E5377BCF18A3D81
I'd appreciate if you leave a comment on the slideshow. You are free to use to use the information as long as you mention the source although I would not be able to share the originals with you since it is not under my ownership alone.
This document is a “distilled” version of the much larger report that Analysys Mason and IAMAI have prepared. The detailed report is available for purchase on IAMAI’s website – www.iamai.in and is an in-depth guide to each of the specific sub-segments within the mobile value added services ecosystem.
This summarised version of the report covers the following areas: The Indian mobile VAS opportunity, policy and market enablers, key trends in the mobile VAS industry in India, key growth areas in services and applications and mobile VAS industry growth forecasts
The key takeaways from this report summary are as follows:
• The Indian non-voice market is at an inflexion point, and the growth opportunity remains significant
• Similar to other mobile-first markets, mobile internet (handset plus dongles / CCDs) will drive growth in non-voice revenues while traditional services stabilize
• However, various market and policy enablers are required in on-deck VAS, off-deck VAS and SMS channels to realize this growth opportunity
• From a market perspective, a self-regulating body for settling issues between market participants can be an effective way to address on-deck challenges
• From a policy perspective, we believe that following a model of market determined revenue share with no special VAS license is the best route
• We recommend establishing an agency under the direction of TRAI to help address off-deck adoption issues and facilitate the allocation and management of a central short code registry system
• It is also recommended that a common standard for local language characters should be mandated on all handsets sold in India to facilitate growth in SMS
• Resolution of above issues also becomes imperative for maintaining market efficiency and balance of power in the evolving VAS value chain
• Among the emerging services, we believe that mobile commerce and utility services will have a significant social impact
• Finally, we believe that mobile internet adoption will result in a proliferation of data enabled services and applications around video, advertising, community, entertainment and enterprise mobility
A thought leadership paper on Multiple System Operators (MSO) providing an overview of the Indian cable television industry’s future trends, technologies and challenges faced by them along with a new era of possibilities available in the wake of an increased demand for quality viewer experience.
The business of telecom ap is capturing future revenue growthGeoff Hollingworth
The telecommunications sector is the next industry to receive massive levels of innovation, disruption and none traditional growth. Be prepared!
Just as in the recording, film and newspaper industries before it, the telecommunication industry is being disrupted by the massive innovation and change in business model the Internet provides. Business and technical reengineering of how telecom creates and captures value above basic IP connectivity is required. Those that can respond to and anticipate the market requirements from the developer and application community shall be best positioned to win. Delivery shall require the market requirements be delivered via simple to use interoperable (where necessary) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Those that can deliver these APIs with best end user performance and network performance shall win.
Capstone Project: Verizon Strategic Analysis and Acquisition ProposalKimber Davis
For my UCF Capstone presentation, my team and I analyzed Verizon's current position and identified a possible acquisition within their business connectivity sector. We then create a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure a smooth acquisition.
Value added service (VAS) provider failures: insights from VAS product companiesBrowne & Mohan
Dr TR Madan Mohan, Managing partner addressed Network of ICT Entrepreneurs and Enterprises (NITEE), under the aegis of Foundation for MSME Clusters (www.msmefoundation.org), New Delhi on 27th August 2010 regarding “Value added service (VAS) provider failures: insights from VAS product companies”.
I presented at a recent sales conference for a large security / IT solution provider on the evolution of the telco industry and the role security and protection plays in that evolution.
In summary: customer data, trust, security and protection are critical for operators to get right in this emerging environment.
Operators need an integrated security and protection layer, not point solutions for each service as is the case today. Protection from malware across all network services e.g. IP, SMS, MMS, WAP push, widgets, apps, etc. Protection in the network, in devices and in services.
SDP vendors need integrated security solution across network, services and end-points, which means a partnership with security / IT providers is key. Its a rapidly growing problem as its a highly profitable and more importantly safe criminal business compared to drugs smuggling or prostitution; hence a specialist security/protection partner is essential.
Telcom Industry Review and Future of Telcom Providers - Telco 2015IBMTelecom
How will the Telcom industry evolve over the next five years? Will telcom providers strategies be proactive or protective? Our research suggests four plausible scenarios and the events that would signal their unfolding. More important, we outline the characteristics of companies most likely to succeed in each of these possible futures.
This is my presentation of VERIZON COM. INC (VZ). I also analyze AT&T (T), T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S). I predict the acquisition of T-Mobile by Sprint. In addition, I warn VZ to buy content companies like Netflix in order to fight future telecom-content players like AT&T, Google and Facebook.
A thought leadership paper on Multiple System Operators (MSO) providing an overview of the Indian cable television industry’s future trends, technologies and challenges faced by them along with a new era of possibilities available in the wake of an increased demand for quality viewer experience.
The business of telecom ap is capturing future revenue growthGeoff Hollingworth
The telecommunications sector is the next industry to receive massive levels of innovation, disruption and none traditional growth. Be prepared!
Just as in the recording, film and newspaper industries before it, the telecommunication industry is being disrupted by the massive innovation and change in business model the Internet provides. Business and technical reengineering of how telecom creates and captures value above basic IP connectivity is required. Those that can respond to and anticipate the market requirements from the developer and application community shall be best positioned to win. Delivery shall require the market requirements be delivered via simple to use interoperable (where necessary) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Those that can deliver these APIs with best end user performance and network performance shall win.
Capstone Project: Verizon Strategic Analysis and Acquisition ProposalKimber Davis
For my UCF Capstone presentation, my team and I analyzed Verizon's current position and identified a possible acquisition within their business connectivity sector. We then create a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure a smooth acquisition.
Value added service (VAS) provider failures: insights from VAS product companiesBrowne & Mohan
Dr TR Madan Mohan, Managing partner addressed Network of ICT Entrepreneurs and Enterprises (NITEE), under the aegis of Foundation for MSME Clusters (www.msmefoundation.org), New Delhi on 27th August 2010 regarding “Value added service (VAS) provider failures: insights from VAS product companies”.
I presented at a recent sales conference for a large security / IT solution provider on the evolution of the telco industry and the role security and protection plays in that evolution.
In summary: customer data, trust, security and protection are critical for operators to get right in this emerging environment.
Operators need an integrated security and protection layer, not point solutions for each service as is the case today. Protection from malware across all network services e.g. IP, SMS, MMS, WAP push, widgets, apps, etc. Protection in the network, in devices and in services.
SDP vendors need integrated security solution across network, services and end-points, which means a partnership with security / IT providers is key. Its a rapidly growing problem as its a highly profitable and more importantly safe criminal business compared to drugs smuggling or prostitution; hence a specialist security/protection partner is essential.
Telcom Industry Review and Future of Telcom Providers - Telco 2015IBMTelecom
How will the Telcom industry evolve over the next five years? Will telcom providers strategies be proactive or protective? Our research suggests four plausible scenarios and the events that would signal their unfolding. More important, we outline the characteristics of companies most likely to succeed in each of these possible futures.
This is my presentation of VERIZON COM. INC (VZ). I also analyze AT&T (T), T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S). I predict the acquisition of T-Mobile by Sprint. In addition, I warn VZ to buy content companies like Netflix in order to fight future telecom-content players like AT&T, Google and Facebook.
Décision du tribunal administratif du 26 mai 2016JacquesDennemont
Décision concernant d'une part la demande de Jacques Dennemont au tribunal d'annuler la délibération du conseil municipal de la commune de Trois-Bassins du 18 novembre 2014 portant cession de parcelles à M. Comorassamy et Mme Latchimy, et d'autre part, les conclusions de la commune de Trois-Bassins au rejet de la requête de Jacques Dennemont et à ce qu'une somme de 2000 euros soit mise à la charge de ce dernier.
Yle Summeri kohtaa kohderyhmänsä IRC-GalleriassaRiikka Kurki
Yle ja IRC-Galleria esittelivät kesän 2011 yhteistyötään Internet Marketing Conferencessa Helsingissä 4.10.2011. Ylen Summeri-ohjelma piti yhteyttä ja osallistutti yleisöään IRC-Galleriassa kaverisuhteen kautta.
Tekijät: Jari Jaanto (IRC-Galleria), Riikka Kurki (Yle) ja Tanja Iikkanen (Yle).
With an intention to provide a high quality free internet resource of chemistry related data for the community, ChemSpider has aggregated almost 25 million compounds linked out to over 400 data sources and provided a platform for the community to both deposit and curate data. This experiment in crowdsourcing for chemistry has now been running for over three years. This presentation will review a number of aspects of the project including (a) the level of community participation in depositing and curating data; (b) the nature of data and content supplied by the community; (c) how ChemSpider is used by the community; (d) using game-based systems to assist in data curation; (e) algorithmic-based approaches to data validation and filtering; and (f) sharing data curation efforts with other online databases.
Today’s mobile market is growing quickly, and the growth is not slowing down anytime soon. According to the Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, 2013-2018, both the number of mobile subscribers and the volume of traffic are expected to grow dramatically. By 2018, there will be more than 10 billion mobile-ready devices and connections, about 3 billion more than in 2013. At the same time, the report indicates that in the same timeframe, global mobile IP traffic will reach an annual run rate of 190 exabytes, up from less than 18 exabytes in 2013.
Mobile operators, enterprises, and over-the-top (OTT) players alike are looking at new ways to take advantage of the growth. New mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are appearing, and they can use the network and assets of mobile virtual network enablers (MVNEs) to set up their network and create new business models and enter different markets.
In order to bring long-term business success in the MVNO and MVNE business, MVNOs and MVNEs need to use their current capabilities to their best advantage and create new and differentiated services that are hard for their competitors to replicate. With the Cisco MVNO and MVNE solution, consisting of the Cisco Policy Suite (PS) of software solutions, the Cisco Virtualized Packet Core (vPC), and the Cisco ASR 5000 Series Aggregation Services Router Packet Gateway, MVNOs and MVNEs can achieve the business outcomes in providing services that are segmented, targeted, and quick to roll out. This Cisco solution enables you to:
● Increase service value with innovative services to end users
● Generate higher perceived value in your services
● Differentiate yourself and effectively identify and gain market
● Develop an extensible platform that allows you to easily introduce new technologies such as access control
● Increase your average revenue per user (ARPU) as your business grows or increase the ARPU of your current base
This white paper outlines typical use cases of MVNOs and MVNEs and the Cisco solution to address them.
Comarch Technology Review provides expert commentary and analysis on current trends shaping the telecommunications market, as well as insight on how to solve problems most commonly faced by telecom operators.
This unique and comprehensive publication is written by our specialists with expertise in various fields, ranging from BSS and OSS to VAS and professional services.
Fast-Tracking Digital: A Blueprint for Communications Services ProvidersCognizant
For communications services providers (CSPs), becoming a digital business is essential to remaining relevant and competitive, and meeting customers’ demands for best-in-class, omnichannel experiences that simplify and personalize communications and transactions. Building this capability requires integrating existing capabilities within the context of a larger digital ecosystem and industry-specific platforms. When it comes to digital transformation, the question isn’t if to start, but how – and where.
Why Telcos need to embrace Digital Transformation nowEricsson
Check out this informative IDC Executive Brief for CSPs looking to become digitalized.
Read about the changing ICT market, gain some insights on how to manage and implement your digital transformation vision, and learn how Ericsson can help through its advisory services, OSS/BSS portfolio and proven experience in large scale transformation projects.
How Telecoms Can Adjust To The Reality Of The Digital EraComarch
'It is important to gently transition the technology into people’s everyday lives and get them used to the fact that their devices can now talk, something that wasn’t previously possible' - says Michiel Nuytemans, Comarch OSS Solution Manager.
How Telecoms Can Adjust To The Reality Of The Digital EraComarch
'It is important to gently transition the technology into people’s everyday lives and get them used to the fact that their devices can now talk, something that wasn’t previously possible' - says Michiel Nuytemans, Comarch OSS Solution Manager.
Download the article to learn how to provide service continuity in the era of more and more complex networks!
Maximize Network Investment with OSS Solutions for Telecom IndustryVcare Corporation
A wide range of telecommunications services is supported by the vital IT systems known as OSS (operations support systems) and BSS (business support systems). OSS Solutions for Telecom, which are composed of a variety of hardware and software tools, form the basis of the communications sector.
Paper - Competing or Aligning? Assessment for Telecom Operator's strategy to ...Laili Aidi
Up until recently, it was rarely direct competition between telecom operators, cable and satellite Pay-TV providers in digital TV/Video, as their business area were different and value chain was well established. However, technology advance has altered digital TV/Video landscape, made these Communication Service Providers (CSPs) cross other’s area and opened door for new actor (OTT player) to enter the market. This triggers second change in the landscape, as it potentially bypasses CSP’s role in digital media value chain.
There are generic potential options for telecom operator to address OTT service‘s treat, where the trend shows gradual shifts toward allowing or promoting. This study assesses telecom operator’s reaction strategies to react to this digital TV/Video convergence trend. Our analysis reveals two typical relation patterns in the value network, used by telecom operators based on strategy options above, which are ”point-to-point” and ”point-to-multipoint” relation model. We explore the underlining motivations that based these strategies, as well as analysis of the eco-systems: actors identification, business roles and distributed responsibilities among them, where we use ARA (Actors, Resource, Activities) point of view to model these value networks.
With the explosion of digital technologies Marketing-As-A-Service will help marketing and advertising move from fragile to agile. Click to know more: http://infy.com/MAAS
Analytics promises, pitfalls and the path forwardInfosys BPM
How do you ensure success of your analytics strategy? Visit https://www.infosysbpo.com/insights/intellect-incorporated/Documents/promises-pitfalls-path-forward.pdf to find out about the 6 elements that will ensure success.
BPO Future Forward: 8 Traits of a Transformational ThinkerInfosys BPM
When people are asked to transform business, they start to analyze almost automatically and come with imitations of what worked in the past. Transformation calls for a whole new paradigm of thinking. It is at the root of innovation and success but it is not a commonly available trait in individuals. And so identifying transformation thinkers is as harder as important.
Here is an HR practitioner’s cheat sheet of 8 key and recognizable traits of transformational thinkers.
BPO Future Forward: 6 Benefits of the Infosys BPO Approach to F&A BenchmarkingInfosys BPM
Most CFOs look for a way to draft their enterprise’s road-map towards top-tier operational and business performance. And most often, it is the finance and accounting (F&A) value chain that comes under scrutiny. Infosys BPO had access to over 40 F&A engagements of large enterprises across industries and undertook a massive benchmarking research. The result? An industry-leading repository of over 610 finance and accounting (F&A) benchmarking metrics –155 business metrics, 35 cost metrics, and 420 process metrics. But it’s the underlying approach to the benchmarking exercise that delivers value enterprises can actually measure.
BPO Future Forward - 6 Benefits of the Process Progression Model (PPM) Approa...Infosys BPM
The Infosys BPO Process Progression ModelTM (PPM) is a roadmap that takes client processes on a journey of progression and continuous improvement. Irrespective of the existing state of client process/industry/function, the model is geared to transform enterprise processes through an evolution curve of higher process maturity, measurable business outcomes, and enhanced client customer satisfaction
BPO Future Forward – 6 Benefits of the PPM Approach to TransformationInfosys BPM
The Infosys BPO Process Progression ModelTM (PPM) is a roadmap that takes client processes on a journey of progression and continuous improvement. Irrespective of the existing state of client process/industry/function, the model is geared to transform enterprise processes through an evolution curve of higher process maturity, measurable business outcomes, and enhanced client customer satisfaction
Process Progression Model – A holistic transformation framework by Infosys BPOInfosys BPM
Winning in today’s dynamic markets requires enterprises to be more agile, which comes from having fluid business processes that can rapidly execute an enterprise’s business goals.
We have managed large and complex processes for more than 150 clients – across global locations and industries. Most of them have been with us for many years and this multi-year view of engagements has given valuable insight on how transforming processes is key to transforming the business.
So we created a holistic framework to address the complete cycle of objectives of the three stages of progression of a business process – Operate, Optimize and Transform.
Addressing Fraud Risk Management with FactsInfosys BPM
Fraud is identified and caught with the aid of facts. Facts give a deeper understanding to what you could be looking at in your organization. Facts have also given rise to the mnemonic that Fraud is Always Committed by Trusted Souls. As simplistic as it may seem, it holds key to a potential trigger. Are you equipped with the necessary tools to address this challenge? Is your organization equipped with fraud Risk Management? Here are some quick slides to take you through what you need to have.
How important is customer satisfaction for your business today? Meeting the needs of the customer through business process outsourcing is the new lynchpin for organizations when it comes to determining their profits. Customer service outsourcing is no longer a novelty. It is a necessity. There is now an increasing need to strike a balance between customers and shareholders. Is your organization equipped to address this need?
The following presentation was made by Ronald Eikelenboom, CFO, Philips do BrasilLtd at The Hackett Group’s 20thAnnual Best Practices Conference at Atlanta, GA on 20thMay and is being reproduced with permissions from Philips
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
Search and Society: Reimagining Information Access for Radical FuturesBhaskar Mitra
The field of Information retrieval (IR) is currently undergoing a transformative shift, at least partly due to the emerging applications of generative AI to information access. In this talk, we will deliberate on the sociotechnical implications of generative AI for information access. We will argue that there is both a critical necessity and an exciting opportunity for the IR community to re-center our research agendas on societal needs while dismantling the artificial separation between the work on fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics in IR and the rest of IR research. Instead of adopting a reactionary strategy of trying to mitigate potential social harms from emerging technologies, the community should aim to proactively set the research agenda for the kinds of systems we should build inspired by diverse explicitly stated sociotechnical imaginaries. The sociotechnical imaginaries that underpin the design and development of information access technologies needs to be explicitly articulated, and we need to develop theories of change in context of these diverse perspectives. Our guiding future imaginaries must be informed by other academic fields, such as democratic theory and critical theory, and should be co-developed with social science scholars, legal scholars, civil rights and social justice activists, and artists, among others.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
FIDO Alliance Osaka Seminar: The WebAuthn API and Discoverable Credentials.pdf
Leading in the converged future becoming an agile telco
1. -------------------------------------------------------
View Point
-------------------------------------------------------
Leading in the Converged Future:
Becoming an Agile Telco
Amit Ahuja, Abhay Chauhan and Gagan Vohra
-------------------------------------------------------
Abstract
The convergence of networks, systems and devices is revolutionizing the communications
industry. As technological progress redefines the marketplace, Communication Service Providers
(CSPs) or telecommunications companies (telcos) face a unique set of lucrative opportunities
and momentous challenges. Developing economies are opening up to offer CSPs enormous
untapped markets. At the same time, emerging players are providing stiff competition through
innovative and competitively priced offerings, taking customer expectations to new highs.
If CSPs are to win this game, they must closely engage with their customers while improving
their service proposition. They need to work relentlessly toward reducing costs, improving
profitability, becoming agile, and transforming the organization to keep pace with the changing
paradigms of the world. This calls for increased operational efficiencies, integrated processes
and rapid roll- out of novel and niche products in new geographies.
2. This paper outlines the four-pronged approach CSPs need to adopt to secure and maintain their
leadership position in an industry hit by a tidal wave of change.
-------------------------------------------------------
What is driving the agenda for transformation?
The telecommunications marketplace is a whirlpool of volatility and competition. As basic
communications services get commoditized, the winners will be those who best meet customer
expectations for innovative products while continuously paring costs. To survive and thrive in
such a market, CSPs need to understand the factors driving the transformation. These are:
Convergence
Porous boundaries between CSPs
Next-generation products and new markets
Mergers and acquisitions
Convergence
-------------------------------------------------------
Technological convergence offers CSPs and consumers myriad new possibilities. Internet
Protocol- based Next-Generations Networks (IP-based NGNs) enable telcos to provide voice,
video and data applications over one network. Equipped with capabilities for anywhere,
anytime communications, NGNs herald higher quality, genuine choice and attractively priced
innovative services for consumers. Further, feature-rich wireline and wireless devices offer an
impressive convergence of services. For example, convergence has allowed the mobile phone to
evolve from a mode of voice communication to a feature-laden multimedia device that enables
users to take photographs, shoot video, listen to music, read documents and even execute
financial transactions.
3. Porous boundaries between CSPs
-------------------------------------------------------
Boundaries between CSPs are also becoming porous as emerging players offer applications
which erode the market share of incumbent companies. A case in point is how wireless services
have stolen a march over the wireline business. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India, in October 2007, India had 217 million mobile connections, against 40 million wireline
connections. A year ago, the subscriber bases were 98 million and 42 million respectively. The
blurring of target markets extends to other technologies as well, as telcos step into each other's
territories:
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is facing a threat from mobile broadband
Multiple System Operators (MSOs) are challenging existing carriers through innovations
beyond voice and data services. For instance, Cox/Comcast is offering advanced features such
as caller ID on TV through its triple play service - broadband, phone and TV.
Companies like Skype and Vonage are taking increasingly larger bites of the market pie and
impacting the profits of long-distance carriers
Next-generation products and new markets
4. Since customers have an array of innovative and niche services to choose from, they
unhesitatingly switch to a player offering newer and better products at a lower cost. Faced with
decreasing customer loyalty, CSPs are chanting the quad play mantra, heralding the
convergence of voice, video, broadband and wireless services. It ensures that a single provider
blends these services in a seamless environment, thus fulfilling customer needs and reducing
churn.
Quad play has led to the three-screen strategy - reaching out to customers through their
personal computer, TV and mobile devices. Thus, most telcos are rushing to roll out new
services like Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). British Telecom has launched BT Vision,
Verizon has FiOS, while AT&T has launched UVerse.
The competitive pressures are forcing CSPs to launch their products in newer markets and
geographies at a scorching pace to remain competitive. For example, Verizon plans to roll out
its FiOS service across the US in the next 12-15 months.
Even as CSPs speed next-generation products to the market, they must continue to support
existing services. While an increasing number of users are signing up for services like IPTV and
mobile broadband, CSPs must continue offering POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). BT
provides enterprises with global connectivity through a world-class Multi Protocol-Level
Switching platform, but still continues to support analogue circuits.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Convergence, the search for new markets and technologies, and the need for economies of
scale are driving telcos toward mergers and acquisitions. Consolidated entities need to be agile
to face challenges, lead technological changes and win in the marketplace.
The need for agility demands that telcos migrate to an NGN that is supported by interoperable
system architecture, and embrace integrated and flexible business processes. Operational
changes must accompany network and system transformations. In telecommunications, where
there is no room for error, only agility ensures that neither service levels nor profitability are
impacted adversely.
5. What are the hurdles to becoming an agile
enterprise?
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If CSPs are to profit from the world of opportunities that convergence offers, they must
transform their business models and IT landscape at a rapid pace. Business and technology
silos keep them from responding to the changing demands of convergence and customer
expectations. If industry players want to harness the potential of convergence, they must
eliminate the following silos in their business structure:
Network and IT infrastructure: Many CSPs have disparate systems that do not communicate
with each other, leading to revenue and cost leakage
People: CSPs have separate organizations and personnel for varied services. This leads to high
costs and makes scalability difficult
Processes: Sub-optimal and fragmented processes with a low degree of standardization are
impediments to scale and flexibility. Integration makes it possible to streamline operations and
automate processes for rapid response and to offer new and competitive services at low cost
CSPs are responding to this challenge by working with a number of partners, who have the
expertise and agility to help launch new products and services, reduce costs, increase customer
satisfaction, unify processes, and integrate systems to help CSPs focus on core competencies.
The Infosys approach to becoming a nimble-
footed CSP
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Infosys recommends a four-pronged approach to help CSPs reap the benefits of convergence
and win in the dynamic communications marketplace.
This approach entails making the following strategic shifts:
6. Being the China Price
While responding to technological and consumer imperatives, CSPs must deal with increasing
margin pressures. With plain voice getting commoditized and large investments needed to
introduce new products and retain customers, CSPs must keep costs low and maintain margins
to ensure profitability.
In the converging telecommunications landscape, it may help if your answer to the following
questions is 'yes'.
Can you reduce your cost structure by defining core processes, phasing out processes that do
not add value and eliminating non-core processes?
If your average ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is 1/10th of what it is today, will you still
be profitable?
If you no longer charge for connectivity, will you continue to make money?
Telcos can move to lean and globally competitive cost structures by:
Re-engineering processes to remove non-value-generating activities
Defining harmonized processes that are scalable and flexible, and also increase utilization and
productivity
7. Automating to the extent possible to reduce time and delivery cost
Outsourcing non-core activities to leverage a cost-efficient labor pool
Mass personalization through self-service portals
CSPs in India, the world's fastest growing mobile market, ensure competiveness through
outsourcing. Its leading mobile operators have been adding more than 2 million subscribers
every month, for the past 40 months. Despite having the lowest call rates globally, they have
healthy bottom lines.
The following examples illustrate how Infosys enabled telecom majors across the world to 'Be
the China price'. Infosys has helped:
A leading access provider benefit significantly through a strategic assessment of its reporting
organization that helped eliminate redundancy and drive enterprise-wide standardization and
improvement. Infosys is working on automating the company's reporting systems and utilise the
free-up resource to focus on value-added analytics
A global telecom major by presenting a roadmap to transform its service delivery engine to
reduce headcount and cost through process harmonization and automation, while improving
service levels and customer experience
The retail arm of a major UK-based telecom service provider, by clearing over 6.6 million
additional transactions without any increase in headcount. This resulted in an estimated savings
of £3.6 million over a 2 year period through a combination of process improvements and
business transformation.
Similarly, Infosys' Scenario-Based Customer Service (SBCS) solution helps to build a superior
customer service experience while creating a lower operating cost base for service and network
operations. Through a process, technology and organizational change framework, the solution
helps telcos transform the customer service experience by injecting operational service
knowledge into key systems and processes. Problems are resolved rapidly and cost-effectively
by empowering customer service agents with diagnostics and recommended resolutions at the
point of customer contact.
8. Building Loyalty through Faster Innovation
To build customer loyalty, CSPs must be able to answer these questions:
How can you create and deliver new products with agility and fewer fixed costs?
How can you become an aggregator of third-party content and enterprise services by
collaborating and co-creating with other third parties?
The need for innovation in the industry has never been greater. Competition is fierce,
technology is changing by the day and customer expectations are high. As voice revenue comes
under pressure, telcos need to increase revenue from non-voice streams such as data, video
and broadband in the following manner:
Capture customer imagination by turning into a content aggregator and provider from being
just a connectivity provider. CSPs can create interactive customer portals for self- service and
content preview, co-creation, sales and download. For example, Telekom Malaysia offered
download of a 'World Cup' graphical user interface (GUI) on customers handsets during the
2006 Soccer World Cup. The GUI-embedded score update button was a huge revenue spinner
Constantly improve the speed and quality of service delivery. It is only when providers 'de-
silo' services that cross-network product and content delivery is effective. Integration helps
telcos manage the network and IT infrastructure from one platform and enjoy a holistic back-
office view. Modularizing workflows, as opposed to monolithic workflows for each service,
allows the system to aggregate services through components quickly and cost-effectively
Strengthen customer touch points to create delightful experiences through targeted products.
This is enabled by mining the available - though scattered - customer and service data. CSPs
can also deliver content to the 3 screens: Desktop, TV and mobile. Infosys can help repurpose
content to provide it cost-effectively across channels
9. Making Money from Information
To cash in on information, you need to understand:
How do you change from a "service" organization into one that proactively up-sells/
Cross-sells premium services based on the customer's unique preferences?
How do you distil customer information held in billing and network provisioning systems to
increase ARPU and intervene to prevent customer churn?
With the numerous and varied products on offer, and customers expecting personalization, a
telco needs to differentiate itself through mass customization. Success is decided by a CSP's
ability to deliver presence-sensitive and personalized services to a wide and diverse customer
base.
How does a service provider offer customers the products they want?
CSPs spend valuable dollars to collect and maintain ever-increasing bytes of data. While
information on customers, service, billing and networks is available, it is scattered across the
enterprise. To collate and leverage the data, CSPs must build customized analytical models for
a 360-degree view of the customer and his/ her behavior and needs. This will enable:
Conducting on-going customer needs analysis
Targeted segmentation of customers
Serving customers based on value and preferences
10. Infosys is developing a framework that will leverage business intelligence to ensure customer-
centric operations. This includes:
Targeted marketing: CSPs need to anticipate customer needs and offer custom-built solutions.
They must especially identify and profile high-value customers to offer appropriate services
Pro-active churn management: With new players offering niche services, customer churn is
high.
Service delivery segmentation: Optimizing the cost to serve a client based on his contribution
to ARPU
True customer loyalty programs
CSPs can plug revenue and cost leakage by analyzing internal information. Infosys has
developed a solution framework for optimal network revenue and access cost management.
Through data cleanup, validation and synchronization between the various data stores - such as
CRM, billing, order management and provisioning systems - it helps maintain a comprehensive
and accurate:
Master Circuit Inventory with relevant provisioning detail for financial auditing of facility
access
11. Customer billing database to corroborate billing
Network cost database to manage, audit, dispute and pay vendor invoices
Winning in the Turns
To overtake the competition in the fast-changing market-place, it is critical to answer
these questions:
How soon and to what extent can you convert fixed costs into variable costs by
adopting a managed service model?
How do you ensure that declining legacy businesses do not become a drain on the
overall organization during market downturns?
Telcos need to equip themselves to turn the change to their advantage. Players must adopt
predictive capabilities through analytical models that help plan and develop a future-ready
enterprise. Infosys can help:
Create data models for an enterprise-wide data warehousing system. Using advanced
analytical tools and techniques, Infosys provides inputs on trend analysis and forecasting. This
can help CSPs perform product and customer analysis and activity-based costing
Develop statistical models to forecast demand and validation of existing models. These
models can be used for budgeting and resourcing
Analyze data for competitive structuring and pricing of products
Agility demands that CSPs cut fixed costs constantly. Moving to a variable cost structure
provides a natural hedge during industry downturns. CSPs can ensure this by outsourcing
activities to lower-cost geographies across the globe.
Infosys runs shared service centers in a managed service mode, thus helping integrate
processes, achieve operational efficiency and ensure economies of scale. The centers handle
the following functions:
Order-to-Cash Procure-to-Pay Hire-to-Retire
12. Infosys' framework for success
The graphic above illustrates how the Infosys framework helps CSPs take on various challenges.
With technology advancing at a breakneck pace, services and devices fulfilling varied
communication and entertainment needs, and a host of new players meeting niche
requirements, customers are spoilt for choice. They expect new products, faster service
introduction and improved quality at decreasing prices. Faced with increasing competition and
margin pressures, CSPs need ways to improve user experience to gain and retain customers.
Infosys' approach and solutions enable CSPs to plan, prepare and execute a road map that
integrates processes, allows organizational flexibility, reduces time-to-market, lowers costs, and
helps meet customer expectations.
About the Author
Amit Ahuja, Abhay Chauhan and Gagan Vohra are part of Infosys BPO's Solution Design team
for the CSP practice. They work closely with CSPs globally to understand their challenges in the
Business Process Management domain and help design comprehensive solutions to meet their
business objectives. They have been part of teams to provide operational transformational
solutions for leading CSPs in the UK and US.