Sometimes the puzzle isn’t clear until all the pieces have been put in place. Consider the case of broadband. The world’s telecom carriers have invested over US$300 billion in building broadband, next-generation networks (NGN). At the same time, the corporate enterprises of the world seem to be traveling a slightly a different path—investing to transform their global operations into the model of efficiency, speed and profitability. One industry is reshaping the network; the other is reshaping the enterprise. What they should be doing is working closely together. Though attempts have been made, carriers and enterprises have not achieved optimal synergy they both seek. For carriers, the “if you build it, they will come” approach isn’t working—at least not yet. Despite the huge investment in NGN, carriers aren’t yet seeing the return on investment they—and their Wall Street bankers—would like. Despite the phenomenal growth of the Internet, thousands of fiber miles remain dark and high-speed, photonic switches remain unnecessary—witness the disastrous plight of the world’s switch manufacturers lately. At the same time corporations continue to invest in major IT initiatives to drive revenue and eliminate some of the significant costs of doing business—updating everything from supply chain management and CRM to wireless and eCommerce projects. Pressed by their shareholders, customers and competition to improve their service, margins and operational efficiency, corporations may have temporarily reduced their IT spending—but they haven’t lost their resolve to re-engineer themselves to compete on a global scale once the economic picture improves. It’s time for the pieces of the puzzle to come together. While enterprises are working hard to leverage technology they do not have the core ability to do so in a next generation world which is limiting their return. In short, as they replace or build new systems and applications, they should be doing so based on NGN technology that not only allows them to build more robust applications, but also leaves them with much more flexible—and cost effective—platforms. Carriers need to facilitate this process by stepping up their efforts to become full-fledged partners in their business customers’ IT efforts. It is, perhaps, the most direct path to capturing the true value of their multi-billion dollar investment in NGN. Penetrating the Corporate Enterprise Reaching inside the corporate enterprise has always been a critical challenge for the world’s telecom service providers, who have historically provided little more than voice-and-data circuits—usually without knowing or caring how those circuits are being used. But as non-traditional, Internet-based communications alternatives challenge the status quo, carriers are now facing the challenge head-on—and looking for opportunities to strengthen relationships with their customers. The best way to do this? Take the time to understand customers’ problems—and provide reliable, cost-effective solutions to solve those problems. Next-generation networks provide a powerful platform to do just that. Rather than waiting for customers or third party software developers to create useful network utilities and applications, carriers need to consider developing a set of innovative, ‘broadband-enabling’ applications or products themselves. In other words, carriers need to identify and perhaps build some of the initial broadband applications themselves—or at least a user-friendly platform to enable those applications. These next-generation products need not be complex—but they need to take advantage of the IP-based infrastructure and intelligence embedded in a broadband network. And they must highlight the potential of the network to deliver other always-on, ‘smart services’ that can be user-defined and user-driven from a variety of wireline and wireless devices. Carriers that are smart enough to invest in unique applications that showcase and use their broadband networks will enjoy a boost to their brand—and will be viewed as market leaders. Witness the market cache garnered by AOL’s instant messaging service, where users know the availability or ‘status’ of friends and colleagues. This relatively simple idea has helped AOL build remarkable customer loyalty and brand strength—and it makes the most of AOL’s “network” of users. As carriers seek to build broadband traffic among enterprise users, they might take a similar, if more sophisticated, approach: Build a series of simple, yet highly useful, applications that puts the power of NGN in the hands of corporate network administrators or their users. From on-demand access to video conferencing to customized billing, the opportunity is enormous to create user-friendly, real-time applications that will stimulate demand for broadband services. And it’s carriers who have the most to gain—or lose. Next-Generation Networks and the Impact of Globalization Carriers must face another issue as well: The globalization of their customer base. With the end of the Cold War and the rise of low-cost travel, telecom consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with international travel. And they want their communications services to ‘travel’ with them wherever they go. In a 24/7 world, international boundaries are part of the past; they don’t exist to today’s business traveler or the global corporation. As a result, that customer expects the same level of service in Malta as they receive in Miami. It won’t be long before consumers will be looking for the service provider who can deliver wireless service to a 3G handset or a DSL connection internationally as well as to their home territory. Mix in multiple languages, multiple currencies and individual consumer profiles—and you have a significant customer service challenge for carriers. And as carriers consolidate or enter cross-border alliances with other service providers, the challenges of managing millions of multi-national customers become even more complex. While NTT DoCoMo has scored a tremendous success with its popular i-Mode wireless data service in Japan, one can only wonder whether the company will be able to repeat that success as it exports i-Mode service to the U.S. and Europe. On the other hand, since i-Mode succeeded while competing wireless data technologies (like WAP) have stumbled, DoCoMo may have found the winning formula for global success. Delivering Market-Driving, Next-Generation Services Carriers need to view the market for next-generation services from a different perspective—too many are living in the past, relying on outdated OSS systems, organizations and procedures. If they expect their business customers to adopt broadband wireline and wireless services, they must provide intelligent, easy-to-use, real-time tools that make the most of the power of bandwidth on demand. They’ve got to learn new business models, identify strong alliance partners, and re-engineer their operations. When it comes to broadband, it’s time for carriers to “walk the walk,” rather than just “talk the talk.” When they do, the picture of the future of next-generation networks will become much clearer. About the Author: Kathleen O'Reilly is a partner in Accenture’s Strategic Services practice in the Communications and High Tech Industry Group. Talk to someone about this topic  To Top
|