All indicators are pointing in the same direction: there will be an explosion in data network capacity due to Internet growth within the next five years, and, as a result, networks will become vehicles for service delivery. Increasingly customers are clamoring for a communications infrastructure that can rapidly create, transport, and manage new data services. As a result, your customers have a problem. Not only is the technology change cycle speed increasing, but managing that technology is also becoming more complex. What tools are required? What tools work well together? Management suites are expensive, have long implementation times, and less than stellar success rates. Proven solutions require significant supply chain integration effort. Further, many enterprises are working to rid themselves of tasks that don't directly focus on their core business. Even if they can afford the investment in technology, critical and potentially debilitating skill gaps in the current work force are widening weekly. Across the globe, organizations are scrambling to train thousands of geographically dispersed employees with the least disruption of schedules and customer service and the shortest "time to proficiency." And those skilled employees know they are in demand, often making it difficult to retain them. Not surprisingly, companies are looking for help outside their organizations to handle this intimidating challenge. Fortunately, communications service providers are in a uniquely favorable position to manage the network needs of their business customers while at the same time positioning themselves to offer many value-added services in the future. These vital companies are poised to profit from this projected $9 billion market for the following key reasons: - They are ahead of the curve in network management expertise and knowledge, having done it for years.
- They know the importance of reliability and scalability.
- They have an established support infrastructure to address the distributed needs of their customers' networks.
While you have these distinct advantages as a communications service provider, you may also have concerns about moving into the management of IP networks and services. How to get to market quickly? How to scale the solution? What are the right management platforms? How to attract and retain skills? Capitalizing on Capabilities that Put You Ahead of the Pack In this rapidly evolving marketplace, speed is the great differentiator, and savvy companies know that the ones who get there first will often achieve the biggest payback. The Journal of Product Innovation Management looked at a wide range of product development cases and found that products that are five months late to market will earn 33 percent less profit over five years than those that are on time. To realize the vast potential for generating new revenues, communications service providers must choose a solution that unites speed-to-market and the ability to handle increasing volumes, while taking a cross-domain view that combines service management for network elements, servers, desktops, applications and services. Some companies may choose to focus on the network-only space developing and deploying basic capabilities. Other companies may opt to extend their services up the value chain by using the same base architecture, enhanced with extensions that address the server, desktop, application and service components necessary to provide more sophisticated offerings. Accenture Associate Partner Steve Groath observes: "Winning Managed Network Services providers of the future will need to extend their capabilities beyond light-watching and fault notification toward higher value functions. Enterprises are under pressure to improve service availability and performance, not just monitor equipment and links. Many current providers can neither scale their solutions nor extend them up the service stack. Succeeding in this arena demands a solution that is proven, scalable, and built with these higher layer services in mind." Offering Managed Network Services to their customers will enable communications service providers to: - Improve customer retention through differentiated service.
- Extend their reach into the customer premise.
- Deliver new top-line revenue.
In summary, communications service providers have the opportunity to enter a new business segment by expanding their current network management knowledge to the customer environment, creating a mutually beneficial scenario that enhances the bottom line and forges stronger relationships with key customers. Talk to someone about this topic  To Top
|