Telcos have not used IT effectively and need to better optimize and integrate IT into their processes to drive their businesses as they face difficulties in expanding revenue.
Frost & Sullivan partner and MD for Asia Pacific Manoj Menon said in his opening address at the OSS/BSS Summit in Singapore last month that better use of IT is required for operators to optimize the customer experience.
Memon noted that despite the global downturn there\'s been no slowdown in new mobile additions. He said that 25-30% of new broadband subs were mobile. \'But the challenge is ARPUs of the new subs are below $5 so operators have to review their cost structure.\'
He sees a big wave toward more outsourcing in the second half of the year as well as more private-public partnerships to drive connectivity.
Jim Peters from BT\'s service fulfillment unit in his keynote defined being customer centric as giving subscribers what they want quickly and correctly. \'It\'s about the cycle time, or the time it takes to fulfill an order, and doing it right the first time.\'
The cost of reworking he said can run into hundreds of million of dollars for a large operator.
For BT its mission is to be No. 1 in customer services. \'Our goal is 95% satisfaction. We\'re not quite there yet but we\'re moving in on the number.\'
He noted that operators have to look at the long tail of customer service - it\'s not just customer care and call centers. It\'s all touch points, including fulfillment, service quality and more.
Since legacy OSS platforms are inflexible, Peters said the systems tend to get surrounded by manual workaround. \'Operators need to move to data driven solutions that can deal with changes and be flexible. Companies need to be in a position to launch a new product without going to the OSS team for implementation and testing. We have to move away from this.\'
Prakash Sadagopan from Convergys pointed out that attrition is now unfortunately the primary form of feedback in industries where the cost of switching is low - most notably telecoms.
Business intelligence can give operators the biggest bang for the buck, claimed Alan Duncan, a consultant with Pelion, an implementation partner for Netezza.
\'You don\'t have to spend a lot to get value. There is great value locked up in data, which can give telcos flexibility and the ability to respond. Now is the time to invest.\'
Asked how operators can work better with smaller firms offering BI, he said the system integrators they outsource to have no interest in opening up \'because it screws up their outsourcing plans. Operators need to work with the big outsourcing to accept point solutions that can bring in value.\'
When it comes to business analytics, retailers are the best role models, Stratecast senior analyst Susan McNeice said during a presentation on analytics in telecoms.
\'We are no longer just network guys, we are retailers, and we need to operate the way successful retailers operate,\' she said.
She explained that it take time to become an analytical competitor by using data across multiple departments for multiple functions.