The combination of COVID-19 and technology-driven disruption is changing the way carriers use technology and has fundamentally altered the communications industry and expectations of service providers. Fortunately for carriers, their networks were resilient during the COVID crisis. Three-quarters of consumers said they were satisfied with both their home broadband and mobile service, and 46% even said carrier response exceeded their expectations. However, while this is good news, it also comes with an increased reliance of consumers on service providers, coupled with higher expectations for better and newer services. This has put even more pressure on carriers to improve connectivity, keep costs in line, run more efficiently and bring new offers to these customers.
Carriers are at one of the most critical moments in their history and how they respond will determine their success in the long term. Most realize that they must move quickly to become an enterprise that can innovate quickly and efficiently, and can capitalize on the huge wave of opportunities in front of them today or coming their way in the near future. That could include things such as a wide range of 5G-related services, exciting new applications such as AI and machine learning, or the emergence of future home services that finally make connected living a reality.
However, in this changing and technology driven world, carriers are struggling to adapt, respond and meet these higher expectations. They’re mired in technical debt, can’t quickly change course when market forces require, and suffer from high operating costs. They are unsure of what to upgrade and what to retain and they are laden down with legacy systems, increasing operating expenses due to rising maintenance costs and total cost of ownership, leading to delayed agility and innovation. This adds up to an increasingly uncompetitive position in the industry relative to other players and an inability to capitalize on new growth opportunities.
Time to look to the cloud
The cloud is emerging as a powerful tool to help carriers modernize themselves and start meeting consumer’s growing expectations. In fact, according to Accenture research, cloud-based solutions will enable carriers to create significant economic value by both boosting revenue by as much as 8 to 10% and by cutting costs by 12 to 14%. Clearly, harnessing the cloud is not an option for carriers - it’s an imperative. It can help accomplish things such as:
- Provide differentiated services through digital, omni-channel care and AI powered care solutions that provide data and insights to make better decisions
- Use data powered analytics to dramatically improve the deployment of fiber and wireless networks
- Uncover newer revenue streams and develop new partnership models to reduce innovation time to market
- Improve the understanding of customers usage so that better treatments can be provided to meet their needs
The journey to the cloud is not an easy one for many carriers who find themselves stuck in quicksand, also known as their legacy network and business models. However, harnessing the power of the cloud can get them out and onto solid ground where they can thrive and even grow in the future.
Accenture’s recent report identifies the following key pillars needed to guide carriers along their journey to the cloud. These include the following:
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Process and data models - Carriers need accurate data models for network, product, supplier and customer information, and the standard processes for managing information and key functions that are relevant to every carrier. These process and data models can be enriched by a number of industry-specific assets, such as:
- A consolidated, comprehensive, cloud-based platform that manages all aspects of customer, network and financial intelligence
- Automated tools that monitor and assess infrastructure and network performance, as well as those that enable improved network deployment
- A platform that can speeds the adoption of AI across an organization, including the care, sales and network operations processes
- A cloud spend advisor that helps companies minimize cost leakage during and after cloud migration.
- Architecture - Reference business and technical architectures are critical enablers of business transformation, maximizing business value through the “right-sized” use of technology and increasing alignment between the business and IT. They speed the adoption of new and innovative technology while boosting IT agility and overall business resilience and reducing operational risk and cost.
- Vendor intelligence and assessment - Carriers need to obtain deep insights on vendor solutions to determine which are the best fit for a particular carrier’s business and how to best deploy them to support key processes and integration with the carriers legacy systems. Going with the wrong solution or partner can cost a carrier significant time, money and their reputation amongst consumers, so the selection process must be careful and thorough when developing and implementing software solutions.
- Delivery accelerator and lean operations - Vendor- and industry-specific migration tools speed the adoption of cloud solutions and support the management of automated, ongoing releases of new solutions. These include such assets as value realization methods and supporting toolsets; improved analytics to support network deployments and expansions; improved insights into product and customer profitability; better customer insights that enable improved segmentation, treatment, sales and support; a unified and seamless solution catalogue; design accelerators; code and testing artifacts and accelerators; a sales platform; a digital ecommerce architecture; and software-specific diagnostics and capability assessments such as Salesforce/Vlocity and Oracle Digital Experience for Communications (Dx4C). Automation, particularly in the form of DevSecOps, is a core component of these pillars.
The opportunity for carriers to shine
We all know the popular saying "The sun always shines above the clouds". Through a carefully planned and executed migration to the cloud, carriers have the opportunity reinvent themselves. They can put in a place a leaner, more agile and intelligent backbone that can support a new business model - one that enables them to compete with the disruptors, quickly develop and launch more compelling new offerings, and drive greater operational efficiencies.
