From Telco to Techco: Part-III – How CSPs Can Regain Control of Their Operations
How CSPs Can Regain Control of Their Operations
Part 3: Technology Evolution: Customer and Partner Centricity and the Evolving Nature of Telco Services
Communications service providers (CSPs) are seeking greater self-sufficiency by taking back control of their core competencies from large third-party suppliers. Their goal is to keep pace with other technology companies in terms of revenue growth, profitability and market capitalization.
But for CSPs to transform themselves into techcos, mastering hardware and software assets is not enough. True differentiation and innovation will only be possible if CSPs become customer-centric organizations. CSPs must reorient their business focus to transition from network-centric connectivity providers to customer-focused companies for both the consumer and business sectors.
Cloud-Native Architectures
Customer-centric innovation requires architectures that are cloud-native, microservices-based and metadata-driven. These architectures enable developers to build loosely coupled systems that are scalable, fault-tolerant, observable and easy to manage in the public, private or hybrid cloud. By connecting disparate systems, minimizing downtime and allowing CSPs to launch new services on demand, these architectures ensure a seamless customer experience.
Experimentation and Co-innovation with Customer and Partners
Techcos must prioritize dynamic product lifecycle management over long development cycles. As they combine their own products and services with those of their partners, techcos must experiment with new bundles and pricing schemes and adapt quickly to changes in customer demands and the competitive landscapes. Techcos should launch and retire products and services based on customer and partner input.
Reinventing the Sales Approach
Unlike traditional telcos, techcos will follow a needs-based market segmentation approach instead of using a one-size-fits-all method to sell products and services. This approach differs from traditional segmentations such as value, geography, behavior, firmography or demography. It is based on customer requirements, motivations, challenges and shared experiences.
B2B customers may have varying expectations regarding quality, brand perception, customer service, collaboration and pricing. A proactive needs-based approach to customer experience should be consultative, predictive with optichannel access to the techco’s portfolio. Needs-based segmentation requires telcos to modernize the way they market, onboard and retain customers and partners.
For the B2B segment, techcos must develop a comprehensive understanding of their target markets’ diverse requirements, ranging from micro-enterprises to multinational corporations. Additionally, they should become proficient in vertical industries and their specific workflows, standards and solutions.
Flexible Pricing Models for Quick Monetization
Techcos’ pricing models must be dynamic as they micro-target specific customer segments and hyper-personalize their products and services according to individual user needs. Quick concept-to-cash is essential to stay ahead of fast-paced market dynamics. Techcos must be able to charge based on usage, volume, sessions, time of day, traffic, location, device type, number of devices, QoS/SLA guarantees, network slice, uplink/downlink speed, latency and other relevant parameters.
Some CSPs already have already begun their journey toward customer and partner-centricity by focusing on their core competencies. The first steps in this direction include divesting low-velocity network infrastructure assets and towers, as well as creating digital divisions and business units that can lead the way to accelerated growth.