Using an overlay approach as opposed to a complete overhaul of legacy IT systems is a faster and more cost-effective way to achieve strategic objectives – speed to market, sustainable revenue growth, and business agility.
In the past decade, technology-driven disruption has significantly impacted the communications industry, especially Communication Service Providers (CSPs). The innovative use cases of 5G, remote work, and other social and economic changes triggered by the pandemic are presenting numerous opportunities for CSPs to build new products and tap into additional revenue streams.
As consumers shift toward digital channels for work, learning, and entertainment – today every product must also become a digital product. Businesses are heavily relying on digital platforms to ensure business continuity with cloud-native services, supply chain digitalization, omnichannel sales, and more. Traditional CSPs need to metamorphosize into digital CSPs by building, testing, and rolling out new business models and becoming platform providers for meeting the rapidly evolving demands of the market.
Enlightened CSPs who recognize this shift are reimagining their business by using technology to drive speed, flexibility, openness, and data-driven operations, unleashing product innovation in the market at scale. According to various industry estimates, CSP’s digital revenues will grow from the current 5 percent to more than 40 percent in the near term. A case in point is of Vodacom group, which aims, for new digital and financial services to account for more than 25% of its services revenues by FY 2024.
However, CSPs looking to become digital-first face a significant challenge – legacy BSS technology. The BSS solution, for decades the backbone of the CSP business model, has now become the biggest obstacle to the technology transformation. Interestingly, according to TM Forum, 72 percent of 5G revenue growth depends on the transformation of OSS/BSS.
Why it’s time to redefine the BSS
The telecom industry is undergoing a massive shift, with two-thirds of Telco executives surveyed by Comviva believe that their industry will change more in the next few years than it has in the previous 20.
As connectivity is treated more like a utility, it is becoming increasingly difficult for CSPs to differentiate themselves in the market, as 62% of respondents agreed. This means shifting business focus from the fringe of the network into the center of the customer experience.
Though CSPs understand the need to gear up for the next growth phase, but they’re often stuck with archaic monolithic, rigid BSS holding them back in their mission to create new business models.
CSPs urgently need an incremental, practical approach to BSS modernization, without disrupting the existing infrastructure. The idea is not to rip and replace existing IT systems, but to bolster them with next-generation technologies in a planned, staggered fashion while ensuring superior business continuity. By automating critical functions across the value chain – from quote-to-order processes to sales and service assurance – CSPs can experience exceptional improvements in organizational productivity, cost efficiency, and net promoter score. Today, the proliferation of cloud technology offers a viable, scalable, and flexible solution for CSPs to achieve that.
BSS of the Future
The next-generation digital BSS will enable CSPs to offer and monetize a new class of digital services and partner collaborations. A digitized future promises huge growth opportunities, but they can only capitalize if they use products such as BlueMarble that are cloud native and align well to TM Forum Open Digital Architecture to transform their BSS into a leaner, agile and intelligent backbone.
Based on a study finding commissioned by Comviva across 75 CXOs and key decision markets in Telecom industry, we’ve created a framework to systematically guide traditional CSPs to move into the future. The more CSPs align their BSS modernization plans with our framework, the greater they can achieve the business success and be seen favorably by customers. Successful BSS modernization should be focused on three key areas:
- Implementing incremental modernization
- Identifying components needed for immediate transformation
- Incorporating cloud services for flexibility, agility, and faster time to market
Reach out to us for a copy of the research finding.
