"Through 2012 we see a dual challenge for CIOs as they come under increasing pressure to reduce both operating costs and capital expenditure, while meeting their organization's desire to invest in improving customer experience to drive retention," David Russell, UK Telecommunications Leader, PwC, says. "With the squeeze on product pricing, the need to reduce operational costs, the requirement to simplify IT and increased competition, CSPs see improved customer experience as the key differentiator."
So where does that leave the CIO or CTO?
There's a fundamental shift occurring where IT departments are switching focus from managing infrastructure to focusing on areas of innovation. There is also a significant demand to drive down costs. Leveraging hosted solutions and outsourcing traditional IT functions enables precious IT resources to tie themselves into both top-line revenue grown and bottom line profitability by driving down the cost of IT.
But the true difference-maker according to Gordon Rawling, director of EMEA Marketing, Oracle Communications is the ability of in-house IT departments to focus on refining customer interaction.
"Resources can be better spent on direct customer touching or influencing activities rather than simply 'keeping the lights on'," Rawling says. "The use of COTS software allows them to focus on where they can really add value, it provides the IT staff with transferable, rather than legacy, skills and it allows a step change in risk to be made."
