The Current Service Provider Dilemma

Next generation services in triple- and quad-play deployments represent an order-of-magnitude increase in back-office complexity, making it critical for communication service providers (CSPs) to incorporate service fulfillment and product lifecycle management across multiple networks and systems. To maximize revenue opportunities, service providers must rapidly introduce new products and optimize product launches to cash cycles.

As CSPs continue to face the challenges of converged service deliveries, there is an increasing need for a strategic approach to develop simplified, end-to-end order handling solutions to deliver new products and bundled services as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. With market requirements constantly changing, the rapid rate at which CSPs must keep pace with product lifecycle management places a tremendous amount of pressure on systems and customer sales representative (CSR) training. Adding, or even modifying, a new product can mean multiple changes and updates to product information across sales intranet, order entry, provisioning, biller, accounting, and trouble ticketing systems - just to name a few.

For CSPs to effectively plan and invest for the future, they must consider both demand and supply-side challenges. Meeting quickly evolving market demands mean addressing the different needs of both residential and commercial customers. 

Residential customers want flexible and personalized product offerings with the ability to easily order through simple and secure self-service channels that are on par with e-Commerce storefronts. However, commercial customers are increasingly looking for turnkey, outsourced services that cover not only their communications needs, but also IT infrastructure and related services. Given that the cost of these services directly affects the total cost of doing business, these customers want it as inexpensive as possible and continuously assess the options offered by alternate providers.

On the supply-side, service providers are faced with the high cost of system upgrades and redesigns required to be able to offer more personalized offerings – while still struggling with the uncertainty of increased ARPU and the risk of churn. CSPs need a way to deliver better and more flexible bundled offerings on an ongoing basis to create customer stickiness. Meanwhile, the increasing demand for content and entertainment services within these bundled offerings requires CSPs to work with a new set of non-infrastructure suppliers that require additional system capabilities to automate the supply chain with these third party providers.