This legacy approach results in perceived poor service as operators struggle to enable customers to easily buy what they want, when they want it, and through their preferred digital channel. This disconnect between what customers want and what operators are able to deliver damages the relationship between them.

CSPs seem to be aware of this challenge. An IDC survey reported that operators believed that they were not transforming fast enough to meet the demands of digital. 50% of C-level and other operator decision makers thought that the transformation would take more than five years. As a result, 64% thought that the communications industry would be outpaced by other industries.

However, there is a pragmatic, wholly achievable way for CSPs to respond to the need for digital transformation. The CSPs leading the way have shown that by adopting a catalog-driven, agile B/OSS means they have gained the ability to execute different business models with the technology innovations they make or acquire.  Catalog-driven, agile B/OSS is not just about having technology that is easily configurable and changeable; it is about what it enables from a business point of view: opening up new avenues of products and services for the customer across multiple channels of interaction and multiple networks of delivery.  It also sums up the difference between the digitally native business and the CSP, and the gap that needs to be bridged.

Achieving digital agility with transformation through transition

Any CSP that is not yet pivoting to a customer-centric digitalized product and service delivery model faces a challenging journey against the digital disruption our industry is facing. To stay ahead, CSPs must behave like DSPs.  This shift means having a more predictable and repeatable operation and an innovation model which is highly configurable and able to interface with other systems.

So how do you transform the traditional CSP into a DSP, without having to completely replace the legacy BSS and OSS?

To start the journey to become a DSP, a CSP should first approach it as a transformation through transition, rather than a five-year massive system overhaul that only yields benefits, or failure, at the end. The program of change needs to be structured with short term milestones that achieve key improvements encompassing systems, processes and people at regular stages.

For this transitional approach to work, there must be a clear focus on the areas that are most critical to doing business with customers, delineating those functions from the traditional back office. The transformation’s priorities must be to overhaul the key touchpoints and channels through which CSPs engage upfront with their customers and the ability to sell and deliver the products and services through them. The capabilities that support these functions, such as catalog management, salesforce automation, quote and order capture, and order management, emphasize the importance of creating, selling and delivering compelling products and services through the customer’s preferred channel.

The other core functions that CSPs have invested heavily in over the years, such as post-sales customer care, trouble ticketing, billing, and legacy network activation, need to be ring-fenced as the IT commodities that they now are. There then needs to be an integration overlay between those legacy functions and the new front office so that the modern interaction with the customer can still be supported, rather than hindered, by the back-office.

For example, Vodafone in Germany has created a catalog-driven digital order center to support the quick and reliable creation of personalized product configurations for their business customers.  This solution has allowed them to introduce new products quickly and cost-effectively and improve order accuracy. They continue to rely on the integration of this modern infrastructure to the legacy back-end, allowing the focus to be on more accurately targeting customers and prospects, and taking them through a sales process that results in a compelling, personalized offers that can be delivered efficiently.

Understanding the importance of a catalog-driven, context-aware customer experience

The key to being able to interact with any customer in any channel and offering them a personalized, compelling and feasible set of products and services is knowing what you can sell, to whom, under what circumstances, and with what resources. This knowledge comes from having a catalog-driven, contextually aware set of capabilities to underpin the creation, selling and delivery of products and services.