And Now, Time for a Service Provider Ecosystem

A survey conducted by Forrester amongst a few top European
and US companies found that in the near future, companies would be looking at
outsourcing their network resident applications to third party. But most of them
were more comfortable outsourcing these services to specialists as against their
service providers. Therefore, the service provider’s focus should be on
building enabling infrastructure that allows partners to innovate and succeed,
and choose partnerships that align with market strategies.

So, what are some of the key factors that will drive a
service provider ecosystem?

Customer-driven Services

To meet the demands and to boost revenue and customer
loyalty, providers are focusing on service. Leading providers offer customers
self-service options, and they use the rich customer data captured through this
channel to personalize relationships, target sales and marketing efforts, and
support the development of custom solutions. This CRM strategy is also driving
the development of more creative and flexible pricing models, such as flat-fee
rather than usage-based pricing, and of personalized offerings, such as
long-distance plans adapted to individual calling patterns.

Solution-based Products

The spread of technological innovation across many
non-traditional commercial sectors has conditioned consumers to expect products
and services that meet their specific needs. In the new world, consumers demand
mobility, media, location-transparency, and above all, simplicity, which usually
means a single provider delivering a unified and flexible set of services.

The new, savvier companies bundling their products and
services in a forward-thinking way have really impacted the industry. For
service providers, offering the best products to customers often requires
working with partners or merging with other providers or complementary vendors.

By taking advantage of Internet technology, providers can
form alliances to broaden their product offerings while giving customers a
single provider to contact.

Globalization

As their key customers expand into the international
marketplace, service providers are eager to follow them with products and
services that are truly global. To keep up, companies must provide their
customers with seamless access and service round the clock, and around the
world. They must also support all the major languages and currencies across
their customer base.

The issue for providers today, is one of scalability. A lot
of providers just don’t have the capital to expand (PoP) have enough Points of
Presence in other countries. This means certain providers will domestically
partner with providers abroad, to carry traffic across their networks.

Mobility

Consumers now demand the ability to communicate with anyone,
anywhere, and corporations increasingly depend on a mobile workforce. Service
providers are under pressure to provide unified communication services that
allow customers to receive messages, phone calls, and Internet access,
regardless of physical location or the type of device they are using.

With Internet and voice access available on everything from
computers to handheld devices and phones, unified messaging is the obvious point
of integration. That means one number which will basically give you access to
all your messages–your voice mail at home and at work, your e-mail, faxes,
etc. from one point. So you can access it on your PC, on your phone,
or on your landline phone.

All of the above will actively drive service providers to form a cooperative
ecosystem if they want to remain viable in business.