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IMC 2020

Enterprise Connect : A new hotspot for telcos

The world as we see now is full of possibilities, possibilities to redo things and restart. Telecom companies have transformed overnight. On March 22nd 2020, if someone would have asked us if the country’s working class has to find a viable temporarily permanent work from home setup, we would have thought of it as wishful thinking. But the last nine months have transformed everything. The telecom  industry has been a front-line warrior. They overnight transformed the landscape of Corporate India by ensuring connectivity, bandwidth, cloud and data services with mobility services being provided at the click of a button or across the wire. Enterprises morphed themselves as retail customers to consume data, content and bandwidth. This story wasn’t restricted only to large accounts or corporates. Every organization started looking at technology as a fundamental component of its business-critical function. This change is not a temporary change. It’s a change that will transform how the telecom enterprise connects with the industry.

KPMG International recently commissioned a survey with Forrester in which about 800 professionals from leading organizations were asked which pandemic-related issues are the highest priority to address.  29% spoke of ​tackling the increased security risk ​that comes with the ​current business environment. 28% cited supply chain delays and breakdowns as a critical area of focus.  27% were focused on developing new channels to serve customers, given some changes are permanent.

The acceleration of digital transformation is no more a predication but a reality. The pace has changed and telecommunications companies have found themselves at the cross roads of transforming the way they interact with the enterprise. Enterprise connect is not going to be just about infrastructure but how telecom players can be a part of the larger digital transformation story.

There are certain aspects which they should focus in the coming quarters.

Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of KPMG International, July 2020
Customers today are expecting more from partners, vendors and as such anyone they are associated with, so as to help them deliver products and services better and in a more sustainable manner. Telecommunications companies are uniquely placed. They enable the first mile and the last mile, they have got the ‘mobile first’ strategy correct in the Business2Consumer (B2C) world and always have the premier tickets for the cloud roll out story. They will have to start understanding how data and technology can create value for the customer’s customer. How IOT can scale fast and be utilized as a critical component in value delivery? How can existing services be moved to the cloud to enable customer’s customer to have anytime anywhere access? How can customer’s data and transactions be secured in the rising world of cyber fraud? These services are not new but need to be provided as an offering beyond IaaS or PaaS or SaaS. Telecommunications companies will need to drive value led conversation

SME is no more just small and medium enterprises
SMEs require focus as they form a critical component of the large market India promises. They require subject matter expertise; they require empathy and above all service which is second to none. The pandemic has affected this segment the most. Liquidity, work force, supply chain and knowledge of the right digital tool and technology has been an uphill drive for them. Telcos have serviced this segment using the conventional channel route. But time has now come to treat this differently. SMEs are becoming the next Innovation hub of the country. Aspects like Virtual Relationship Managers to manage and service this segment, sandboxing cluster based digital solutions to drive adoption, co-creating solutions with the customers, be the end-to-end to service provider of choices are some of the opportunities that can transform the revenue potential of this segment.

Digital that matters 
Digital has to make a difference to the overall operating model of the organization. It has to be a quantum leap over a period of time and add to either profitable growth, enhanced customer experience or marked improvement in efficiencies. For telcos to position themselves as a critical digital transformation player – they would need to drive outcome based digital agendas with clients. They have a unique advantage given that they are the owners of the network. As and when 5G happens it will significantly open up avenues for new use cases.

Enterprise connect is beyond delivering products and services. It’s about making the enterprise transform into the new ways of working. Telcos are at the center of this opportunity.

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