Summary Bullets:
- OSS/BSS suppliers will use MWC 2014 to highlight how they can support operators in winning the customer experience battle against players such as Apple and Google.
- OSS/BSS suppliers will look to tout the expansion of their portfolios in areas such as mobile optimization to solve major operator pain points related to customer experience.
The high-profile presence of OSS/BSS suppliers at Mobile World Congress yields an additional proof point that the show has become more universal in nature for the telecommunications industry, and not just a mobile show per se. Clearly, mobile platforms, devices and services will exercise ever more influence than before in the evolution of the service enablement ecosystem including operator adoption of OSS/BSS apps.
With OSS/BSS suppliers set to step up their MWC 2014 sales and marketing, let alone overall mobile marketing, what can operators expect to see at this year’s show? Here are some developments to look for:
Customer Experience: OSS/BSS suppliers will trumpet portfolio upgrades and new products that address operator objectives in both shaping and winning the customer experience battle against OTT and web alternatives. The new offerings can include integration of social networking to improve operator customer relations and support by enabling users to opt-in and use their social profiles (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) to direct service problems and issues to the operator. Additionally, OSS/BSS suppliers will look to enhance their vertical solutions in areas such as health and energy management that link mobile platforms to the operator’s back-office operations, with the goal of improving operator services to align with customer lifestyle preferences and thus boost overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Mobile Optimization: It was probably not much of a coincidence that in January 2014 Amdocs announced five new mobile optimization operator wins with MWC 2014 around the corner. Aside from showing the recent acquisitions of Actix and Celcite have already yielded new sales wins, the deals show that radio network optimization has become a major pain point to solve for operators as they battle to improve customer experience and retention. Look for OSS/BSS suppliers to tout how their solutions can drive RAN optimization and consolidation across the entire range of mobile networks (2G, 3G, LTE, small cell, WiFi) to position operators to have the foundation to drive the customer experience.
Expansion of BSS Specialist Portfolios: As operators look to become more agile in their business models and networks, BSS specialists will become more obliged to support a wider range of operator back-office requirements beyond service billing and policy control integration (for example). Look for BSS specialists to tout a wider range of service assurance, service fulfillment and service creation portfolio capabilities and products to complement their service billing portfolio assets as they meet new operator mobile and customer experience requirements as well as counter the portfolio propositions of the major OSS/BSS suppliers.
Cloud-based Analytics and Big Data: The marketing uptick in cloud-based analytics and big data analytics (BDA) will not prove unique to MWC 2014, but will probably prove to be a marketing theme for OSS/BSS suppliers at the show. The challenge here is: will MWC prove the venue for a breakthrough announcement that showcases how operators can use cloud-based analytics not only to improve the efficiency of their own internal operations, but also to drive the consumer and enterprise experience? For instance, can operators use cloud-based analytics to capture and innovate the mobile home screen to their advantage (the value of the home screen comes in around $1 billion or more per quarter-inch).