Customer Experience
B2B Telco: Igniting new value with the constant evolution
As a new network evolution gains traction, everyone knows that the B2B segment is the multi-billion-dollar opportunity for CSPs to unlock the full value of 5G. We also know that re-assessing business models and re-imagining ecosystems is the only way to becoming that trusted platform partner in the business space.
But ambition is not always easy to do in practice. Even world-leading providers must continue to manage their legacy estates, capex processes and redundant tools that go with them, while reducing cost to serve. The real problem is their inability to manage services, end-to-end, when deciding what’s working, what’s not, and where the most immediate challenges are to prevent customer churn.
ServiceNow + Accenture. A force for continuous evolution
Telcos have been successful to date with the belief that ‘if we build it, they will come’ but our view within the Accenture & ServiceNow business group is that moving fast without a clear view does not mean moving smart. As a united group, we believe that shifting mindsets, processes and models start with a clear vision and roadmap to deliver operational value from day one. We call it the ‘living systems’ approach.
This five-step strategy aims to help providers build a digital blueprint to first understand the ins and outs of services, end-to-end, before using these insights to digitize when and where needed to engage in a continuous evolution that’s safe, secure and trackable.
Let’s look at the five steps for telcos to deliver 21st century business experiences:
Build a flexible digital core for sustainable change
B2B telecom buyers are continuing to get frustrated by a perceived lack of responsiveness and transparency within telcos. At the same time, telcos struggle with a lack of end-to-end visibility across multi-cloud/multi-partner environments, as well as millions of daily alarms, poor performance-management data, and little understanding of the services running on their platform.
Accenture and ServiceNow can develop a secure cloud infrastructure to manage operations dynamically, accelerate innovation, and prioritize experiences, delivering comprehensive application portfolio management with single-pane visibility.
Re-imagine your strategy to save and re-invest
With much of telcos’ CapEx invested in the network, high OPEX costs have always meant tight margins. Today, the challenge is amplified, with 5G—key to B2B digital services—requiring significant capital outlay. A growing number of telcos struggle to balance new-product investments with managing running costs. Fixing this means mapping new demand against existing capabilities.
ServiceNow’s agile cloud-native framework helps telcos gain control of current investments, so they can focus on quick business wins and use the savings they make, to re-invest in innovation.
Bring out the best in humans and machines
Service is the big differentiator for telcos, that’s why their top priority must be knowing which services are must-haves for customers—and deliver them in real-time. That’s why Vodafone’s mission is to be the ‘channel of choice’—because they know customers want to be able to contact them however and whenever they want.
While B2B customers expect white glove services, they also want a personal touch—something chatbots can’t deliver. And B2C customers want self-serve features and automated functionalities to solve issues themselves.
Create a continuous cycle for innovation
Being first to market with new products and services in B2B requires opening their platforms up and co-creating with customers in new ways—from open APIs to IoT, there’s a lot to consider. So, how do telcos free up talent to focus on innovating and co-creating with partners?
Start by giving network and operations teams the right insights. And building a great data foundation. This lets you standardize terms and categories across business and application service offerings, define business capabilities, reveal the different relationship between apps and capabilities, and highlights what’s possible.
Realign your enterprise to put service assurance at the heart
In an industry where experience is the only way to differentiate, removing siloes across network and IT teams is more critical than ever. CSPs must take a strategic view on which applications should be kept, replaced, consolidated, or retired to close the gaps between the network and IT.
After connecting functions and keeping their networks running with the right applications, providers can re-focus budgets on connecting within partners’ ecosystems to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
The demands and expectations of the digital age mean this journey that telcos are on was already necessary. For providers still in the early stages of becoming a digital partner, it may seem daunting. But there’s good news.
The Accenture and ServiceNow partnership group works with CSPs to build the roadmap for achieving your vision, powered by an enterprise platform to constantly evolve with changing market dynamics and customer demands. Helping providers move towards becoming that trusted platform partner, this approach creates the agility, resilience, adaptiveness that organisations need to lead telecommunications into the future.
Wherever you are in your transformation journey, Accenture and ServiceNow bring world-class teams, expertise, and the cloud-native enterprise platform to constantly evolve ways of working for the digital age. Discover more on this page.
