Service providers are in a difficult position. On one hand users are demanding new applications and greater quality of service for a lower price while on the other they are expected to make sustained investment in networks, systems and relationships with third parties. Those investments need to be monetised and new business models between service providers and third parties are required if the new telecoms market is to make sense for service providers. Co-sponsored feature: Alcatel-Lucent
At first glance, a telecoms equipment vendor may not be the best positioned organisation to address this changing dynamic but that’s just what Alcatel-Lucent is undertaking with its newly launched range of capabilities designed to help service providers open their networks to application developers and content providers in a secure and controlled way that allows for effective monetisation of their investments and accelerates time to market. This is far removed from the traditional vendor mode of shifting boxes and its no coincidence that the company’s new Application Exposure Suite is heavily supported by its services business.
“We’ve been talking for a while about the need for our customers to transform,” explains Andy Williams, president, services, Alcatel-Lucent. “Part of the reason for that is there is an imbalance in telecoms. As users we are taking up services that are not necessarily provided by telcos. The value typically is not being created in the telco community but in examples such as Google or Facebook and traffic is increasing exponentially because of the uptake of video. Service providers see this increase but can’t figure out where to get the return, especially when you consider issues such as net neutrality. That means there’s an overall need for transformation and also a specific need around operational transformation to reduce cost.”
The capabilities Alcatel-Lucent has launched include the company’s Application Exposure Suite, its Open API Service and a comprehensive set of transformation services focused on combining the trusted capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the web, thereby providing consumer and business users with richer experiences.
Service providers have plenty to offer here. The data they hold, without contravening data protection regulation, includes information such as the location of subscribers, service preferences and billing relationships, all of which simplify and enhance the creation of “mash up” applications that combine the functionality of service provider networks with web-based capabilities. Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Exposure Suite lets service providers make these sorts of assets in their network available to the thousands of web developers, application and content providers through a secure “exposure” layer. The intent being that service providers can monetise their capabilities by allowing developers to access functions such as billing, location and connection optimisation and add them to their applications.
This improved – and chargeable – exposure is accompanied by Alcatel-Lucent’s new Open API service which aims to bring application developers and service providers together to accelerate creation and secure testing of new services. By providing managed and controlled access to aggregate network capabilities through a web portal, the new service enables developers to access enablers from multiple carriers in one place, thus eliminating the need for developers to establish individual relationships with each carrier – a near impossibility for smaller developers. Developers enter into a single contractual agreement and gain access to easy to use APIs as well as technical support and a robust test environment. From a carrier perspective, the service fosters new business models that offer the prospect of increasing and monetising network traffic.
“We’re entering a world in which the user – individual or enterprise – doesn’t care where or how an application sits, but that it works,” explains Williams. “We think there’s a huge set of applications that could be developed to enable carriers to monetise and address the imbalance that exists.”
That necessitates a large scale transformation within service providers as they shift to open business models and Williams thinks Alcatel-Lucent’s portfolio of multi-vendor professional services, including systems integration and innovative approaches to managing complex networks and service layer operations. “The services capability within Alcatel-Lucent is going to help service providers bring this alive,” he says. “That means we can work with them to help implementation and creation of richer services themselves.”
It’s not just about new services, network transformation needs to happen in tandem with transformation of the business model. “All these services depend on IP capability in the network,” adds Williams. “Many service provider are rolling out IP – some aren’t but we have got the set of services to address the broader question of transformation. How service providers evolve their networks and reduce their cost of operations is part of that transformation story.”
To illustrate the way in which the company’s transformation services are provided, Williams gives the example of a recent services engagement with Nucleus Connect in Singapore where the company is providing a turn-key Build-Operate-Transfer BSS/OSS solution that includes software, hardware and professional services. The solution, which consists of a scalable platform for content and applications, will facilitate the bundling and rapid introduction and bundling of new services via an online virtual email. In addition, it will provide open interfaces and fully automated workflows via a business-to-business gateway to interact with the network company, retail service providers and other qualified parties.
Williams explains that Alcatel-Lucent’s services proposition isn’t consultancy aimed at selling hardware. “From a services point of view, the range of things we can do falls into several categories,” he says. “Operators increasingly have to think about the services they deliver and growing the topline so one part of the equation for us is how do we help our customer think about the services they deliver today and in the future for consumers and enterprises. We consult about new services and once the service provider has decided, we consult about bringing them on in a faster way.”
This isn’t carried out in isolation from Alcatel-Lucent’s network expertise. “We also consult on how to reduce cost,” he adds. “We’re experts in the network so there we focus on costs, whether regarding IP transformation or managed services.”
That non-hardware centric approach to services resonates with the dynamics of the industry. “As a company we produce products, software and services so our job is to maximise all of that,” says Williams, “but you have to be conscious that networks are composed of multivendor kit and new services have to open so as, a provider of services, we have to work in an open way.”
Williams cites the reservoir of skilled personnel and its global centres of excellence as key factors that differentiate Alcatel-Lucent from its competition. “Services are all about people and the work we do is dependent on the people we have,” he says. “The way we manage this in a global way focused on centres of competence around the world, for example managed services NOCs across the globe or OSS centres of competence, means that any service contract we perform is done locally but on the back of our global capabilities so it is done at low cost while taking advantage of our experience.”
That skillset is another factor Williams emphasises; “When you look at the broader need of transformation you can ask what capabilities that actually involves?” he asks. “We’re a leader in OSS implementations and IPTV integration – and from a new service point of view, you’re dependent on video. The capability we have today is in all the areas our customers need to work in and we keep building on top of that new service capability.”
Alcatel-Lucent has also taken the risk of such transformations with its service provider customers. In India, for example, it has set up joint ventures with mobile operators, Bharti Airtel and Reliance to operate and transform networks. Other managed services engagements include operation of Telecom New Zealand’s fixed and mobile networks while playing a key role in its transformation, an engagement for transformation of Telstra’s fixed network, and a project at BT Global Services to effect network transformation from legacy networks to new platforms and migration of customers, using Alcatel-Lucent’s local knowledge and centres of excellence to achieve critical mass and expertise.
The company has more than 40 IP transformation engagements and Williams anticipates greater project numbers as the imperative to transform intensifies. “As we look at the world from a services perspective, the capabilities we have today we’ve built up on the back of demand from the network,” he says. “We have built up IPTV expertise because the service providers built up their IPTV businesses and we have built up OSS capabilities because service providers were looking for them. As we look forward, the notion of transformation becomes more important as operators think in a broader way and the pace of change they are adapting to increases. The pressure is on for them because of competition, traffic growth and the question of how to recover investments. That’s why we’re starting now to talk about our services in the context of the overall transformation. The challenge is to stitch disparate elements together coherently and create trust. That’s what we’re addressing and it makes sense to me.” GTB