Going the extra mile

Given the emphasis currently being placed on cost savings by service providers as they navigate the latter stages of the global economic downturn, managed services is an area that has become front and centre of their strategic imperatives. Thierry Langlais, VP of business development for managed services EMEA and India at Alcatel-Lucent tells Comm. how service operators need to reinvent themselves in order to remain viable

Thierry Langlais says Alcatel-Lucent’s legacy in the management of multi-vendor networks places it in a good position to build on the current demand for such offerings

Thierry Langlais believes operators are at the tipping point with respect to the development of new applications as well as the maximisation of the opportunity presented through the demand for mobile broadband services.

“There is immense pressure being placed on carriers,” said Langlais. “End-users are expecting more for less and it has become clear that operators cannot maintain the same business model as in the past.”

The mobile broadband boom taking place in emerging markets together with the breadth of the population being addressed by ICT services is leading to the transformation of underlying business processes, and Alcatel-Lucent is assisting operators in adapting to such market developments.

The vendor’s managed services practice involves assisting service providers establish and execute new business opportunities; develop new business models; and coordinate multi-country consolidation. Alcatel-Lucent also offers support in application enablement, which is to say, allowing operators to exploit data in the network.

The NG Connect Programme is a good example of the vendor’s efforts in the area of application enablement; and is aimed at bringing together members of the digital media value chain including infrastructure, device, applications, and content companies into an end-to-end ecosystem, powered by next generation broadband networks. In March Alcatel-Lucent announced that ten new members had joined the programme bringing the group to include 37 companies – more than doubling its initial membership in its first year of establishment in April 2009.

A third area in which Alcatel-Lucent is providing services to network operators is with respect to the deployment of high leveraged networks; based on all-IP infrastructure that is scalable.

“The driving motivation for managed services in emerging markets is very much top-line growth objectives, while in mature markets it is more about bringing costs down,” Langlais explained. “In many cases, service providers are looking to see whether they ought to be ahead of the curve, and whether they should be the first to move.”

What has become clear as market conditions globally have become more challenging is that operators need to recognise the value of what they have with respect to the information they hold about their subscriber base; ranging from their whereabouts to the people they communicate with, and how long for. As operators recognise this point there has been a growth in interest for application enablement as well as user interface and demanded services management.

“Retaining of new customers is going to become more important than customer acquisition,” forecasted Langlais. “In some markets that is already the case.”

Alcatel-Lucent believes its legacy in the management of multi-vendor networks places it in a good position to build on the current demand for such offerings. The way in which managed services is moving is indeed towards a multi-vendor, multi-technology environment given the narrowing distinction between telecom network and IT competence.

“Building all-IP scalable networks is part of our DNA,” said Langlais. “We have the experience in seeing the relevant building blocks being put in place.”

Alcatel-Lucent has taken a strategic decision to reduce investment in legacy areas and to focus on growth areas, one of which is managed services. As a result, the vendor is placing significant resources into the activity and believes the development and maturity of the Middle East telecom market will lend itself to the greater inclusion of managed services going forward.