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OPINION
avoid them, then how to tackle them. Typical of services
that can be enhanced by automation are self-service
portals for customers, and templates to expedite and
enhance the design of processes and systems in-house with
accompanying audit trail.
Design new services
This is where the flexibility and programmability
of modern platforms really give businesses power. In a
typical CSP, departments tend to work in silo and focus
solely on their own area of expertise; it’s rare to find a
business that has people with enough spare time to sit
down and imagine new products. Many don’t realise that
if they bring in their supplier partners, not only can they
share expertise gained from experience with a wide range of
customers and tell you what your network is capable of, they
are also objective enough to gather feedback from multiple
areas of the business and share learning and insights in
exactly the same way, effectively integrating product and
network teams.
It’s easy, but dangerous, to underestimate the value of
learning from others’ experience. It’s dangerous because
if you don’t, your competitors will. If you consult with a
top-flight network integrator partner, the chances are good
that they will have encountered similar scenarios elsewhere
and know the challenges and solutions that others have
deployed. They may also suggest ways of tweaking
a solution into a bespoke fit for a given CSP, or even
possibilities for creating an entirely new product. Sometimes,
leveraging the power of the network, even in relatively minor
ways, can transform a workaday product facing massive
competition into something else entirely.
STEP 4
your network, ascertain its potential and explain how you
can turn that to your advantage.
Perhaps you can programme the network to automate
certain tasks or tweak a product to provide that little extra
something that your competitors don’t have. You won’t
know until you ask your expert. If you can then build that
expertise into the ecosystem of your network, you probably
have a solid recipe for growth and future-proofing.
The obvious place to look for expertise is with your trusted
suppliers. After all, who is likely to know your own particular
network any better? A further advantage, as we shall see,
lies in that provider’s winning combination of expertise,
connections and objectivity.
Take control of your data
Of course, analytics are key to success,
that’s a given. But if you’re using reasonably standard
data analysis, are you doing enough? The better your
understanding of customer use, engagement and uptake,
the more advantageously you can configure your offering
to the market. You can use data to identify new revenue
streams, troubleshoot, inform product development and
establish likely ROI for new concepts. Whether this is
through enhanced network monitoring, the use of network
management support and/or network telemetry, data
combined with expertise is a powerful tool that will greatly
extend the potential of ‘day-to-day’ analytics.
STEP 2
Use automation
Leveraging the programmability of your
platform to automate takes you a step closer to next-
generation networks. But remember, just because you
can automate, and industry wisdom claims that you can
automate anything that you do more than once, doesn’t
mean you have to – use your analytics (see step 2, above)
and expertise to build a case for change and quantify your
expected ROI first. Then, when you know what you want
to change, have a chat with your local expert (see step
1). Chances are that they’ve seen your automation done
before and will know the likely pitfalls and if not how to
STEP 3
Test concepts
This may seem obvious, but a surprisingly large
number of CSPs fail to leverage the resources that their
partners can offer. For example, do they have a test rig
or replica network that can be used for proof of concept?
Communications service providers often forget that their
partners are partners in network design and architecture as
well as straightforward provision, tending instead to consider
them merely fellow members of a supply chain and missing
out on a substantial resource as a result.
STEP 5
Getting it right
Getting the basics right goes without saying, but it can
be all too easy to overlook the basics when customers
and colleagues are crying out for ‘the latest thing’ to be
implemented today. Automation and AI have the potential
to set CSPs apart from the competition and provide
innovative new services, but this is pointless if there’s not a
good, future-proof network underpinning it all and driving
the business forward. The seeds of tomorrow’s networks
have already been sown in today’s – the network of today is
the workplace for future success. n
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