How Communications Service Providers Can Lead the Digital Transformation
Transforming an industry is incredibly complex, difficult and risky. Companies like Amazon, Apple and Google have successfully transformed their industries; in the process, they raised the bar on consumer expectations. Their customers expect to have the service or product they want, when they want it, using the device they choose.
Those expectations now transcend calling for an instant ride, fast shipping or smart digital assistants. They apply to entertainment, information and connection with others around the globe.
“The exponential pace of change in digital interactions and commerce requires that companies’ business models and business strategies change at an equally rapid pace,” says Brian Shepherd, EVP and group president at CSG. “This converging wave of business innovation will continue to reshape the future winners and losers in our telecommunication, Pay TV and media markets.”
It’s a world that communications service providers and content providers must navigate with more speed and skill than ever before. Their customers expect more, and are already primed for the next industry transformation. Yet how ready are CSPs to accomplish a successful evolution?
Opportunity From Disruption
“Lines are blurring between cable and telecom. Lines are blurring between communications and entertainment providers,” says Ken Kennedy, EVP and president, technology and product at CSG. “We will see these industry categories further break down when it comes to defining the customer experience. Brands, regardless of their origin industry, will look for new ways to transform their business models to deliver new services and deliver the best possible customer experience.”
Communications service providers face new market dynamics daily. Rapid innovation means last month’s business strategies may not work today. There’s an urgent need for new digital products and services to replace evaporating legacy revenue streams.
The past several years have seen a great deal of shake-up in the CSP landscape — with waves of disruption crashing and rippling through the industry from all directions. Disruption can create confusion as well as opportunity.
Tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Google explored the television arena already shaken by Netflix and Amazon in 2016, opening up opportunities for streaming, tech and cable providers to work together. The rise of social media gave content offerings a facelift with short-form content, providing a disruptive opportunity for every player. Content developers like HBO, ESPN, Disney and others began offering their solutions directly to consumers in addition to their traditional cable and satellite distribution channels.
Meanwhile, throughout the entire sector, organizations were wrapping their heads around the extensive range of new technologies and skills needed to turn the internet of things into business value.
As lines between industries blur, CSPs are searching for more than just a digital transformation; they need an entire business model transformation. The ideal transformation will position them as DSPs for a world of connected consumers. Yet operators need the right digital business support systems to get there.
Helping CSPs Innovate And Evolve
CSG understands the challenges CSPs face. A global leader in providing business support solutions, CSG simplifies the complex. Using innovative thinking and technology, it drives business transformation initiatives for the majority of the top 100 global communications service providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Vodafone, Charter Communications, ESPN, Telstra, Hutch 3, iFlix, TalkTalk and Telefonica.
In the most rapidly evolving environments imaginable, CSG helps customers conquer any challenge without business disruption. “We make their challenges our own,” adds Shepherd. “In the process, we enable transformative change with minimal risk and maximum value, and our customers emerge as winners in the market.”