vanillaplus magazine dec-jan 2011 edition

LOCATION-BASED SERVICESAre you ready to monetiselocation-based data?

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONSCSPs must deliver the right Data Experience, says Amdocs’ new unit

MANAGEMENT WORLDAMERICAS 2011Message from Orlando:Speed Up & Simplify

VANILLAPLUS DIRECTORY2012 – INSIDE! 500+ companies, 11 pagesof BSS/OSS Vendors -- It must be the 2012VanillaPlus Directory

LOCATION-BASED SERVICESAre you ready to monetiselocation-based data?

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONSCSPs must deliver the right Data Experience, says Amdocs’ new unit

MANAGEMENT WORLDAMERICAS 2011Message from Orlando:Speed Up & Simplify

VANILLAPLUS DIRECTORY2012 – INSIDE!500+ companies, 11 pagesof BSS/OSS Vendors -- It must be the 2012VanillaPlus Directory

TALKING HEADSBetter customer experience andleaner operations are goals forEricsson, Microsoft partnership

TALKING HEADSBetter customer experience andleaner operations are goals forEricsson, Microsoft partnership

D R I V I N G P R O F I T S F O R C O M M U N I C A T I O N S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012

V O L U M E 1 3 I S S U E 6

INSIDE:

VANILLAPLUS

DIRECTORY 2012

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ISSN 1745-1736

PLUS!

REAL-TIME CHARGINGWhat’s the oppositeof Bill Shock?

Contracts, Products, People & Market News • Transformation Time Is Ticking Away! •Webinar Review: It’s not too late to view • Munich to Miami: What’s On in BSS/OSS? •Time to Lift the Curtain on Barcelona • Latest BSS & OSS News: www.vanillaplus.com

IN THIS ISSUE

3VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012

TALKINGHEADS11

C O N T E N T S

EDITOR’S COMMENT 4Time ticking away for transformation, by George Malim.

COMPANY NEWS 5Alcatel-Lucent accepts US$1.5bn for Genesys; Huawei chooses Mobilethink.

PRODUCT NEWS 6SaaS business reporting; HP helps telcos personalise; Adax and Qosmos.

PRODUCT NEWS 7Subscribers to personalise data use; Operators to simplify videocalling.

CONTRACT NEWS 8KT gets roaming help; Vox boosts usage management; Netia starts IPTV.

THE CONTRACT HOT LIST 9VanillaPlus’s round-up of the major B/OSS contracts recentlyannounced worldwide.

PEOPLE NEWS 10Integralis expands in Asia; Plus Jason Bandy learns from re-branding.

TALKING HEADS 11Ericsson and Microsoft partner for a better customer experienceand leaner operations.

EXPERT OPINION: BILL SHOCK 14Jennifer Kyriakakis describes the opposite of Bill Shock.

BILL SHOCK 15CSPs look to real-time analysis to eliminate “roaming paranoia”.

EXPERT OPINION: LOCATION 17Are you ready to monetise location-based data?

EVENT DIARY & VIDEO REVIEW 18Upcoming Events worldwide: Plus, So you think billing is boring? Think again!

SPOTLIGHT 19What’s Amdocs doing in Data Experience with newly-acquiredBridgewater Systems?

WEBINAR REVIEW 23Service monitoring and customer experience evidence at your fingertips.

NEXT GEN ACCESS NETWORKS 24Carina Wadman is challenging old principles to bring users new services.

MW AMERICAS 2011 REVIEW 26Message from Orlando: Speed up and simplify

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 PREVIEW 27Where next with mobiles? asks the GSMA

VANILLAPLUS Magazine Subscriptions 28Join the 28,000 worldwide who get their BSS/OSS info from VanillaPlus services!

11-PAGE VANILLAPLUS DIRECTORY 2012 31VanillaPlus brings you the leading Directory of Communications BSS & OSS

CLOCKING OFF! 42New Year, same old CSP Resolutions. Mark Dye’s holding out for better in 2012.

Ericsson is one of the world'sleading providers of technologyand services to telecomoperators. Ericsson is a leader in2G, 3G and 4G mobiletechnologies, and providessupport for networks with over 2

billion subscribers and has the leading position inmanaged services. The company's portfoliocomprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure,telecom services, OSS / BSS software, broadbandand multimedia solutions for operators, enterprisesand the media industry. Ericsson is advancing itsvision of being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation,technology, and sustainable business solutions.

Cover Photo: Ericsson’s Dr Ralf Guckert(pictured left) & Microsoft’s Mike Ehrenberg

Ericsson and Microsoft partnerfor a better customer experienceand leaner operations.

MW AMERICAS 2011 REVIEW26

11-PAGE VANILLAPLUSDIRECTORY 2012

31

Having released research earlier this year predicting thatCSPs could reach the end of profitability within three years,network equipment vendor Tellabs has published a furtherstudy describing how communication service providers(CSPs) can avoid the crisis by adopting smart networkstrategies. The earlier research said that, withoutrethinking the design and capabilities of their networks,costs will surpass revenue for many CSPs in NorthAmerica by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2013, WesternEurope by Q1, 2015 and developed Asia-Pacific by Q3,2014. Even more worryingly, those figures aren’t worstcase scenarios and all of those markets could reach the

end of profit up to 12 months earlier.

VANILLAPLUSDECEMBER/JANUARY 20124

C O M M E N T

John Aalbers,chief executive,Volubill

Martin Creaner, president,TM Forum

AndreasFreund, VPMarketing, OrgaSystems GmbH

Louis Hall, chief executive,CerillionTechnologies

Gaby Matsliach,general manager,BSS Product Line,Comverse

Pat McCarthy, VPof GlobalMarketing, ServiceDelivery Solutions,Telcordia

Simon Muderack,COO, Tribold

John Rainger,vice president,EMEA, CSGInternational

Olivier Suard,MarketingDirector, Comptel

Mac Taylor, CEO,The Moriana Group

Doug Zone, chieftechnology officer,MetraTech

Dr Reinhard Zuba,CMO, Vipnet(Telekom Austria)

Chris Yeadon,director of ProductMarketing, Ericsson

EDITORGeorge MalimTel: +44 (0) 0208 292 [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORMark DyeTel: +44 (0) 0208 251 [email protected]

DIGITAL EDITORNathalie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESSDEVELOPMENTDIRECTORCherisse DraperTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mark BridgesTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

OPERATIONS DIRECTORCharlie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

PUBLISHERJeremy CowanTel: +44 (0) 1420 [email protected]

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PUBLISHED BYPrestige Media Ltd.Suite 28,30 Churchill SquareKings Hill, West MallingKent ME19 4YU, UKTel: +44 (0) 1732 897645

DESIGNJason ApplebyArk Design Consultancy LtdTel: +44 (0) 1787 881623

VanillaPlus is distributed free to selected named individualsworldwide who meet the Publisher's terms of Circulation Control. Ifyou would like to apply for a regular free copy supplied at thePublisher's discretion visit www.vanillaplus.com If you do notqualify for a free subscription, paid subscriptions can be obtained.Subscriptions for 6 issues cost £99.00 worldwide (or US$150 /EUR125) including post and packing. VanillaPlus magazine ispublished 6 times per year.

All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be copied, stored,published or in any way reproduced withoutthe prior written consent of the Publisher

© Prestige Media Ltd 2012

EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Dan Baker, ResearchDirector, TechnologyResearch Institute

George Malim,Editor: VanillaPlus

Sponsored by:

Most of us in the industry and particularly in the OSS/BSS sector have seen thiscoming for a long time. It is clearly unsustainable for CSPs to continue to heavilysubsidise devices, invest in new network technologies and provide customers withgreater bandwidth for no increased revenue. All paths lead to zero if the status quoremains unchallenged.

Telecoms as a utility?A lot of the concern has been about telecoms becoming a utility business with cashreturns on invested capital at mobile CSPs today typically at around 5.8%. That’ssimilar to a traditional utility, but worse in the sense that a traditional utility generatesmore revenue from its infrastructure investments the more its customers consume.CSPs don’t have that luxury, they just have to keep providing more and more for noincreased return. “Operators are, in effect, operating as utilities,” Pankaj Shroff,director of strategy at Tellabs, told VanillaPlus in a recent interview. “And they’re notreflecting the cost of data carriage in average revenue per user.”

So should we all give up on this sector if the pickings are so lean? Certainly not, saysTellabs, because the industry can avert the end of profitability by adopting adevelopment path that runs through the concept of smart networks to the delivery ofsmart services.

Shroff has a six-step plan that operators can follow to more than double cash returnson invested capital to 13.3% by delivering smart services. As a first step, to achieve a1.6% increase in cash returns, Tellabs has identified efficient network configuration,network security, device management, network sharing, Wi-Fi offload, traffic shapingand content delivery networks as essential. Once those are in place the move to smartservices becomes practical, and that means delivering personalised and differentiatedservices that make use of the customer data that CSPs already hold. Tapping intopresence, payments, identity and authentication will also be essential as will providingdifferentiated pricing and charging for users and upstream service providers. If that isdone successfully cash returns will increase by 5.9%, according to the research.

So, after years of talking about the situation, there’s now a deadline. Time is runningout for CSPs to transform their networks and service offerings. Happily, the telecomssoftware market will be instrumental in taking telecoms back to being an industry thatcan generate double-digit returns on capital investments.

Enjoy the magazine.

Time is ticking away forCSPs to transform

Mendix closes US$13m Series A funding round

Mendix, a PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) provider,has closed a US$12.8million Series A round offinancing, led by PrimeVentures, with HENQInvest. The investmentwill support thecompany’s global salesefforts. Since its productlaunch in 2007 Mendixhas remained profitable,experiencing triple digit

revenue growth year-on-year, andacquiring customers such as GE,Genzyme and TNT.

The Mendix Agile Business Platformreportedly helps companies develop,deploy and integrate applications in afraction of the time of existing tools andplatforms. Mendix applications can thenbe deployed in the cloud, on mobiledevices or locally at the customer’s site.

“To date we have always organicallyachieved triple-digit growth on the resultsof delivering business value and solvingreal pain-points for our clients,” saidDerek Roos, CEO of Mendix. “Ourcustomers are looking to increase theirbusiness agility and turn to Mendix tojump start their productivity and appdeployment.”

NetCracker earns twin acknowledgements

NetCracker Technology has received topratings from two leading industrystandards bodies: CMMI Level 5 appraisalof NetCracker’s Solution Delivery Divisionfrom Carnegie Mellon University’sSoftware Engineering Institute (SEI), andTM Forum Conformance Certification ofthe entire NetCracker Telecom Operationsand Management Solutions (TOMS) suite,release 8.2.

According to Andrew Feinberg, NetCracker’sPresident and CEO, standards are criticalin their ability to help operators adapt totoday’s rapidly changing communicationsmarketplace: “To remain competitive,operators must be able to maintain a highlevel of customer service and satisfactionthrough the rapid integration of newtechnologies and the speedy roll-out ofservices. Standardisation plays a criticalrole in easing the integration of newtechnologies and business models intoservice provider ecosystems.”

N E W S U P D AT E

C O M P A N Y N E W S

Alcatel-Lucent hasreceived a binding offerof US$1.5 billion for theacquisition of itsGenesys business fromPermira, a Europeanprivate equity firm. Thedeal which is expectedto close by early 2012,is subject to review,regulatory approvals

and consultations in various countries.The $1.5 billion would be paid in cashon a debt or cash-free basis.

Genesys reported 2010 sales ofroughly US$500 million and is a well-known provider of customer servicesoftware and contact centre systemsfor enterprises. The proposed dealwould include the transfer of all 1,800employees worldwide.

Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, said: “Our chosen direction isto leverage the natural connectionsthat exist between enterprise andcarrier customers, and proactivelyapply Enterprise’s strengths and

momentum in unifiedcommunications and data networkingwith them.”

Sheryl Kingstone, research director atYankee Group, remained cautious,however. “I had high hopes for(Alcatel-Lucent) to keep Genesys inorder to execute on its vision ofCustomer ExperienceTransformation,” she said.

“Genesys is a small but strong playerin customer service operations, suchas computer telephony integration,business process routing, IVR andmobile applications. ALU acquiredGenesys in 2000, and the divisioncontinued to provide profitablegrowth to company.”

“The deal gives ALU much-neededcash to focus on its core businesses ofselling equipment to major globaltelecom operators,” Kingstonecontinued. “However, the questionremains: Is there enough growth inhardware without a strategic play inapplications and software?”

Alcatel-Lucent accepts US$1.5bn offer for Genesys

Denmark-based Mobilethink A/S hasextended its partnership with globaltelecoms giant Huawei in the MiddleEast and Africa. As a provider-of-choice, Mobilethink is now deliveringmobile device management (MDM)systems as part of the Huawei turn-key network solutions to over 70million subscribers in Africa, includinga large operation in the MTN group.

Mobilethink’s device managementsolution (DMS) aims to address thefundamental needs of a network’smobile users. They provide end userswith mobile connectivity to access the

internet and MMS services. The DMSis integrated into the back end of anoperator’s network, to auto-detect thedevice requirements of any subscriberwhen she or he switches on theirmobile. The device is then configuredautomatically within seconds.

One example of its scalability is asystem delivered to Nigeria’sGlobacom, which includes advanceddevice management through a highlyadvanced customer care interface, andfeatures such as device lock / wipe andapplication management for pushingapplications to end user devices.

Mobilethink made Huawei’s MDM provider-of-choice

Sponsored by:

VANILLAPLUSDECEMBER/JANUARY 2012 5

Derek Roos,Mendix:Solving pain-points for ourclients

BenVerwaayen,CEO, Alcatel-Lucent,

N E W S U P D AT E Global businessperformance analyticscompany, MDSLavastorm Analytics, haslaunched its MVNOPrepaid Reportingsystem, a new softwareas a service (SaaS)-basedoffering that aims todeliver rapid, powerfulbusiness intelligence tomobile virtual network

operators (MVNOs) and avoids the needfor investment in expensive hardware andinternal resources.

Business intelligence is at the heart of thedaily challenge for MVNOs of makingaccurate, timely decisions, such as priceplan profitability, accurate forecasting andaccrual of wholesale costs, as well as dataon fraud, churn, and marketingeffectiveness.

Provided as a managed service, MVNOPrepaid Reporting audits data delivery andprovides reporting through secure, role-based web portal access. MVNO PrepaidReporting rapidly delivers personalisedreports that address the five key businessprocesses of finance, customerinteraction, risks, costs, and regulatoryaudits and controls. MVNOs can choosefrom three different tiers of service, witheach higher level of service providing amore comprehensive, granular anddetailed set of reports to suit MVNObusiness requirements. The three tiers are:

• Essentials MVNO ReportingPackage: This entry-level packageprovides operators with a foundational set

of pre-configured analytic reports, such asMonthly Profitability, Supplier PricingInvoice Accuracy, Daily UsageConsumption by Bundle, Daily andMonthly Usage Types, Accrual Accuracy,Daily Profitability, and Call FileDiscrepancy Alerts.

• Enhanced MVNO ReportingPackage: On top of the EssentialsPackage, this also includes moresophisticated reports, such as AverageRevenue Per User (ARPU), Average ProfitPer User (APPU), Churn Analytics,standard fraud analytics such as BoxBreaking, and Supplier CompletenessInvoice Accuracy.

• Advanced MVNO ReportingPackage: This top-level packageincorporates the previous two anddelivers more detailed reports, includingCustomer Service Analytics, InactiveCustomer Credit Write Back, Fair UsePolicy Abuse, Top-up Analytics and Alerts,Up-sell and Cross-sell Analytics, andValue-added Service or Bolt-on SubscriberPackage Analytics.

Drew Rockwell, CEO of MDS LavastormAnalytics, said: “With our MVNO PrepaidReporting solution, we’re providing thepower of complex and persistent analyticsin simple business reports, enablingservice providers to avoid the waitingtime, complexity and overhead of internalanalytics programmes and systems.Operators can now simply get theanswers and insights they need ondemand, and use them to continueimproving their customers’ experience andtheir bottom line.”

P R O D U C T N E W S

HP is enhancing solutions in itsoperational support system (OSS) andactionable customer intelligence (ACI)portfolios, as well as adding newconsulting capabilities to helpcommunications service providers (CSPs)define business and marketing strategiesthat can be aligned with real operationalexecution.

The HP Actionable Customer Intelligenceportfolio has been enhanced with theVertica Analytics Platform from Vertica, anHP company. Real-time, big data analyticsfrom Vertica can reportedly help CSPs

develop a complete, wrap-around view ofthe customer and the network, allowingthem to understand customer behaviourand deliver more personalised services.

“To drive business growth, CSPs mustdeliver more personalised services andmanage service quality more effectively,”said Bob Stutz, senior vice president,Business Solutions, HP. “With HP’sextensive portfolios, CSPs can create acustomer-centric OSS as well as build ACIsolutions that transform customerinformation into valuable businessstrategies.”

HP helps telcos personalise and manage services for better customer experience

Drew Rockwell,CEO of MDSLavastormAnalytics

SaaS business reporting launched for MVNOs

Adax and Qosmos offer integrated application-ready DPI sub-system

High-performance signalling and packet-processing infrastructure specialist,Adax, and Qosmos, a provider ofnetwork intelligence (NI) technology,have successfully integrated theirproducts. This has resulted in a highperformance, quick-to-market DeepPacket Inspection (DPI) sub-system idealfor telecom applications such as policycontrol and charging (PCC), revenueassurance, quality of service and more.

Qosmos ixEngine Software DevelopmentKit has been integrated into the Adaxdevelopment platform to providecustomers with a fast time to market fortheir DPI applications. ixEngine'sdecoding capabilities have beenoptimised for the industry’s highestperformance multi-core processors suchas the Cavium Octeon on the AdaxPacketRunner and PacketAMC products,which can handle huge traffic volumes atwire speed.

Quick Spin programme launched to cut risks in migrating to CaaS

Interactive Intelligence Group, a globalprovider of unified IP businesscommunications solutions, are to trial aprogramme called Quick Spin thatenables organisations to sample for freethe company’s communications-as-a-service offering. The InteractiveIntelligence CaaS offering provides cloud-based communications applications forcontact centres and enterprises, alongwith flexible deployment models formigrating between cloud, premise, andhybrid configurations.

“Despite potential benefits of cloud-based communications deployments,organisations must still conductthorough due diligence to determine ifthis model is right for their uniqueneeds,” said Gartner research vicepresident, Drew Kraus. “I’m seeing anincreasing number of organisations thatare interested in a flexible deploymentmodel – including premise-based, cloud-based, or a hybrid of the two – that willenable them to adapt the approachaccording to their evolving needs.”

Sponsored by:


DigitalRoute brings proven ‘bill shock’ prevention

Mediation software provider,DigitalRoute of Atlanta, Georgia,reports that it is ready to deliver its billshock prevention system to help USwireless service providers meet thenew guidelines jointly announced byCTIA-The Wireless Association®, theFederal Communications Commission,and Consumers Union.

US service providers have agreedguidelines to prevent bill shock amongconsumers of wireless services. Stepsto be taken include sendingnotifications to users when they reachmonthly plan limits for voice, data, andtext that would result in overagecharges. Service providers must alsoprovide tools that enable users tomonitor balances and set their ownusage limits.

In response to similar regulations inEurope, DigitalRoute has delivered aproven bill shock prevention solutionthat enables rapid and cost-efficientdeployment with minimum impact onexisting infrastructure. The system,based on its MediationZone® platform,was recently deployed at a pan-European service provider, where it isserving seven international affiliates.DigitalRoute is now ready to deploythe system across the Americas.

Together with its partners, DigitalRoutehas delivered MediationZone to morethan 10 operators in the AmericasRegion during the last 12 months. Allof these installations are now in liveproduction.

“Bill shock prevention is a challengethat confronts service providersthroughout the Americas region. Withour proven bill shock preventionsolution and established supportcentre in Atlanta, GA, DigitalRoute isready to deliver solutions to itscustomers and partners,” said StephenRickaby, General Manager atDigitalRoute Americas.

N E W S U P D AT E

P R O D U C T N E W S

Openet, an Ireland-based provider ofService OptimisationSoftware (SOS) to TierOne communicationsand media serviceproviders, hasannounced theimmediate availability ofits SubscriberEngagement Engine that

gives subscribers a real-time view oftheir usage and enables them to directlycontrol, manage and personalise theirservices, balances and spend.

The growing cost of delivering againstbandwidth demand is driving operatorsto replace flat-rate pricing withsophisticated, personalised serviceofferings. For these to be successful,subscribers need a means to select theservices they want, monitor their usagein real time, and avoid ‘bill shock’ whenroaming or using data services.

Openet’s new Subscriber EngagementEngine provides that real-time insightand control by aggregating data directly

from business and operations supportsystems (B/OSS) and delivering itdirectly to a consumer’s mobile device.It enables subscribers to personalisetheir services, monitor real-time usageand spend, and receive personalisednotifications through their mobiledevice which is claimed to be anindustry first.

"The Subscriber Engagement Engine isa natural evolution of Policy andCharging Control,” said Openet CMO,Mike Manzo. “It enables operators tocompletely overhaul and transform thecustomer experience by creating a newchannel for dialogue betweenconsumers and operators to drive newbusiness models, reduce frustration,and eliminate bill shock."

Operators gain a direct channel tointeract with each subscriber and canprocess requests accurately in value andtime, while remaining personalised to theuser. Its scalability means operators cansignificantly reduce the resources andcosts needed to set up and administerindividually customised controls.

Alcatel-Lucent isoffering operators of 4Gmobile broadbandnetworks the ability toallow users to switchbetween voice andvideo-calling, instantmessaging and groupcalling, and acrosssmartphones, tablets orPCs. The 4G ConsumerCommunicationsSolution also aims toimprove multi-tasking,providing features to

assure the performance of particularservices. Both voice and video aredelivered in high definition (HD).

Subscribers are provided with access toa unified contact list that establishes asingle point with which to connect to

people, regardless of where they are orwhat device they are using. The use offlash-capable web browser technologyenables consumers to connect via videousing virtually any PC or mobile internetdevice, so they don’t need to work outwhether the person they are calling isusing a compatible video service ordevice as they do currently.

Diane Myers, directing analyst forInfonetics Research, says: “Alcatel-Lucent’s 4G Consumer CommunicationsSolution gives service providers theability to harmonise conversationsacross telecom and the web, whilemoving conversations beyond justvoice. These new services, combinedwith high levels of quality of experience,will enable operators to have cleardifferentiation from standaloneapplication providers in the marketplace.”

Mike Manzo,Openet CMO

Diane Myers,InfoneticsResearch:Gives 4Goperatorscleardifferentiation

Subscribers to personalise data use and spend with Openet Subscriber Engagement Engine

Operators can simplify video calling on any device

Sponsored by:


N E W S U P D AT ESyniverse has announceda major new contract withtier one South Koreanoperator, KT Corporation.This is a multi-yearagreement for data andfinancial clearingservices, fraud detection,and roaming agreementmanagement – all ofwhich are compatible

with LTE standards that will help theoperator as it transitions to 4G. The newagreement paves the way for the companyto support KT’s future path to 4G, and issaid by Syniverse to be a milestone in itscontinued expansion in the advancedmobile market of South Korea.

“Syniverse’s best-in-class solutions,outstanding regional support teams andculture of innovation reinforced thedecision to strengthen our relationship,”said Seokjun Kim, PhD, vice president,Mobile Business Group, KT. “We areconfident these core Syniverse serviceswill enable us to deliver the best possibleroaming experience for our customersnow, while ensuring we are prepared for

the introduction of 4G and beyond.”

Among the solutions selected by KT areData Clearing House for GSM / WCDMA;Financial Clearing House for GSM /WCDMA; DataNet, a Near Real-TimeRoaming Data Exchange (NRTRDE)solution; knowledge-based fraud detectionsystem, FraudX; and RoamingManagement Services.

This KT contract adds to Syniverse’smomentum in the Asia-Pacific regionwhere the company serves more than 180customers, including some of the largestTier 1 mobile operators. In September,Syniverse announced major wins in China(with China Unicom) and in India (Aircel).Syniverse president and CEO, Jeff Gordonsaid, “We understand that each region,country and operator face a truly uniqueset of challenges – there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. We are committed toworking with each of our customers tofully understand their needs and thentailoring a solution set that helps themdeliver brand-protecting services tosubscribers while realising newefficiencies.”

C O N T R A C T N E W S

Vox Telecom Ltd, a telecoms operatorproviding fixed and mobile services insouthern Africa, has selected Ontario,Canada-based Sandvine, and its resellerpartner, Core2Africa Networks, for itsaccess-agnostic Usage Managementsystem. In addition, Vox Telecom is to useSandvine's Global Services expertise toalign elements of the system design withtheir business objectives. Vox Telecomwas one of South Africa’s fastest growingcompanies in 2010.

A provider of intelligent broadbandnetwork solutions, Sandvine’s UsageManagement system allows operators tosegment their subscriber base to createtiered service plans that match subscriberusage patterns and offer users greaterchoice when selecting their plan. Forexample, subscribers may opt into a socialnetworking tier that offers unlimitedFacebook and Twitter usage. Another usermay opt into a tier that gives off-peakincentives to heavy internet video users.

In addition, Vox Telecom is usingSandvine’s consulting services for solutionplanning, design and network assessment.Engaging Sandvine for solution planningconsultation allows the operator to clearlydefine business and technicalrequirements from all projectstakeholders. Other benefits includeaccelerating the time to market for thenew service tiers and lowering the totalcost of ownership.

Vox Telecom selects Sandvinefor usage management

Jeff Gordon,Syniverse: No‘one-size-fits-all’solution

KT enlists help for roaming support from Syniverse

Netia chooses Netgem technology for hybrid IPTV offering in Poland

Netia is starting to roll outits new TV service basedon Netgem's technologiesin Poland, a telecommarket that recentlyopened up to competition.Netia has built its strategyon developing its userbase of fixed broadbandhouseholds and has nowbecome the mostsignificant competitor tothe incumbent operator.

Netia is bundling subscriptions offeringhigh-speed broadband access withunlimited calls and now, using Netgemservices, the Polish operator will launchthe TV component of its triple-play offering.

Christophe Aulnette, Netgem's CEO,commented: "This deploymentdemonstrates how our commercialpartners are able to deliver breakthroughcustomer experiences, that offer the bestof broadcast and broadband, by using ouroff-the-shelf hybrid technologies."

Anite and Azimuth begin delivery of turn-key LTE performance test system

Anite, a global provider of wireless devicetesting technology, is now delivering acomplete turn-key LTE Performance Testsystem to the wireless market. Thecombined solution uses 'best-of-breed'products; Anite SAS (the company’snetwork simulator for deviceinteroperability testing), the Anite 9000Mobile Test Accelerator platform, andAzimuth Systems’ ACE MX advancedchannel emulator. The Anite LTEPerformance Test solution is offered as acomplete turn-key system or the newperformance-related elements, includingthe Azimuth ACE MX, can be supplied asan upgrade.

Through a new reseller agreementbetween Anite and Azimuth, customerscan now purchase the complete offeringfrom a single source, eliminating multiplepurchase requests and benefiting from asingle point of contact for the sales andinstallation process.

ChristopheAulnette,Netgem:Hybridtechnologies


Sponsored by:

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) may havespent time recently emphasising the positiveaspects of its re-structuring plans that will putmobile broadband at the heart of its strategy,but the 'elephant in the room' throughoutthese discussions has been the news of atleast 17,000 job losses (23% of the workforce).NSN aims to reduce its operating expensesand production overheads by EUR 1 billion bythe end of 2013, compared to the end of 2011.

Rajeev Suri, NSN’s CEO announced three elements of futurestrategy in November: that from now NSN would focus on themobile network infrastructure and services markets; deliversignificant cuts in operating costs and production overheads;and finally, plan a "global workforce reduction ofapproximately 17,000 jobs". This follows a round of 5,000 jobcuts announced by NSN in 2009. The company plans torefocus on mobile broadband (including optical), customerexperience management and services.

“The future of our industry is in mobile broadband andservices – and we aim to be an undisputed leader in theseareas,” said Suri. “At the same time, we need to take thenecessary steps to maintain long-term competitiveness andimprove profitability.”

As Ray Le Maistre of Light Reading pointed out, however, thenumber of jobs lost is likely to exceed 17,000 if – as NSN plans– it is able to divest itself of under-performing business sectorsthat no longer fit within its strategic plan. Foremost amongthese might be the ailing firm's business support systems(BSS) line.

Peter Jarich and Erik Keith for Current Analysis said, "For NSN,this decision reflects the impact of market realities imposed bycustomer demand, competitive pressures and related marketdynamics, and serves as a bellwether to the potential strategicredirections by NSN’s closest (Tier 1) rivals in the ServiceProvider Infrastructure market."

'Elephant in the room' during NSN’s talk of restructuring is loss of 17,000+ jobs

Rajeev Suri,NSN: Three-pronged strategy

Sponsored by:


C O N T R A C T H O T L I S T

VanillaPlus Hot List: December/January 2012

Abilisoft Unnamed CSP, UK Replaces system and probes with Abilisoft 11.2011Chargemaster, UK O2 UK (Telefonica) Providing M2M technology to connect UK network of electric vehicle charging stations 10.2011Comptel Telenor Hungary Selects Comptel Provisioning and Activation to shorten time-to-market for LTE 11.2011Comverse Cycle30, USA To power Hosted Billing Services for Machine-to-Machine (M2M ) markets 9.2011Comverse Nuevatel, Bolivia Comverse Expands at Viva with BSS Upgrade for Converged Rating and Charging 9.2011Comverse Cell C, South Africa Wholesale MVNO chooses Comverse ONE for Converged Rating, Billing & CRM 9.2011Comverse JT, Channel Islands, UK Selects Comverse ONE Converged BSS for Business Transformation 10.2011Comverse Mirs Communications, Israel Uses Comverse ONE Billing & Active Customer Management, All-IP VAS Solutions 11.2011Comverse AAPT, Australia Replaces its legacy wholesale billing system with Comverse BSS 11.2011Convergys Telekom Deutschland, Germany Ends Phase 2, migration to Smart Revenue Solution with rating & billing manager 9.2011Entone, Inc Telekom Srbija, Serbia Chooses Amulet™ HD IPTV Receiver with digital video recorder (DVR) capabilities 9.2011Evolving Systems Unnamed wireless operator, Africa Upgrade order for DSA, supporting mobile broadband and number selection 9.2011Evolving Systems Tier 1 wireless carrier, Russia Implementing the Dynamic SIM Allocation™ (DSA) system 10.2011Gemalto IDA, Singapore To deploy mobile NFC contactless services across Singapore 10.2011Huawei Wireless City Planning,Inc., Japan To deploy large scale LTE TDD-compatible AXGP commercial network 9.2011Hughes NetworkSystems Inmarsat, International New 9502 BGAN terminal for end-to-end IP data capability in real-time applications 10.2011

Macquarie Capital CityFibre Holdings, UK To give financial advice on building fibre infrastructure connecting local authorities 11.2011Mobilethink A/S Huawei, China Mobilethink becomes provider-of-choice in mobile device management 11.2011Netgem Netia, Poland To launch TV component of its triple-play offering with Netgem middleware and STBs 11.2011Newtec SES, Luxembourg & Belgium Supplying next generation Ka-band terminals and hubs for satellite communications 8.2011Sandvine &Core2Africa Vox Telecom, South Africa Access-agnostic Usage Management allows operators to segment subscribers base 11.2011

SCHAD BAUR, Germany SCADA system extends automated process control to ordinary mobile devices 11.2011Subex / Gantek Avea, Turkey Revenue Operations Centre (ROC) Partner Settlement solution 10.2011Syniverse KT Corporation, South Korea Data & financial clearing, fraud detection, and roaming agreement management 11.2011Telcordia First Communications LLC, USA Next-Gen OSS to support growth & efficiency gains in enterprise & network services 9.2011Telcordia SeCom, Argentina To manage mobile number portability (MNP) in Argentina 11.2011TWSP ThingWorx, USA Selected as global reseller of the ThingWorx Connected Application Platform 10.2011WeDo Technologies Vodafone Czech Republic Implements Rating Validation Module of RAID 6.2 business assurance software 10.2011

The Hot List below shows the companies informing us of recent contract wins or product deployments. If your contract is not listed here email the details to us now marked "Hot List" <[email protected]>

Vendor(s) Client, Country Product / Service (Duration & Value) Awarded

Key: AXGP = Advanced eXtended Global PlatformCSP = Communication Service ProviderGPRS = General Packet Radio ServiceGPS = Global Positioning SystemGSM = Global System for Mobile communicationsLTE = Long-Term Evolution to 4th Generation Networks

MNP = Mobile Number PortabilityMVNO = Mobile Virtual Network OperatorNFC = Near Field CommunicationsOSS = Operations Support SystemROC = Revenue Operation CentreSTB = Set-Top Box

P E O P L E N E W S

Integralis expands IT securitysupport in Asia Global provider of IT security and information risk managementsolutions, Integralis, is expanding its operations, marketing,partner management and in Asia, and has announced theappointments of the chief marketing officer (CMO) andpresident, Asia-Pacific. Both officers will report into SimonChurch, chief operating officer (COO). Integralis is owned by theJapanese network operator, NTT.

Integralis’ CEO, Georg Magg, said: “Given the significantmarket opportunity and with our strong focus on innovation,we are changing the way security solutions are delivered.Investing in operational functions and further investing inregional markets such as Asia Pacific helps address the globalsecurity challenge, and allows us to help both our local andmulti-national customers achieve real business value.”

Andrew Lev, until recently the Group EVP – Channels andBusiness Development, will take the position of global CMO.Gavin Bradbury joins as VP Marketing. Gavin previously heldsenior marketing roles at VeriSign, 1E and ComputerAssociates. William Yeack, who has been with Integralis since2007, will head up operations in the Asia-Pacific markets aspresident, Asia-Pacific.

Telenity co-founderappointed CEOTelenity, a provider of location-based services,social media, mobile marketing and messagingplatforms and solutions, reports that AhmetOzalp has stepped down as CEO. Ilhan Bagoren,chairman and co-founder of Telenity, willbecome the new chief executive officer.

"I'm very excited about leading Telenity at thisnew phase of the company's growth," said Ilhan

Bagoren. "We are looking forward to publicly announcingseveral new products and services in the upcoming MobileWorld Congress. This next phase will be very rewarding forTelenity and its existing and new customers."

Niedersüss madeCMO of Macedonia’sVip operator The Telekom Austria Group has appointedFlorian Niedersüss as CMO of its Macedoniansubsidiary, Vip operator. Niedersüss studiedbusiness administration at the ViennaUniversity for Economics and Business andholds an Insead MBA degree.

Vip operator was founded by the Telekom Austria Group in2007, and launched commercial operations on the Macedonianmarket as the third domestic mobile provider.

I am currently undergoing are-branding exercise here atKineticom Ltd, as we will soonchange our company name to“Identify Networks”, to alignour marketing strategy withthat of the broader IdentifyGroup. You will hear moreabout this over the coming

weeks and months.

This has prompted me to focus this article onthe importance and value of branding yourselfeffectively as part of your career developmentstrategy. Creating the right messaging andcommunicating this to the right people is vital.Getting your CV to work for you is critical, andso it is worthwhile considering the commonmistakes people make: Lack of focus; Lack oforganisation, clarity and brevity; Lack of atargeted and relevant message to theemployer; Spelling and grammatical errors.

Your CV must help make the hiring manager orrecruiter’s life less complicated and shout outto them that you fit the role. Recruiters andhiring managers want to see very clearly whatyou can do, how you do it and what results youhave had.

Once you have a well written, accurate andclear description of not just the roles you havehad and the skills you possess, but also of yourachievements and the approaches you took toovercome challenges, you will be in a muchstronger position to compete for your idealrole. The use of social networking sites such asLinkedin and Google+ have become essentialtools and you should use these forums tosupport the information held within your CV.

Jason Bandy, Directoridentify Group [email protected]: +44 (0) 750 001 3084 Tel: +44 (0) 845 370 2900www.identifynetworks.com

Jason Bandy

IlhanBagoren:Telenitychairmanmade CEO

FlorianNiedersüss,CMO of Vipoperator

Welcome to our regularJobs column, brought to you by IdentifyNetworks, Sponsorsof People News

VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 201210 P E O P L E N E W S


T A L K I N G H E A D S

Ericsson and Microsoft are working together on business application architecture.Here VanillaPlus talks to Ralf Guckert, Ericsson’s Head of Product Management,Business Support Systems, and Mike Ehrenberg who is a Technical Fellow in theDynamics team within Microsoft’s Business Division.

Dr Ralf Guckert has a diploma in Physics from the University of Gießen where he alsoreceived his doctorate. He has worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in NewMexico, USA and, since 2000, at the former LHS Group, most recently as the head of SalesSupport and Business Development. In 2005 he became Director System Engineering at theCharging Unit of Siemens Com and after the merger with the Network unit of Nokia, headof the Product Line Next Generation Charging at NSN. He returned to LHS in 2007 as vicepresident, Product Strategy where besides his line activities he was strongly involved in theAlignment Process of Ericsson and LHS.

Ericsson and Microsoftpartner for a bettercustomer experienceand leaner operations

Mike Ehrenberg is a Technical Fellow working on the business application the architecturefor the Dynamics team within the Business Solutions Division at Microsoft. He leads thework on the long term product roadmap, and on driving the relationships betweenDynamics and the system, platform and tools teams across Microsoft. Ehrenberg joinedMicrosoft in 2003, after 25 years of business application development across banking andbrokerage transaction systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for processmanufacturing, and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) solutions. He has previouslyworked at Olivetti, Marcam, and Frictionless Commerce.

VanillaPlus: At Mobile World Congress2011, Ericsson and Microsoft announced astrategic alliance that enabled Ericsson tooffer an integrated Billing and CRMproduct. What were your expectations forthe relationship and how does it fit intoyour strategies?

Ralf Guckert: We worked hard to develop abilling and customer care product with openinterfaces, one that is Systems Integrator (SI)friendly, meanwhile building up our own SIexpertise and resources.

But we found operators were seeking morechoice and increasingly asking for a proprietaryCRM system from us; one pre-integrated withbilling. A key operator CIO priority – for many Ihave spoken to – is to reduce SI costs by buildingagile, componentised solutions based on best-of-suite architectures. So with this customer

feedback, the decision to develop our own CRMproduct was easy.

But should we build or partner? Given therequired sophistication of a state-of-the art CRMplatform for the telecoms industry – and thespeed at which the telecoms and BSS market ismoving – we naturally decided to partner.

So our strategy is clear: We expect ourrelationship with Microsoft to help us achieveour desired position in the BSS market. Microsoftprovides a feature-rich, architecturally-strong andcloud-ready enterprise CRM solution, which weadapt for the telecoms market. This completesour BSS portfolio and enables us to offer thesolution that operators told us they wanted.

Mike Ehrenberg: At Microsoft, we look topartners like Ericsson to provide the deepknowledge and industry expertise necessary to

Dr Ralf Guckert,Ericsson: It’s aboutunderstanding thecustomer’s mood

Mike Ehrenberg,Microsoft: Moreconsumer-friendlyexperiencedemanded

!

customise our products into highly specialisedsolutions that fit exactly with customer needs.

We are the experts at building industrial strengthproducts that empower success by makingbusiness users more productive. As Ralf said,that means we provide a rich user experience –together with embedded business intelligenceand integrated workflow – that is cloud-ready.

We’ve done exactly that with Microsoft DynamicsCRM, but it’s more than just a business application.

Our strategy is to design flexible solutions thatcan be extended, so our work with Ericsson fitsperfectly with this vision of helping customersreach their full potential. It’s the most practicalway for us to incorporate the uniquerequirements of different industries, and whypartners like Ericsson are vital to our success.

VP: Microsoft has a large number of vendorrelationships. How does the one withEricsson differ?

ME: From Microsoft’s perspective, Ericsson is aGlobal Independent Software Vendor

(GISV) for Microsoft DynamicsCRM – a classification for

which we have fewer thanfive partners worldwide.To be eligible, acompany has to meetthe most stringentcriteria in our partnerprogramme – andbelieve me, there isno higher level!

As a GISV, Ericssonworks directly withour CRM softwaredevelopment team.They have insightinto what the team isworking on, getquick answers to

their technicalquestions, and also

provide input – asEricsson’s ideas are

considered for the futureof the product.

Ericsson’s status also meanstighter collaboration

with our fieldsales and

service teams, so our mutual customers getbetter support when implementing the EricssonTelco CRM solution.

I’ve been personally involved with the Ericssonteam, and am almost as excited as Ralf to see thelevel to which they have taken customer carewith Telco CRM.

VP: Given the dominance of some othervendors serving the telecoms CRM market,why is there room for another player in thisarea?

RG: We see a significant gap in the market whereoperators have out-grown their subscribermanagement or smaller niche CRM systems.They now require fully-fledged CRM systems thatsupport telecoms business processes, but dislikethe cost, risk and time often associated with acustomised billing/CRM integration project. As Isaid, reducing SI costs is a key driver for these CIOs.

Secondly, CIOs do not believe they currentlyhave much choice when it comes to telecomsCRM. The reaction to our proof of conceptpresented at Mobile World Congress in February– from customers and other operators – has beenemphatic. They clearly welcome an alternativeCRM offering tailored to the telecoms market.

VP: Can you tell me more about what youmean by ‘telecoms-specific CRM?’

RG: Certainly. Many CRM offerings weredesigned as horizontal enterprise solutions.However, the telecoms industry has very specificprocesses and characteristics that need CRMsupport. For example, Customer ServiceRepresentatives (CSRs) need seamless access tobilling information to address invoice queries,and to contract information in order to activateand deactivate services, or to assign free unitsand change telephone numbers. They also needtelecoms-specific case management and trackingtools. Sales representatives need to browseproducts set-up in the billing system and thenplace orders from within their CRM environment.

This can all require a significant amount ofcustomisation. Many operators end up withclumsy billing integrations, user-unfriendly pop-up screens, or worse, customer facing staffworking with multiple systems. As call centreusers, we have all experienced what that means!

VP: How would you summarise the CRMchallenges facing the telecoms industry?

RG: For operators, the old maxim thatcustomers are their most important asset could

not be truer. With the level of competition thatmost operators now face, the focus is on

retaining customers. I am in no doubt therelationship with the customer,particularly the billing relationship, willbe the most important asset for thetraditional telecoms operatorcompeting against the newer over-the-top players.

“CSRs need to

browse products

set-up in the billing

system and then

place orders from

within their CRM

environment.”

- Dr Ralf Guckert,

Ericsson

T A L K I N G H E A D S

!

VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 201212

That’s why integrated billing and CRM is one ofthe most common IT objectives for a telecomsoperator. They understand the value of having acomplete, so-called 360 degree view of theircustomers, but the cost and risk are simplypreventing many from achieving this. That is thechallenge we are helping operators overcomewith our CRM offering.

ME: I couldn’t agree more, Ralf. As the industrybecomes yet more competitive, it‘s critical foroperators to provide a better experience –whatever their customers’ chosen method ofinteraction. However, you can’t just keep ongrowing costs to provide it – because increasedcompetition necessitates tighter control of youroperating expenses.

So, an operator has to “do more with less” –helping their people become more productive –while giving their customers that seamlessexperience with CSRs who are armed with betterdata to enrich the customer experience.

VP: What trends are you seeing in largeenterprises’ approach to CRM and howdoes telecoms differ from other industries?

ME: The significant trend is that customers aredemanding a more consumer-friendlyexperience. They want their providers to makecustomer service as simple as accessing theirmobile phone!

Therefore the operator’s sales and service peopleneed a broad view of how the customer hasinteracted with their systems at every level;whether they were chatting with a CSR online,accessing their account from their phone, orcalling in about a problem.

Customers will no longer tolerate having toexplain themselves more than once – they expecttheir provider to understand their needs basedon how they’ve already used those systems.

We see this theme consistently across a broadrange of enterprises. In a more connected world,customers have more choices – and this creates amore competitive world. Today it’s essential todeliver a service experience that delights customers,and the key to that experience is empoweringservice staff with great information about thecustomer. That is the heart of what Ericsson hasachieved for operators with Telco CRM.

VP: Looking forward, how do you see therole of CRM within the next generationBusiness Support System architecture?

RG: As I said, the customer and billingrelationship will be one of an operator’s mostvaluable assets, but another key asset is thecustomer data itself – from not just the BSSdomain but also the OSS domain.

Integrating billing and CRM and obtaining a ‘360degree’ view of the customer is a major steptowards achieving a leaner operationalenvironment and enhancing customer

experience – but ultimately it is not enough. To truly understand their customers, operatorsneed a holistic view of not just the customer butthe customer’s experience using the network.Can you imagine the possibilities for a CSR whohas that data available in their CRM toolbox, toassess a customer’s mood or their propensity tochurn, from analytics based on the networkperformance they have actually experienced?

Operators are often faced with the headache ofservices not working on new devices and thepressure this puts on customer support. Think ofthe value of device settings being visible to theCSR, who could trigger an over-the-airreconfiguration and solve the problem. Thiswould be a huge benefit in supporting acampaign around a new device.

For Ericsson, CRM is about presenting as muchcustomer relevant information – coming from thenetwork, from OSS and BSS domains – in real-time to all customer facing channels, in anintuitive environment.

ME: That’s right; the ability to useCRM to react quickly to changingcustomer needs becomes acompetitive advantage in themarketplace. Operators whocan better analysecustomer satisfaction andevaluate trends based onreal data can anticipateopportunities before thecompetition; CRMenables the nimblenessto make changes toworkflow and processesas needed.

We also definitely seethe Cloud playing amore significant role incontrolling OpEx costs, tosimplify implementations andenable operators to update theirsystems quickly and efficiently.A cloud-based deployment helpscompanies with operations inremote locations control their ITexpenditures and maintain aconsistent customer experience.One beauty of MicrosoftDynamics CRM is that you candeploy it how best suitsyou – on yourpremises, in thecloud orboth.

“Customers will no

longer tolerate

having to explain

themselves more

than once.”

- Mike Ehrenberg,

Microsoft



E X P E R T O P I N I O N :

Imagine, if you will, a world where Bill Shock is a thing of the past. In fact, imagine a worldwhere the whole concept of billing has been replaced by intuitive, high-touch, real-timefinancial interactions between subscribers and mobile operators. It’s a world wheresubscribers have the latest information about their mobile account at their fingertips andcan make instant decisions. And operators can fully monetise their networks throughpersonalised, value-based products and services.

This is how it works: on the smart device, amobile app shows granular, real-time accountinformation. It details service and applicationusage right down to the application level, sosubscribers can see at any given moment howtheir data bundle is consumed. In case you’rewondering, the secret sauce is the nextgeneration real-time charging engine that drivesthe app.

Using this, subscribers can quickly see if one appis hogging all the data. Families can share databundles and control how their credit is spent. Ifsomeone’s about to run out of credit, or doesn’thave enough data allowance left to power theservice they want, a message pops up that alertsthem. They can then add credit or move it from ashared plan in order to avoid Bill Shock,throttling or surprise overage charges; imaginehow cool it would be to know before you startyour Netflix movie that you have enough creditto stream it without being interrupted midwaythrough by throttling. Or, that if you’re about tomake an important business video call, you canpay a small premium for assured call quality. Asyou use the mobile app more, you find that youlike to set your own alert thresholds, so that youspecify when you’re alerted.

No more abstractusage conceptsAs you go, anything you do is immediatelyreflected on-screen in a way that you understand.Gone are abstract usage concepts such as anumber of megabytes equating to a certaincharge at the end of the month. Now, your usageis communicated visually and you can alwayskeep tabs on how much you have left, at anytime of the day. Over time, your mobile app soonbecomes your central resource to access avariety of self-care services, offering you a widerange of account management choices andaccess to new services and personaliseddiscounts or bundles.

These offers are personalised because they arecustom-designed by the operator based on your

historical financial preferences; spend patternsand the services that you like. If you want, youcan even personalise your own discount programby specifying, for example, which hour of the dayyour voice calls are discounted – and changing itregularly to fit your lifestyle and ensure that busycall times are always discounted.

No more mobile billsOne day, you run out of data and have no way ofadding more, but you don’t sweat it becauseyou’re already part of a user group that allowsyour friends to lend you part of their allowanceuntil the next time you choose to renew yourdata bundle. Sometimes, you lend them data inreturn, to make sure that you can all stay in touch.

Over time, you realise that you’ll never besurprised by another mobile bill again. In fact, it’sbeen so long since you last saw a paper-basedmobile ‘bill,’ you’ve forgotten what it looks like.You begin to trust your operator and rely onthem for special offers. Since you startedunderstanding how much something was goingto cost in advance, you decided that you don’tmind paying a little more for the things you like;having control over your spending has been thebig thing missing from your mobile broadbandexperience all along.

One always hopes that with this type of ‘thoughtexperiment’ that the story does not end with thesubscriber waking up to find it’s all been adream. In this case, there’s a more satisfyingending: it’s all possible today, and will be comingto a device near you soon.

And, it’s not just beneficial to the consumer; withthe operator in such a prime position with theirsubscriber, they benefit from being the mainconduit when apps and content are paid for andcommand a more powerful position in therevenue chain. They’re seen as the primarybrand by the subscriber and can thereforerecover the ground they initially lost to OTTcontent providers en-route to better monetisingtheir networks and services. Watch this space.

Great Billing ExpectationsWhat’s the opposite of Bill Shock? It’s Bill Expectation

The author,JenniferKyriakakis, isMATRIXXSoftware’s co-founder and VPof Marketing

BILL SHOCK

“Your mobile

app soon

becomes your

central resource

to access a

variety of self-

care services.”


‘Bill Shock’ has led to a slew of negativesentiment around roaming, but thesystems CSPs have had to put in place tocomply with recent regulations provide abasis for generating new revenues andimproving the customer experience.George Malim explores how attitudes areshifting away from costly, metered usageto service plans, application-specificoffers and even hand-off to Wi-Fi.

We’ve all heard the bill shock stories of usersbeing charged thousands of Euros – in somecases tens of thousands – for unwittingconsumption when they roam. The stories tella tale of negative outcomes. Nobody wins inthese scenarios.

The home operator has to deal with an iratecustomer, address disputes and even write offthe charges. The visited operator, often in thesame group as the home operator, isremunerated for the consumption of itsnetwork capacity and the customer has a poorexperience.

That’s compounded by the effect on otherusers. They hear these stories and fanaticallyswitch off mobile data when roaming to avoidany risk of bill shock. Many, particularly thosewith smartphones that have a range ofapplications that self-connect to the network,simply turn off their devices when they’reabroad.

The European Commission and the FederalCommunications Commission have bothtaken steps to protect consumers by requiringthat CSPs (communication service providers)institute spending caps. In Europe the figure is!50 but users can set their own limits.

Tap into ‘new’ revenuesThe good news is that the systems CSPs havehad to put in place to enable complianceprovide a basis for a new way of thinking.Some systems are simple, others morecomplex, but by having their roots in real-timecharging and analysis, CSPs can use suchsystems to bring tailored offerings to market,tap into previously unaccessed revenues andgenerally serve their customers’ needs better.

“All the current bill shock solutions out thereare certainly providing more visibility,” saysMary Clark, senior vice president of roamingat Syniverse. “They provide moretransparency, and control gives users moreconfidence. The paranoia experience of thepast is simply leaving money on the table.Real-time intelligence and businessintelligence analysis will prevent bill shockand create that quality experience and deliverthe expected end user experience. It’s not justabout the quality of the experience itself, it’sabout users knowing they’re in control.”

Delivering that could transform a user thatswitches off into one who is comfortable andwilling to pay reasonable rates for roamingservices. However, more than simple systemsto address regulatory compliance are needed.

CSPs look toreal-time analysis toeliminate roaming paranoia

BILL SHOCK

Sanjay Kumar,ProgressSoftware:Customersexpect more

“Bill shock and thelegacy around it is awonderful catalyst toget operators awayfrom what is a trulybizarre relationshipwith their customers.”- Chris Hoover,Openet

!


“The compliance solutions today are not reallyenough to take someone from a fear situationto one in which they’ll spend extra money,”explains Guy Reiffer, vice president ofmarketing at MACH. “Spending caps don’treally promote service usage.”

Reiffer has a privileged view of the market.MACH, as a provider of roaming services tooperators across the world, sees hugevolumes of roaming data. “We think about40% of people turn data off when they roamand a further segment turn the whole deviceoff,” he says. “When you compare roamingusage with home usage – roaming usage isabout 300 times lower. As an operator, youcan’t grow based on increasing subscribernumbers but a service that has one three-hundredth of the usage it could do presents anobvious opportunity.”

Do more with the dataFor Jennifer Kyriakakis, founder and vicepresident of marketing at Matrixx Software,systems oriented around consumption capsaren’t enough to deliver the granularity orrelevancy of experience that CSPs need todeliver. “Operators have been putting deeppacket inspection (DPI) into the network butthere’s a whole lot more that can be done withthe data that collects than just capping,” shesays.

“For example, if you go on vacation you couldkeep social media on and turn email off. It’sabout granularity and real-time. Real-time isobviously important because it’s the only wayyou get the information that is relevant to thesubscriber,” Kyriakakis adds.

Chris Newton-Smith, vice president ofmarketing at RedKnee, also sees CSPslooking to go way beyond simple caps tosatisfy compliance: “Pretty much all theEuropean customers of ours that we’ve helpedto implement data roaming don’t just want toput a cap on spending, they want to offerspecific bolt-ons,” he says. “For example,BlackBerry® email while roaming could bespecifically allowed to continue while roamingvideo is blocked.”

For Jonathan Pearson, proposition marketingmanager at Acision: “Regulation may enableoperators to rebuild confidence in their brandsby providing consumers with greater pricingtransparency and more control, through theprovision of spend limits and real-timenotifications,” he says. “Pricing transparencycan be increased by offering bundles for aspecific type of service, such as roaming, webbrowsing or video downloading.”

In fact, traditional roaming regimes in whichbill shock was a distinct possibility have hadan adverse effect. Users switch off, go to theirhotel and use Skype for VoIP calls and nowSIM cards are sold in airport vendingmachines that removes the home operatorfrom the equation.

Losing all data traffic“Even among sophisticated roamers, peopleare getting more willing to buy local SIMswhen they roam,” adds Newton-Smith. “As ahome network operator, you’re losing all yourdata traffic, you’d rather give them a betteroption.”

And that is what the market is movingtowards. Relatively simple packages such as aone-day roaming plan that a user is offered onarrival into a country with an SMS welcomemessage and a link are coming to market.Other options such as service-based packagesare also being offered. For example, a usermay be given the option of keeping socialnetworking services on but disabling otherapplications.

Bizarre relationshipThat’s a big shift for CSPs to make. “Ifoperators are to move away from the all-you-can-eat, flat rate model, they need amechanism for telling their customers what’savailable and enabling them to purchase it,”says Chris Hoover, vice president of productmanagement at Openet, which recentlylaunched its Subscriber Engagement Enginegiving users insight into usage across a broadrange of devices and services. “The nice thingabout bill shock is it creates pressure onoperators to engage with customers in ahealthy way. Bill shock and the legacy aroundit is a wonderful catalyst to get operators awayfrom what is a truly bizarre relationship withtheir customers.”

That bizarre relationship is coming to an end.CSPs’ own paranoia is lifting as they recognisethe value of keeping customers on-net. Previouslyunthought of ideas such as offering packagesfor specific over-the-top (OTT) applications arein play. There’s even scope for OTT providersto sponsor access for their applications.

“Bill shock is a problem that has happened fora while,” says Sanjay Kumar, industry vicepresident, communications and media atProgress Software. “It is more recognisednow because of the different levels of servicecustomer expect. They expect more and socialmedia has certainly driven expectations to agreater level. It’s not a new problem, it’s aproblem that has a new value.”

“Bill shock is aproblem that has

happened for awhile. It’s not a

new problem, it’sa problem that

has a new value.”- Sanjay Kumar,

ProgressSoftware

Chris Hoover,Openet:Pressure onoperators

Mary Clark,Syniverse:More visibility

Chris Newton-Smith, Redknee:Going beyondsimple caps

BILL SHOCK


E X P E R T O P I N I O N :

The data that is being collected about where people are in the world and what they aredoing there is exploding. According to a recent McKinsey survey, more than 1 petabyte ofpersonal location data is being generated annually. Approximately 400 terabytes are beinggenerated from smart phone opt-in tracking alone.

The ability to pinpoint the location of devices,even as small as a mobile phone, has increaseddramatically over the past 10 years withtechnologies such as GPS improvingsignificantly. This has sparked intense interest byservice providers as well as over-the-top playersin harnessing this information for use with newbusinesses and new business models. Theopportunity is great. Over US$100 billion inannual revenue will be generated by serviceproviders by 2020 from personal location data-related services.

One of the most promising areas for new revenuegeneration is in the area of geo-targeted mobilemarketing, often called Proximity Marketing.With the incredible success of daily deal opt-inmodels, exemplified by companies like Grouponor LivingSocial, it is now established thatconsumers see value in discounted offers andcoupons being pushed their way regularly.However these models currently fall short in theirability to deliver timely and highly relevant offersto the vast majority of recipients.

Telcos, with their large existing customer bases,an established billing relationship and the abilityto pinpoint the location of a customer, are ideallysituated to take this business model one stepfurther by delivering real-time, location-basedoffers. A simple example would be for a smartphone user, who has opted in, to receive acoupon for a discounted beverage as he getswithin a certain distance of a coffee shop.

These types of marketing services can provide awin-win scenario for both operator andconsumer. The consumer receives a high valued,non intrusive offer that is both relevant andcontextual. The operator opens up a newrevenue stream. Operators can take advantage oftheir prime position to deliver these types of

services based on their knowledge of subscriberlocation, historical usage patterns, anddemographics – but only if they have the righttools in place to do so. Here are few elementsthey will need to consider:

• Personalisation – Early experiments by wireless carriers are based on a brand-centric approach where subscribers opt-in to receive coupons and offers from their favouritebrands when in the vicinity of their stores.As models evolve, the ability to deliver more sophisticated and personalized location-based recommendations and offers will become essential.

• Location-based analytics – Providing rapid insight on coupons pushed, redemption rate, recipient profile by geographical area or ‘geo-fencing’ zone will be at the heart of the model as both a foundation for various monetisation options for the carriers as well as a vehicle to determine a campaign’s return-on-investment for retailers and brand owners.

• Big Data – With more than 1Tb per day generated from smartphone opt-in tracking alone, the proximity marketing domain is highly data intensive. As telcos step up their investments in this space, in-memory technology will become an attractive andcost-effective option.

The monetisation of location-based data throughvarious services such as Proximity Marketingrepresents a huge opportunity for serviceproviders. To succeed, and compete effectivelyagainst over-the-top players, they will need to fullyleverage the trusted relationship established withtheir subscribers as well as to put in place aninfrastructure adapted for Big Data. The stakes areworth it : US$100B in annual revenue by 2020.

Proximity Marketing:Are you ready to monetiselocation-based data?

The author isStephan Gatien,Global Lead,Telco SolutionsManagement,SAP

L O C A T I O N

“Operators can…

deliver services

based on their

knowledge of

subscriber

location,

historical usage

patterns, and

demographics.”


D I A R Y

Upcoming EventsCEM in Telecoms 23-26 January, 2012Grand Connaught Rooms, London, UKIQPCwww.customerexperienceevent.com

Mobile Network Optimisation30 January - 2 February, 2012Steigenberger Hotel Metropolitan, Munich, GermanyIQPCwww.mobilenetworkoptimisation.com

Mobile Payments and NFC 30 January - 2 February, 2012The Hatton, London, UKIQPCwww.mobilepaymentsandnfc.com/Event.aspx?id=613036

Mobile Financial Services 31 January - 1 February, 2012Hallam Conference Centre, London, UKInformawww.mobile-financialservices.com

CEM in Telecoms North America14-16 February, 2012InterContinental Hotel, Miami, Florida, USAwww.iqpc.com/Event.aspx?id=614298

Management World Asia 7-8 February, 2012

Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore, TM Forumwww.tmforum.org/gomwasiaVP

Mobile World Congress 27 February 1 March, 2012Barcelona, Spain - GSMAwww.mobileworldcongress.com

Lucas Skoczkowski,CEO of Redknee and

Laurie Tappel,Operations Manager,

i-wireless talk toJeremy Cowan

Jeremy Cowan of VanillaPlus recently sat down at Management World Americas inOrlando with Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO of Redknee and Laurie Tappel, OperationsManager at i-wireless to discuss their recent billing transformation project.

i-wireless is a mobile virtual network operator(MVNO) that operates on the Sprint network andpartners with Kroger. Participating Krogershoppers get free wireless minutes based onpurchases they make at any Kroger store or theirsubsidiary. This is the first retailer in the US tooffer loyalty-based incentives tied to wirelessminutes.

Ms Tappel shared her thoughts on the newcapabilities that the Redknee billing solutionprovides and what the ‘transformation’ processwas like for i-wireless. “We had been outsourcingour billing operations but decided to take it in-house as we were facing spiralling operationalcosts and lengthy delays whenever we wanted tomake a change or launch a promotion.”

Responsiveness is critical“In today’s market, margins are tight andresponsiveness is critical. We chose Redkneebecause of the reliability and flexibility of thesolution and its low total cost of ownership.From a business and operational perspective, the

agility the Redknee solution provides has beenfantastic,” she said. “It used to take months tolaunch a new promotion – now it only takesdays.”

When Mr Skoczkowski was asked why now is agood time for this type of BSS transformation, hestated, “Operators need a billing solution thatworks well with other systems and technologypartners, even those that go beyond thetraditional telecom players, as Redknee did withKroger’s loyalty cards.”

The lines are blurring between traditionaltelecom, entertainment and retail. This trend willonly continue to grow as new partners join themobile ecosystem. The ability to supportpartners with an agile billing solution that adaptsto new service models should be the focus ofevery service provider today.

To see the video discussion, go to:www.vanillaplus.com or visitwww.redknee.com to learn more.

Think billing is boring?Think again!

David Sharpley is vice president of business andproducts for Amdocs’ newly created Data Experiencebusiness unit. The unit was launched followingAmdocs’ acquisition of policy managementspecialist, Bridgewater Systems in August2011. Here, he tells George Malim, editorof VanillaPlus, why the new unit has beendeveloped, what it offers and how itprovides communications servicesproviders (CSPs) with newopportunities to bring innovativepropositions to market rapidly.

VanillaPlus: Bridgewater Systemsis now part of Amdocs’ new DataExperience business unit. Pleasecan you explain why the focus hasbeen put on Data Experience and whatthe unit hopes to achieve?

David Sharpley: From our perspective, CSPs’customers, whether they be consumers or enterprises,aren’t buying a data plan any more, they’re buying a dataexperience. That means they’re not interested so much in howmuch bandwidth they receive as part of that plan, they’reinterested in having experiences such as their social networkingapplications being always-on, seamless transition to Wi-Fi and soforth.

That’s why we’ve created this unit and our objective is to provide anew set of solutions to enable CSPs to deliver the data experiencestheir customers demand.

VP: Why is the Data Experience relevant to CSPs?

DS: Everything is about mobile data now and the reality is thatwherever a user is – whether in a café, an office, at home or on theroad – they have become reliant on the applications they use and

CSPs mustdeliver dataexperiences

SPOTLIGHT

!


that’s essentially the data experience they areseeing. Users demand instant gratification andhigh quality services that are always availableand competitively priced. That, fundamentally,is why the data experience is relevant.

As Amdocs, we’ve created a new offeringcalled Amdocs Data Experience Solutionwhich has been designed to enable customersto implement it in their network very quickly todeliver fundamental market offers and use-cases such as tiered services, shared wallet,data pass, pay-per-use and so forth. That’s thekey to their ability to innovate and competebecause a lot of CSPs don’t have time for largeintegration and implementation projects. Theyneed to innovate quickly. Social networkingplans are one example, shared wallet plansacross multiple devices are another.

Because of what’s happening in theirrespective markets, CSPs can’t wait 18 to 24months to create, test and deploy a single usecase. Rapid time to market is essential forthem to compete effectively.

VP: What are some of the key trends youare seeing that support this?

DS: We are seeing a plethora of innovationsat play. One operator is in the process ofturning up a ‘Data Happy-Hour’ wherebysubscriber data usage is not tracked againsttheir service plan. Also, users now clearlyhave a reliance on social networking and thealways-on aspect of that. Everyone needsaccess to Facebook and Twitter, so we areseeing innovation around unlimited access tosocial networking applications.

Another trend is the need to monetise. Upsellsof bandwidth boost to ensure QoS (quality ofservice) across different applications, or aroaming data pass to create new revenuewhile eliminating bill shock risk. We’re seeingunlimited plans for business users and trendssuch as consumers sharing their packageacross devices. They’re diverting quotasacross different family members in a familyplan, for example. There’s a need to becreative about how to manage the consumeracross their different needs and markets.

VP: What are the use cases that are mostrelevant to mobile operators today? Whyare they challenged to implement these?

DS: There are a set of key use cases that areessential for data monetisation, but also forcustomer retention and satisfaction. Offerssuch as roaming data passes whereby a usercan purchase a roaming package for a day, oropt in to Wi-Fi offload are coming to market.

More and more the ability to transparentlyoffload a subscriber from Wi-Fi to 3G or 4G isrequired.

Other use cases such as shared wallets, notonly across multiple devices, but also acrossmultiple users are being demanded, forexample for a family or small business. Thatbrings a different level of commercialisation tothe market in terms of how CSPs want to trackand deliver plans and packages.

There are three key dimensions for CSPs toconsider: time, volume and application. Voiceused to be based on time, data used be basedon volume but now, unlimited Facebook plansalso bring in the application. Once an operatorcan manage those three dimensions, theyhave the ability to upsell on top of the basicpackage being provided. They have the abilityto allow for top-ups or upsell the basic plan.

VP: What are the implications of that forsolutions such as policy and charging?

DS: In order to monetise and get to marketquickly, policy and charging need to be tightlyintegrated as a single function with a robustconfiguration capability for rapid time-to-deploy. What is different with Amdocs’approach, is that we fundamentally believethat what needs to take place is theproductisation of market offers, tiered servicesand Wi-Fi offload to 3G and LTE. Thoseproductised, pre-configured offerings can bequickly enabled out into the market, andshould not rely on multiple solutions fromdifferent vendors because that will involvelengthy integration efforts. They must bedeployable in rapid timeframes.

VP: Do you believe that policy andcharging have yet to be successfullyintegrated? What are the challengeshere?

DS: Our belief is there needs to be afundamental shift in approach. We need tolook at how we create unique solutions toaddress unique market offers. At Amdocs,we’re setting the bar in how to go about thiswith the new Data Experience business unit.We’ve taken proven product technologies andpre-integrated them with the ability to putthem in the customer environment in a matterof weeks. Our proposition isn’t only software,it’s a system – a system that has been createdto meet the demands of tier one operators, thebiggest and best in the world.

The acquisition of Bridgewater Systems byAmdocs is a scenario in which one plus oneequals ten because the new business unit

“Consumers ... arediverting quotasacross different

family members ina family plan.”


!

SPOTLIGHT


takes the Bridgewater assets and the assets already within Amdocs and productises them on aproven hardware platform. Taking the combined Bridgewater and Amdocs domain expertise andencapsulating that in use cases and productising that out of the box is a compelling propositionfor our customers.

Taking those core products, integrating them and doing that on a pre-tested and integratedsystem and meeting those use cases with a single system is what’s market-leading. It is a different approach to the market and it is also a differentapproach from Amdocs’ perspective.

VP: Is Amdocs well positioned to meet the challenges youdescribe – please explain why?

DS: We have one of the industry’s most complete portfolios that issolely focused on the communications sector. We don’t deal inother sectors. We have the complete proposition from thecustomer to the network with a suite of products that is onlytargeted to the communications market and, because they are allpre-integrated and they all work together, we are positioned toserve the entire CSP market from tier three providers up to tier one.

With the Bridgewater Systems acquisition, we are enabled to getthose mobile propositions to market very quickly. That’s where theData Experience proposition has something unique to offer. We havea unique product approach that centres around the four P’s of theproblem.

The first P is the core product technologies, thesecond is the product catalogue as a singlepoint of configuration, the third is ouruniquely pre-configured and pre-integrated market offers, which no oneelse has, the fourth and final P is thatour propositions are pre-integrated and tested on aproven hardware system thatcan be rolled out rapidly toenable CSPs to makeinnovative, creativeoffers and moreimportantly givethem the ability tomonetise theirmarket offers. Thisapproach makesAmdocs unique inthe marketplace.

“We’ve takenproven producttechnologies andpre-integratedthem ... to putthem in thecustomerenvironment in amatter of weeks.”


Service monitoringTelecom operators must understand their customerservice needs, especially new trends in mobilebroadband services. Networks dimensioned forpacket services a few short years ago are nowunder increasing pressure from the upsurge inmobile data.

Deploying systems to investigate the customerexperience, peak use times and the most popularservices, provides the basis to take the first stepsin introducing higher revenue service plans andbetter quality of service. By matching the serviceplans to encourage a more even spread ofnetwork data throughput, higher revenueservices are possible during peak times with theimprovement in network service delivery.

Furthermore, deploying Deep Packet Inspection(DPI) technology allows policy management touse detailed customer information to enable theoperator to offer more attractive service plans forhigh revenue customers to use their servicesduring peak times.

Customer experienceTelecom operators in a nearly 100% saturatedmarket are increasing their focus onto their owncustomers. Many operators may not realise thatthere are hidden possibilities to further delightcustomers and stretch their budget with newservice guarantees. Nexus can provide additionalvalue data via a network-wide transactionmonitoring system for a company-wide strategyto manage customer experiences.

The Nexus monitoring system provides:1. A combined technology system providing a

single record of a customer transaction correlated from many network-wide paths through the access and core network links.

2. Service and network performance monitoring with adjustable alarm thresholds to alert Network Operation Centre (NOC) resources of degraded performances before many customers are affected.

3. Customer care with fast access to the customer experience data through searching and while speaking with the customer, determining the correct service complaint to provide the feedback.

These basic features for customer experiencemanagement can be further enriched withadditional systems to gather the full picture oftouch points with customers.

Evidence at your fingertipsLike any good detective, evidence is needed tofind the cause of the problem to effect a resolution.To encourage a customer experience focus, thenetwork evidence needs to be online, easilyaccessible and displayed fast when requested.Nexus monitoring system does just that.

Design comprehensive quality thresholds to detectbad experiences in one system for CS and PSservices, mobile broadband services and roamingservices. Customers will enjoy the servicesdelivered, the attention to detail and service qualityand their revenue contributions will increase.

Nexus has helped many operators developbusiness plans to support many deploymentprojects of our systems. Our customers haveconfirmed that the MTTR (Mean time to repair) isconsiderably shorter with NexusNETVIEW andhence prevents the potential loss of vitalrevenues while systems are degraded. There aremany departments within telecoms that benefitfrom a system deployment, that each can sharethe realisation of such system deployment projects.

The author isIan DawsonSeniorMarketingManager,Nexus Telecom,Zurich.

What do you do when thetelecom customer market isnearly 100% saturated?Customer acquisition strategycannot be the only means ofincreasing revenues! Luckily,mobile internet use is continuing itsenormous growth. Networks areexpanding their data capacity. But dooperators really understand their customerconsumption? Could they unlock even more ARPUwith increased customer focus and improved services?

Servicemonitoring

and customerexperience

evidence at yourfingertips

W E B I N A R R E V I E W

VanillaPlusJargon Buster

ARPU = AverageRevenue Per User

N E X T G E N A C C E S S N E T W O R K S


Next Generation Access (NGA) networks are becoming increasingly prevalentas organisations of all types look to service both urban and rural areas withhigh speed broadband, writes Carina Wadman.

Challenging old principles to bring users new services

Building a network which is open to differentoperators and content providers can bringenormous benefits for businesses andresidential users alike, but these networksneed robust operational and business systemsto ensure consistent delivery and servicequality.

As the world wakes up to the broadbandchallenge, governments and regulatory bodiesfrom across the globe are setting ambitioustargets for broadband access, to be met in thecoming years. Each year we get new reportsby different industry bodies pointing towardsa growth in the number of broadbandconnections. But in reality the actual growthdoes not happen to the extent promised and

one wonders why. What are the factorsdelaying growth?

What’s it all about?Financing is one of the main reasons fordelayed growth. Even if there aregovernmental programmes, it’s oftentroublesome to get access to the funding. Theincumbents have a steady income streamfrom existing operations, and can make aninvestment with a longer perspective in mind.

But for a ‘greenfield’ network and alternativeoperators it is a more difficult exercise. Thegrowth rate in subscriber numbers can bedifficult to foresee and therefore also therevenues. This makes the investmentcalculation risky. It is important to getattractive services into your network and aneffective go-to-market to reach as manysubscribers as possible and keep the uptakerate growing steadily.

For small operators, attracting services can bea major problem. Service providers havetargets for profitability and delivering servicesto smaller operators means that they oftenneed to work in different portals, keepdifferent interfaces up to date, while handlingmail and billing to many parties.

Carina Wadman,VP Marketing,NetadminSystems

Customers Services

!


This is too costly and it’s a more profitabledecision not to deliver the service to the smalloperator. This leads to problems for smallernetworks as they are unable to attract enoughservice providers, making them less attractiveto the end users and ultimately they bring inless revenue.

Our view is that open access markets withseveral open access networks (OANs) andservice providers (SPs) can easily become acomplex and inefficient environment. A lack ofstandardisation in how different actors co-operate in the market and insufficientautomation of business processes betweenthe actors also contributes to this complexity.(see Fig.1)

A common scenario is that every serviceprovider has to create a unique integration toeach and every access network and theirrespective support systems in order to operatein the market. This situation results in largeoperational expenses and a risk of low qualityservice fulfillment and assurance processes. Asolution to this is to have a central andstandardised platform.

The solution to reaching an efficient platformfor an open access market could bestandardisation of the interface between theservice provider and the network. (see Fig.2)

A Service Exchange Platform can provide asingle interface for a service provider tomanage its services and subscribers inmultiple external access networks. Thisenables efficient service delivery, even insmaller local networks, and thus increasesmarket reach for the service provider. Theplatform may also be used to create a

marketplace for network services, for exampleEthernet Active Line Access (Ethernet ALA)services in FTTx networks.

For operators such a platform enables andsimplifies the handling of modern, network-based services. This gives the end customersthe possibility of individual and free choicesamong the offered services. It is our belief thatold principles must be challenged in order tooffer your customers access to the services oftoday and tomorrow.

ServiceProvider A

Network 1

Network 2

Network 3

ServiceProvider B

ServiceProvider C

ServiceProvider A

Network 1SEPNetwork 2

Network 3

ServiceProvider B

ServiceProvider C

Fig.1

Fig.2

Aileen Smith,TM Forum:Taking outunnecessarycosts

Martin Creaner, president,TM Forum

MW AMER ICAS 2011 REV IEW


The survey shows the proliferation of theFrameworx suite of standards, with four out offive service provider member respondentsgaining measurable benefits to simplify their ITinfrastructure. TM Forum also releasedFrameworx 11.5, the latest release of Frameworxwhich improves customer experience, maximisesrevenue and transforms cable operations.Morristown, New Jersey-based TM Forumannounced the survey results and launch at theirannual Management World Americas 2011 event,held in Orlando last month.

Survey participants reported that the top reasonsfor Frameworx adoption include simplifying ITarchitecture to speed new service rollouts, andreducing integration cost and risk. In fact, 74% ofrespondents cited Frameworx as an enabler forreducing these costs and risks, with 67% alreadysaid to be seeing measurable benefits.

The survey also pointed to the growingimportance of the Frameworx ConformanceCertification Programme for both serviceproviders and suppliers. The programmesimplifies the procurement of standards-basedsoftware and solutions, providing a simple, clear,independent assessment of Frameworxconformance. Six out of 10 companies (63%)surveyed said they are already mandatingFrameworx conformance in relevant RFQ/P(request for quotation / proposal) specifications. Inall, 41% of companies report using TM Forum’sProcurement Templates, launcheda year ago.

To sustain this growing adoption, version 11.5contains some core extensions as well asguidebooks that focus on the practical uses ofFrameworx. These include:

• Three Quick Start Packs that enable rapid, out-of-the-box adoption of critical Frameworx business processes covering New Service Rollout, Trouble to Resolve and TV Everywhere

• Methodologies for using Frameworx to realise Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) as well as standard Business Process Framework-ITIL flows, enabling the practical linkage of existing IT service management to the rest of the business.

• Operational Metrics enabling service providers to better manage their businesses

• Common Fraud Classifications allowing service providers to determine vulnerability and set protection.

“As market pressures increase, service providersmust embrace change,” said Shira Levine,directing analyst for next generation OSS andpolicy, Infonetics Research. “To make thishappen, service providers must automate theircore business operations using commercial off-the-shelf systems and focus instead oninnovative services, partnerships and businessmodels. As a result, we are seeing increasedinterest in standardised approaches, such asadopting TM Forum’s Frameworx.”

Business Metrics Automation The TM Forum also recently launched the BusinessMetrics Automation Certification programmewhich enables software suppliers toindependently assess their solutions’ conformanceto the TM Forum Frameworx Business Metricsstandards. This programme speeds serviceproviders’ access to reliable, real-timebenchmarking data and performance analytics, andreduces the time and cost of the overall procurementprocess by allowing them to easily selectproducts that conform to TM Forum standards.

!

Message from Orlando:Speed and simplify

The TM Forum has revealed the results of its first ever survey of Frameworxadoption, at the same time as it unveiled its Frameworx suite version 11.5. In thesurvey of 90 service provider members 71% of respondents reported measurablebenefits from using Frameworx standards to simplify their IT infrastructure.

The mobile industry is undergoing continuous redefinition. A mobile is a method ofspreading the message about a new product, watching television, and connecting toour friends. Mobile technology is embedded in our vehicles, our books, our homes.Mobiles allow the unbanked to send money and can help diagnose illnesses in remotelocations. Mobile devices are able to do more than anyone thought was possible, yetwe’ve only begun to tap their potential. Where will mobile take us next?

Where nextwith mobiles?

At Mobile World Congress 2012: • CEOs of the world’s most influential

companies will share their observations and visions of the future while inspiring attendees of our thought-leadership conference

• More than 1,400 of the industry’s leading suppliers of mobile products, services and technologies will become part of the most anticipated exhibition of the year

• More than 10,000 application developers will gather for App Planet, the Centre of the Mobile Applications Universe, to be educated, energised, and challenged

• The world’s largest consumer brands will join

us for mPowered Brands, a new programme designed to accelerate marketers’ knowledge and utilisation of mobile as a marketing medium

• We’ll recognise the industry’s greatest achievements, new technologies, innovative devices and ideas through the 17th Annual Global Mobile Awards

During the four-day event, 60,000 senior mobileprofessionals will network and exchange ideas –one of which may further change what we thinkis possible.

For more information on how you can RedefineMobile, visit www.MobileWorldCongress.com orcontact us @MobileWorldLive.


The programme certifies that a softwaresupplier’s product is able to interact securely withthe TM Forum Business Benchmarking database,including uploading data for the specifiedstandard metrics in the correct format,generating queries, and downloading the queryresults for use in embedded product dashboards.

“Benchmarking has always been time-consuming and as a result is done infrequently,”said Nancee Ruzicka, director, OSS/BSS GlobalCompetitive Strategies at Stratecast. “Byprocuring Business Metrics Automation software

with standard metrics and automated datacollection and transmission, service providerswill be able to monitor their performance withthe click of a mouse. They can then focus onanalysing the comparative data and makingdecisions, not on collecting the data.”

Suppliers actively involved in the programme sinceits launch at Management World Dublin in May,include: Clarity, cVidya, HP, Oracle, Subex,and WeDo Technologies. To date, TM Forum hasdefined 101 industry standard metrics as part ofits Business Performance Measurement System.

A Standards Procurement Council, comprised of leadingservice providers and their suppliers, has been set up toestablish best practices in the procurement process. Thecouncil is the next stage of TM Forum’s programme tosimplify standards-based procurement incommunications.

Speaking to VanillaPlus, Aileen Smith, TM Forum’s headof Collaboration and R&D, said: “At up to US$2 million fora major procurement exercise, the costs of procurementare enormous and sometimes needlessly so. There’s amassive amount of work in an RFP (request for proposal),

little time to do it, and little chance for suppliers todifferentiate. But we reckon there’s a lot of commonalityin procurement requirements. The council is acollaborative way of taking costs out.”

The initial members of the council include DeutscheTelekom, France Telecom, NetCracker, NSN, NTT,Oracle and Reliance Group. They will work together toengage the industry to establish best practices forprocurement, encourage adoption of standards-basedsolutions and achieve IT transparency, efficiency andagility in procurement.

Service providers and vendors join new Standards Procurement Councilto improve procurement efficiency

MWC 2012 BARCELONA PREV IEW

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31VANILLAPLUSDIRECTORY 2012

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DIRECTORY

2012

2Ergo 2ergo.com4th Screen Advertising 4th-screen.comABITEL Consulting GmbH abitel.deAccanto Systems accantosystems.comAccedian Networks accedian.comAccenture accenture.comAccipia Ltd accipia.comACES aces-co.comAcision acision.comACL acl.comAcme Packet acmepacket.comacoreus AG acoreus.comACS acsdallas.comActix actix.comAdapt adaptplc.comAdare adare.comAepona aepona.comAffiniti affiniti.comAicent aicent.netAIRCOM International Ltd aircominternational.comAirwide Solutions airwidesolutions.comAito Technologies Oy aitotechnologies.comAktavara aktavara.seAladdin Knowledge Systems Co. aladdin.comAlbany Software albany.co.ukAlcatel-Lucent alcatel-lucent.comAllot Communications allot.comAllround allround.net

Amdocs amdocs.comAmdocs Interactive changingworlds.comAnalysys Mason analysysmason.comAnritsu A/S eu.anritsu.comApex CoVantage apexcovantage.comArantech (Tektronics Communications co.) arantech.comArgogroup (an Ascom company) argogroup.comAricent aricent.comArieso arieso.comArkipelago arkipelago.comARRIS arrisi.comarvato finance arvatofinance.comAscom Group ascom.comAspect Software, Inc aspect.comAspiro aspiro.comAstellia astellia.comATDI SA atdi.comATIO atio.comAtlas Interactive Germany atlasinteractivegroup.deAtos Origin atosorigin.comAudilog Groupe Ericsson audilog.comAutonomy etalk etalk.comAverox averox.comAzoft (a division of DonRiver, Inc) azoft.comBarcoding, Inc barcoding.comBaseN basen.netBasset Global bassetglobal.comBercut Ltd bercut.com


C O M P A N Y U R L C O M P A N Y U R L

A - Z O F B S S / O S SC O M P A N I E S

[email protected] Tel: +28 378 638 1238

Acision powers innovation and profitable growth in mobileservices. As the pioneer of mobile messaging, Acision enablescustomers worldwide to drive new revenues with innovativeservices while monetising traffic. Acision's proven products andservices, experienced people and service innovation allowsorganisations to meet the challenges in today’s convergingtelecommunications market. Acision is at the heart of itscustomers’ strategic business services, working together toachieve profitable and sustainable growth. Acision’s recognisedexpertise extends across a portfolio of propositions, productsand services and is based upon a global track record, businessinsight and leading edge technology platform.

Sectors: Mobile Messaging and Data Services, Rating &Charging, Location-Based Services; Loyalty & ChurnManagement

Astelliawww.astellia.comDavid BouchonField Marketing & Communications [email protected] du Plessis35772 Vern sur Seiche cedexFranceTel: +33 (0)2 99 04 80 60

Astellia is a leading expert in monitoring and optimisationsolutions for the quality of service (QoS) and performance ofmobile networks. Astellia provides rich insight into subscriberusage and network behaviour in order to help operators deliverthe best user experience while increasing network profitability.The company develops, manufactures and sells its solutions to180 operators and equipment manufacturers in more than 80countries. Astellia solutions integrate its long experience andknowledge of operators’ needs to cover 2G to 4G technologiesfrom radio access to core networks. In order to help operatorsmove faster towards more profitable networks and services, theAstellia consultancy team shares its deep knowledge through awide range of services such as network performance audits,telecom training and technical assistance.

Sectors: Business Intelligence for Mobile Networks; CustomerBehaviour Analytics; Customer Experience Management; DeepPacket Inspection; Mobile Network Optimisation; Quality ofService; Quality of Experience; Service Assurance; Test &Measurement Equipment;

[email protected] Shaftesbury Avenue,LondonWC2H 8ADUKTel: +44 20 7927 6000

Established in 1999, Cerillion provides convergent CRM &billing, charging, interconnect, mediation and provisioningsolutions to fixed, mobile, cable and multi-servicecommunications providers worldwide.

The Cerillion bundled component solution suite supports anydeployment model: as an end-to-end pre-integrated businesssupport system, managing the complete lifecycle of customers,products, services and revenues; in a mixed deployment, whereselected modules may be replaced by 3rd party applications; orin a pure best-of-breed solution. The system is also fullyoperational as a complete managed service solution. Cerillionsolutions deliver the business agility needed to respond quicklyand effectively in a highly competitive environment.

Sectors: Rating & Charging, Mediation & Collection,Billing (Retail), Billing (Interconnect & Wholesale), Billing& Customer Care

Billing Components GmbH billing-components.comBivio Networks bivio.netBlue Coat bluecoat.comBlue Star Infotech bsil.comBluestreak Technology bluestreaktech.comBluetab bluetab.netBMC Solutions bmcsolutions.co.ukBoku boku.comBridgewater Systems bridgewatersystems.comBrighterion brighterion.comBroadHop broadhop.comBroadVision broadvision.comBT http://business.bt.comBusiness Logic Systems businesslogicsystems.comBytemobile bytemobile.comCapgemini capgemini.comCasewise casewise.comCA Technologies ca.comCBOSS Corporation cbossgroup.comCellVision AS cellvision.comCelona Technologies celona.comCentile centile.comCeragon Networks ceragon.comCerillion cerillion.comCGI cgi.comCheck Point Software Technologies Ltd checkpoint.comCiqual ciqual.comCisco cisco.com

Clarity clarity.comClarity Integration Ltd clarity-integration.comClarity clarity.comClassifeye classifeye.comClearswift clearswift.comComarch AS comarch.com/telecommunicationsCommScope commscope.comCommSolv commsolv.comCommuniGate Systems communigate.comCommunications Fraud Control Assoc cfca.orgComptel Corporation comptel.comComputaris computaris.comCompuware compuware.comComsearch (a Commscope co.) comsearch.comComverse comverse.comComviva comviva.comConceptWave conceptwave.comCondico condicomobile.comConnectiva Systems, Inc connectivasystems.comConsona CRM consona.comConsult-Hyperion chyp.comContinuous Computing ccpu.comConvergys convergys.comCopperEye coppereye.comCordys cordys.comCreanord Ltd creanord.comCreditCall creditcall.comCRM Technologies crmtechnologies.com

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[email protected] 3, 15 Blue Street, North SydneyNSW 2060, AustraliaTel: +61 2 9925 5000

Clarity provides award-winning solutions for service providersto simplify the operations and management of theircommunication networks. Clarity’s solutions are used toautomate order provisioning, assure the quality of networks andcorrelated services, manage rapid network deployments, andcreate and sell innovative products. More than 35 serviceproviders globally use Clarity’s operational managementsolutions to reduce operational expenditure, minimise capitaloutlays, improve automation, create revenue streams andimprove customer management. Clarity’s solutions are built ona common, modular, product architecture built on industrystandard hardware, software and networking solutions. Thescalable solution is proven to support Tier 1 carriers with highvolumes of users and data. The common architecture and out-of-the-box, configurable software provides the lowest total costof ownership for service providers along with embedded bestpractices and process-driven workflow to reduce the complexity,risk and cost of operations.

Sectors: Advertising, Marketing & Search; BackhaulManagement; Cloud Computing; Enterprise ResourceManagement; Enterprise Resource Planning; IMS Migration &Deployment; IP TV & Video; Inventory, Asset & ElementManagement; Location & Mobile Mapping; Network & ServiceTest & Measurement; Network Configuration Management;Mobile Device Management; Network Discovery & Optimisation;Network Performance Management; Number Portability; OrderManagement; Partner Relationship Management; PartnerSettlement; Product Catalogue; Product Lifecycle Management;Service Adoption Management; Service Assurance; 4G, LTE &WiMAX;

CommuniGateSystems GmbHwww.communigate.comE-mail/XMPP/SIP:[email protected] Platz 11, 10785 Berlin, GermanyTel: +49 30 2589 5018Twitter: @communigateLinkedIn groups: "CommuniGate Systems"& "MVNO Cloud Services"

CommuniGate Systems are leaders in super-efficient, massivelyscalable unified communications technology for the cloud. Thecompany develops carrier-grade unified communicationssoftware that today enables more that 250 carriers and hostingproviders to cost-effectively deliver value-added voice andmultimedia services over their IP-based networks.CommuniGate Systems provide the only independent, single-source unified communications technology in the market, andhas unprecedented reliability and scale. The company'ssoftware comprises of the industry acclaimed CommuniGatePro™, Pronto!™ and UC Centrex™, delivering email, instantmessaging, presence, file-sharing, collaboration, groupware,mobile synchronisation, mobile push, VoIP, IP PBX, SMSintegration, desktop and web applications all come from asingle package. Pronto video demos:www.communigate.com/main/pronto Communications in theCloud demos and downloads: www.uccentrex.com

Sectors: Cloud Communications Software; Instant Messaging& Presence; Secure Email; Unified Communications; UCCentrex; VoIP, IP PBX;

Comptel [email protected]. Box 1000,FI-00181 Helsinki, FinlandTel: +358 9 700 1131

Comptel Dynamic OSS solutions enable telecom serviceproviders to deliver services flexibly and charge themeffectively. Comptel's wide expertise in service fulfillment,policy control, mediation and charging empowers ourcustomers to focus on delivering innovative services. Comptelhas provided software solutions to over 280 service providerswith over one billion subscribers in 85 countries. The Grouphas over 600 employees worldwide, and net sales wereEUR 78 million in 2010.

Sectors: Billing (Interconnect, Carrier Access), Billing(Multiplay), Billing (Retail), Billing & Charging (Real-Time),Billing & Customer Care (Combined), Inventory & ElementManagement, Mediation / Collection, Network & FrequencyPlanning, Pre-paid Management, Pricing, Rating, Charging,Service Delivery, Assurance & QoS, Service Provisioning &Activation

VANILLAPLUSDIRECTORY 2012

CSG International csgi.comCSR csr.comCTI Group ctigroup.comCurrent Analysis currentanalysis.comCustomer Value Partners cvpcorp.comcVidya Networks cvidya.comCyberSource cybersource.comCycle30 cycle30.comDevoteam devoteam.comData Track Technology PLC datatrackplc.comDataflow Communications Ltd dataflow.netdeCarta, Inc decarta.comDialogic Corporation dialogic.comDiginotar diginotar.comDigital Fuel Technologies, Inc digitalfuel.comDigitalRoute digitalroute.comDimension Data dimensiondata.comDNS dns.co.ukDragonWave dragonwaveinc.comEastWind eastwind.ruEasynet easynet.comECI Telecom ecitele.comECT - Telecom ect-telecoms.comeGain egain.comElitecore Technologies Ltd elitecore.comEltel Networks eltelnetworks.comEMC Ionix emc.comEmida emida.net

Empirix, Inc empirix.comempolis arvato empolis.comEnd2End end2end.netEndace Ltd endace.comENTEREST GmbH enterest.euEntuity entuity.comEnvivio envivio.comEquinox IS equinoxis.comErgon ergon.ch/en/telecomEricsson ericsson.comeServGlobal eservgobal.comESKADENIA Software eskadenia.comETI Software Solutions, Inc etisoftware.comEuroMACC Ltd euromacc.comEurotime Solutions Ltd eurotimesolutions.co.ukEvidian (a Groupe Bull co.) evidian.comEvistel evistel.comEvolved Intelligence Ltd evolved-intelligence.comEvolving Systems evolving.comExcentis excentis.comEXFO exfo.comExperian experianplc.comExperian Payments experianpayments.comEyeBill Interactive Solutions eyebill.netF5 Networks f5.comFICO fico.comFIQAS Software BV fiqas.nlFiserv fiserv.com




[email protected] HouseMolly Millars LaneWokinghamRG412PXUKTel: +44 118 989 0144

+44 118 989 0155

Comviva, with over a decade of experience, is a global leader inproviding mobile solutions beyond VAS (value-added services).Comviva is a pioneer in developing and deploying solutions thatenhance operator efficiencies and improve business results. Byadding value at every stage of the customer life cycle – frompre-paid subscription to e-top up to customer care, and fromreal-time promotions and loyalty management to billingsolutions – Comviva has helped operators rationalise costs,accelerate revenue growth and enhance customer value.Comviva offers flexible solution delivery model includingcapacity-based licensing, transaction-based variable pricing orcomplete end-to-end managed services model for its innovativesolutions. Comviva’s leading solutions have been leveraged by110 mobile operators in more than 85 countries to deliverenhanced value added services to over 650 million subscribers.

Sectors: Application Delivery Platforms (Messaging,Voice/Video, Remote Application Environment platforms);Mobile Applications (Voice/Video, Music, Gaming, Messaging,Self-Care, Call Completion); Mobile Money & Recharge andCustomer Value & Retention; VAS Infrastructure (SMS, USSDmessaging, Mobile Internet)

CSG [email protected] CourtAlbert DriveWokingSurreyGU21 5UBUK Tel: +44 1483 745800

CSG International is a market-leading business supportsolutions and services company serving the majority of the top

100 global communications service providers including AT&T,Comcast, DISH Network, France Telecom, MasterCard, Orange,T-Mobile, Telefonica, Time Warner Cable, Vodafone, Vivo andVerizon. With over 25 years of experience and expertise in voice,video, data and content services, CSG International offers abroad portfolio of licensed and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)based products and solutions that help clients compete moreeffectively, improve business operations and deliver a moreimpactful customer experience across a variety of touch points.For more information, visit www.csgi.com

Sectors: Billing (Interconnect, Carrier Access); Billing(Multiplay); Billing (Outsourced / Managed Service); Billing(Retail); Billing (Split); Billing & Charging (Real-Time); Billing &Customer Care; Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid; CustomerRelationship Management; M2M Communication Services;Mediation / Collection; Messaging Aggregation & Billing;Partner Relationship Management; Pricing, Rating, Charging;Revenue Assurance & Audit; Revenue & Risk Management;Roaming Settlement & Clearing; Rules-Based Discounting;Service Provisioning & Activation; Subscriber PolicyManagement; Supplier / Partner Settlement; SystemsIntegration; Workflow Management;

CTI [email protected] N Alabama St., Suite 240Indianapolis, IN 46214, USATel: +1 317-262-4879

CTI Group is a leading developer of telecommunicationssolutions for fixed, mobile and converged communications. Ourapplications for analytics and reporting, e-billing, interactionrecording and quality management are utilised by carriers,service providers, multi-national corporations and theircustomers around the world. CTI Group applications are used toMonitor, Measure and Manage the complexities of unifiedcommunications environments for organisations of all sizes.Our solutions represent more than 30 years of experience inconverting the content from our call traffic detail, e-billing andtelephony workflow tools into actionable information.

Sectors: Billing & Customer Care; Call Accounting &Recording; Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid; Corporate CallManagement; Customer Relationship Management; eBilling,ePayment & ePresentment; Loyalty & Churn Management;Telemanagement;

Flash Networks flashnetworks.comFluke Networks, Inc flukenetworks.comFML fmlsolutions.comFROX communication frox.comFTS fts-soft.comGemalto gemalto.comGENBAND genband.comgenerationE Technologies generationetech.comGeneric Software Consultants Ltd generic-software.comGenesys (an Alcatel-Lucent co.) genesyslab.comGensym (a Versata Enterprises co.) gensym.comGeoCentric geocentric.comGetronics NV getronics.comGintel gintel.comGIPS Group gips.netGlobal 360, Inc global360.comGoogle google.comGRUPO DELAWARE grupodelaware.comGSMA gsma.comHarris Stratex Networks harrisstratex.comHP hp.comHorsebridge Networks horsebridge.netHuawei huawei.comi-conX solutions Ltd iconxsolutions.comi2 (a Silver Lake Sumeru co.) i2.co.ukIBM Corp ibm.comICare icare.itIdentify Networks identifygroup.co.uk

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[email protected] Bath Road,SloughBerkshireSL1 4DX,UKTel: +44 (0) 1753 464748

eGain (EGAN) is the leading provider of customer service andcontact centre software for cloud and on-premise deployment.Trusted by prominent enterprise worldwide, eGain has beenhelping businesses achieve and sustain customer serviceexcellence for more than a decade. The eGainTelecommunications proposition will assist your organisation to:• Reduce subscriber churn• Improve first call resolution• Drive down operating costs• Manage business consolidations• Increase Customer satisfaction

Sectors: Billing & Customer Care; eBilling; Contact Centres &Hubs; Customer Experience Management; Customer InteractionManagement; Customer Lifecycle Management; CustomerRelationship Management; Loyalty & Churn Management;

EXFOwww.exfo.com [email protected] Godin,Quebec (Quebec),Canada, G1M 2K2Tel: +1 418 683 0913

Listed on the NASDAQ and TSX stock exchanges, EXFO isamong the leading providers of next-generation test and serviceassurance solutions for wireless and wireline network operatorsand equipment manufacturers in the global telecommunicationsindustry. The company offers innovative solutions for thedevelopment, installation, management and maintenance ofconverged, IP fixed and mobile networks — from the core to theedge. Key technologies supported include 3G, 4G/LTE, IMS,Ethernet, OTN, FTTx, and various optical technologies(accounting for an estimated 35% of the portable fibre-optic testmarket). EXFO has a staff of approximately 1,800 people in 25countries, supporting more than 2,000 telecom customersworldwide.

[email protected] Maskit St, Israel 46120Tel: +972 9 9 526 500

FTS is a leading provider of billing, customer care and policycontrol solutions for communications and content serviceproviders. By analysing events from a business standpointrather than just billing them, FTS allows providers to betterunderstand their customer base and leverage business valuefrom every event and interaction. FTS deploys its full range ofend-to-end, stand-alone and add-on solutions to customers inover 40 countries and has implemented solutions in wireless,wireline, cable, content and broadband markets includingmultiple cross-network installations. Serving the evolving needsof both traditional and next generation service providers, thecompany’s operations comprise international R&D locations andstrategically-located sales support offices worldwide.

Sectors: Billing & Customer Care; Policy Control;

Identify Networkswww.identifynetworks.comJason Bandy, Group Director of [email protected] Elsinore House, 43 Buckingham Street Aylesbury, Bucks HP20 2NQ, UKTel: +44 (0)1296 611 300

Identify Networks has an unrivalled knowledge of the globalOSS/BSS talent pool. The speed and quality of the talent weprovide helps communications companies and their partners todesign, operate and monetise network systems. We specialise inthe supply of permanent and contract resource, and prideourselves on our ability to quickly deliver high quality talentmatches while providing world class customer service.

Sectors: Executive Recruitment; Search & Selection

INFONOVA GmbHwww.infonova.com [email protected] Seering 6, 8141 Unterpremstätten/Graz, AustriaTel: +43 316 8003

Infonova, founded in 1989, specialises in providing technology andbusiness-oriented solutions and services to telecommunications,media, finance, utility and convergent industries. Infonova’s BSSsolutions have been implemented for incumbent, attacker and


IIR Telecoms & Technology iir-telecoms.comILOG ilog.comIncognito Software incognito.comIndra Sistemas indra.esInfo Directions infodirections.comInfonova infonova.atInfor infor.co.ukInforma Telecoms & Media informatm.comInformatica Corp informatica.comInformation Engineers idest.co.ukInfosys Technologies infosys.comInfoVista infovista.comIngenico ingenico.comIngres Corp ingres.comInline Telecom Solutions inlinetelecom.ruInnoPath Software innopath.comInnopay innopay.comIntegralis AG integralis.comIntegration Consortium integrationconsortium.orgInteligentis inteligentis.comIntelliden, Inc. intelliden.comInteractive Intelligence, Inc inin.comInternational Turnkey Systems (ITS) its.wsIntersec intersec.comInterSystems Corp intersystems.comINTRACOM TELECOM intracom-telecom.comInvivo invivosoft.comIpanema Technologies ipanematech.com

iPass ipass.comiisy iisy.deITU itu.intIXIA ixiacom.comIxonos ixonos.comJDSU jdsu.comJones Cyber Solutions Ltd jonescyber.comJunifer Systems junifersystems.comJuniper Networks juniper.netKabira Technologies kabira.comKalido kalido.comKANA kana.comKansys Inc kansys.comKapsh kapsch.netKcom kcom.comKeynote keynote.comKineto Wireless kineto.comKobil kobil.comKognitio kognitio.comKroll Ontrack krollontrack.co.ukKXEN kxen.comLeostream leostream.comLionbridge lionbridge.comLogica logica.co.ukLogicManse logicmanse.comLogiSense logisense.comLogNet Systems lognet-systems.comLoyalty Partner Solutions GmbH lpsolutions.com




cable operators supporting triple & quadruple play serviceportfolios. Encapsulating decades of knowledge, Infonova’slatest BSS product, R6 is a fully J2EE platform that supports realmulti-tenant concept-to-cash operations for fully convergent andcomplex multi-industry 2.0 business models while alsosupporting Telco 1.0 simultaneously. R6 also deliverstransformation scenarios and Pre- & Post-paid Convergence at afraction the cost and time of traditional integration scenarios.

Sectors: Billing (Multiplay); Billing (Outsourced / ManagedService); Billing (Retail); Billing (Split); Billing & Charging(Utility); Billing & Customer Care; Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid;Corporate Call Management; Credit, Cost & Debt Management;Customer Experience Management; Mediation / Collection;Partner Relationship Management; Pricing, Rating, Charging;Product Lifecycle Management; Rules-Based Discounting; ServiceProvisioning & Activation; Systems Integration; Web-based Self-care; Web Billing / Payment / Presentment; Workflow Management;

[email protected] Lippe, DirectorCorporate and Field Marketing6, rue de la Terre de Feu, 91952 Courtaboeuf Cedex, FranceTel: +33 1 64 86 85 56

InfoVista is the leading provider of software solutions forperformance assurance of IP based application and networkservices. We empower managed service providers, mobile andbroadband operators to transform their IT infrastructure into adistinctive asset for revenue generation, customer loyalty andbusiness agility by adopting a quality centric approach toexpedite the launch of innovative, differentiated and performingservices ahead of the competition. InfoVista carrier-class,integrated and patented performance assurance platformempowers telecom operators to holistically and cost-effectivelymonitor and ensure availability and quality of service on theinfrastructure, services and applications they deliver whilekeeping operational costs as low as possible. InfoVista is theperformance assurance platform of choice of 80% of the world’slargest communication service providers. They are equippedwith the actionable visibility and the intelligence to processcustomised information in real-time to effectively manage thequality of their managed, cloud-based, application -aware,wireless, backhaul and broadband services, thereby ensuring ahigh-quality user experience across the all-IP network.

Sectors: Customer Experience Management; NetworkPerformance Management; Service Delivery Assurance & QoS;

[email protected] Lochside View, Edinburgh ParkEdinburgh EH12 9DH, UKTel: +44 131 666 6150

JDSU is a world leader in communications testing, offeringindustry leading test solutions that measure, monitor, reportand troubleshoot the quality of service, quality of customerexperience and performance of the entire range of wireless andwireline telecommunications networks, including evolvingtechnologies such as LTE, UMTS, HSDP+, VoIP, IMS, Ethernetand IPTV. Our wireless test capabilities for UMTS and LTE arewidely recognised in the industry, and awards include Informa’s2010 Best Network/Device Testing Product for LTE.

Sectors: Network Test & Measurement; Service Assurance;Training; VoIP Applications;

M2M [email protected] Ltd, Suite 28, 30 Churchill Square, Kings Hill,West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU, UKTel: +44 (0)1732 897652

M2M Now is the sister title to VanillaPlus and the first globalmagazine dedicated to machine-to-machine communications(M2M) communications. It explores the evolving opportunitiesand challenges facing M2M service providers, and passes onlessons learned from those who have taken the first steps innext generation enterprise services. M2M Now covers allindustries using fixed line, satellite & wireless M2M networksfor business-to-business users and consumers’ connecteddevices. These industries include: automotive, energy & waterutilities, fleet management & logistics; healthcare,manufacturing, retail & vending, security & access control,telecoms, and transport & telematics. The magazine issupported by a portal (www.m2mnow.biz) featuring exclusiveC-Level Interviews (on video & in print) with executives fromNetwork Operators, Service Providers & Aggregators, Device,Platform & Technology Enablers, Solution Vendors, andCorporate End Users. Go to: www.m2mnow.biz

Sectors: Connected & Embedded Devices; M2MCommunication Services;

LTC International ltcinternational.comM2M Now magazine & portal m2mnow.bizMACH mach.comMahindra Satyam mahindrasatyam.netMala Communications mala-communications.co.ukMaporama International http://world.maporama.comMATRIXX Software matrixxsw.comMaxBill Ltd maxbill.commBlox mblox.comMDS martindawessystems.comMDS Lavastorm Analytics lavastorm.comMegaSys Computer Technologies megasys.comMetastorm metastorm.comMetaswitch Networks metaswitch.comMetracom metracom.frMetraTech Corp metratech.comMGt plc mgtplc.comMicro Focus International microfocus.comMicrosoft microsoft.comMIND CTI mindcti.comMi-Pay mi-pay.comMoba Consulting mobaconsulting.comMobile Distillery mobile-distillery.comMobilis Networks Ltd mobilis.comMobipay International SA mobipay.esmobivention mobivention.comMojiva mojiva.comMoneybookers moneybookers.com

MoreMagic Solutions, Inc moremagic.comMoriana Group morianagroup.comMotive (an Alcatel-Lucent co.) motive.comMotorola Solutions motorolasolutions.comMovius Interactive moviuscorp.comMTS Ltd mtsint.comMYCOM mycom-int.comMyriad Group myriadgroup.comNagravision nagravision.comNakina Systems nakinasystems.comNarus, Inc narus.comNEC nec.comNeoMedia neom.comNeptuny neptuny.comNetCracker Technology netcracker.comNetEvidence net-evidence.comNetezza (an IBM co.) netezza.comNetformx netformx.comNetNumber netnumber.comNetQoS netqos.comNetScout Systems netscout.comNetsize netsize.comNetSocket netsocket.comNetwork Equipment Technologies (NET) net.comNetwork Cadence networkcadence.comNeural Technologies neuralt.comNeuStar neustar.bizNewBay newbay.com

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[email protected]: +352 27 756 280

MACH connects and monetises the telecom world. It providesits 650 operator customers with roaming, interconnect,messaging, and direct billing solutions, all integrated with itsUS$10bn / year operator settlement capability. It is the largestprovider of data and financial clearing solutions for wirelessroaming and operates the globe’s largest and fastest-growingopen connectivity roaming hub, Link2One. It inserts the operatorin the content and application value chain and serves thereseller and wholesaler community with its A2P messagingsolutions. Headquartered in Luxembourg, MACH has offices in12 countries and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide.Its customers include Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Telus,Verizon Wireless and Microsoft, as well as enterprise messagingcustomers like KLM.

Sectors: Behaviour Analytics; Billing (Interconnect &Wholesale); Billing Analysis; Business Analysis & Intelligence;Customer Analysis; eBilling, ePayment & ePresentment; M2MCommunication Services; Mediation & Collection; MobileMessaging; Outsourcing; Partner Relationship Management;Revenue Assurance, Fraud Control & Prevention; RoamingClearing & Settlement;

MetraTechwww.metratech.comMetraTech Corp. 200 West StreetWaltham, MA 02451, USATel: +1 781 839 8300

MetraTech Corp offers an innovative approach to billing,compensation and customer care. We empower organisationsto embrace change through a unique agreements-based billingand compensation solution that models and supports fluid,personalised multi-party agreements. We automate businessprocesses and business models to address rapidly changing orcomplex business strategies. Our products are deployedglobally, and our customers use MetraTech to securely collectrevenue, compensate partners and manage their customerlifecycle in 12 languages, 28 currencies and 90 countries.Customers include The Depository Trust and ClearingCorporation (DTCC), CETIP, the City of Chicago, MicrosoftOnline, PGi and OnStream (National Grid). The company isheadquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in San Francisco,Munich, Paris, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro and London.

MetraTech is a venture-backed, privately held company whoseinvestors include Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners,Meritech Capital and Vesbridge Partners.

Sectors: Billing (for CSPs, Cloud, Financial Services,Conferencing & Collaboration, & New Business Models); BillingManagement for Operations & IT; Business Rules for ProductMarketing; Charging & Pricing; Commission Management;Convergent Billing; Customer Care & Account Management;E-billing, E-payment and E-presentment; Interactive Reporting;Partner Settlement; Secure E-Payment; Web Self-care(Customers and Partners);

OpenCloudwww.opencloud.comJonathan BellEdinburgh HouseSt John’s Innovation ParkCowley Road, CambridgeCB1 0WS, UKTel: +44 (0)1223 395 611

OpenCloud was founded in 2000 to create game-changingtelecom service layer software products for the telecom networkbased on open standards, Java and standard IT computingplatforms. OpenCloud delivers open, standards-based servicelayer transformation solutions to network operators enablingagile delivery of telecom services at dramatically lower price-points across next generation IP and legacy networks: • Agile development and delivery of classic and Telco 2.0

telecom services • Telecom Service Broking that enables creation of tailored

telecom services from existing IP and legacy network service assets

• Session control for real-time online convergent charging for all telecom services

Sectors: Billing & Charging (Real-Time); Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid; Corporate Call Management; Infrastructure Platforms;Pricing, Rating, Charging; Service Delivery, Assurance & QoS;Systems Integration;

Openetwww.openet.com [email protected] Beckett WayPark West Business ParkDublin 12, IrelandTel: +353 1 620 4600


Nexagent (an EDS business) nexagent.comNexus Telecom AG nexustelecom.comnicholson Search & Selection nicholsonintl.comNMS Communications nmscommunications.comNoetica noetica.comNokia Siemens Networks nokiasiemensnetworks.comNortel nortel.comNovarra novarra.comThe Now Factory thenowfactory.comNTG Clarity Networks ntgclarity.comNuance Communications, Inc nuance.comOASIS Systems oasissystems.comObjective System Integrators (OSI) osi.comOn Demand Group ondemand.co.ukOneAccess oneaccess-net.comOneVu onevu.comOntology Systems ontology.comOnyx Software onyx.comOpen Text Corp opentext.comOpenCloud Ltd opencloud.comOpenet openet-telecom.comOpenTrust opentrust.comOpenWave openwave.comOpteq International opteqint.netOpus Advance Business Solutions opusabs.netOracle oracle.comOrga Systems GmbH orga-systems.comOutbox outbox.pl

Ovum ovum.comPanviva panviva.comParallels parallels.comPartner Telecom partnertelecom.comPasslogix passlogix.comPatni patni.comPega pega.comPersistent Systems persistentsys.comPilat Media Global PLC pilatmedia.comPitney Bowes Business Insight pbinsight.comPivetal pivetal.comPolystar polystar.comPontis pontis.comPortrait Software portraitsoftware.comPractiv practiv.comPraesidium (Consulting division of WeDo) praesidium.comPRAGMATEK Consulting Group pragmatek.comPRD Technologies prdtechnologies.co.ukPricewaterhouseCoopers pwc.com/gx/en/communicationsPrimal Solutions, Inc http://primalsolutions.netPrime Carrier Ltd primecarrier.comPrior Analytics Ltd prior-analytics.comPrism Technology prismtechnology.netPro:Atria Ltd proatria.comProgress Software http://web.progress.comPronto Networks prontonetworks.comPSD psdgroup.comPSI AG psi.de/enPsytechnics Ltd psytechnics.com

Qualcomm qualcomm.comQualitative Change qualitativechange.comQuova quova.comRadialpoint radialpoint.comRadioFrame Networks radioframenetworks.comRapid Mobile rapid-mobile.comRed Bend redbend.comRedknee redknee.comRedwood Systems Ltd redwoodsystems.co.ukRoamware roamware.comRodopi Software rodopi.comRound (UK) Ltd round.co.ukRR Donnelly rrdonnelley.comSamsung samsungnetwork.comSandvine sandvine.comSAP sap.comSapient sapient.comSAS sas.comScorecard Systems scorecardsystems.comSeeker Wireless seekerwireless.comSegala http://segala.comService2Media service2media.comServista servista.comSevone sevone.comShenick shenick.comSicap sicap.comSierra Wireless sierrawireless.comSigma Systems sigma-systems.comSimon Kucher & Partners www2.simon-kucher.com




Openet is an innovative provider of Service OptimisationSoftware (SOS) to tier one communications and media serviceproviders, and a world leader in proven policy managementsolutions. To succeed, today’s operators must know theircustomers, deploy innovative business models and control theallocation of network resources. Openet's offerings areengineered to attract subscribers and provide an optimalexperience, minimise the cost to serve them and maximiserevenue — making the most of every network and customer.Ranked #1 by Infonetics, Openet’s Policy Manager andassociated software has been deployed by operators in theUnited States, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and LatinAmerica. For more information, please visit: www.openet.com

Sectors: Mediation; Policy Management; Real-Time Charging;Subscriber Data Management;

Orga SystemsAndreas Freund,Vice President [email protected]: +49 5251 8749 3061(M): +49 175 2 98 18 31

Orga Systems’ convergent real-time charging and billingportfolio enables profitable business for TelecommunicationCompanies, Mobile Finance Institutions, Telematics and EnergySuppliers. Orga Systems’ products and consulting services aredesigned for living in a connected world: scalable architecture,outstanding performance, lowest rating latency and consequentcustomer-centricity ensure reliable access to any kind of nextgeneration mobile services. Worldwide 40+ customers, serving350+ M subscribers, rely on Orga Systems and achievecompetitive advantages in their industry: reduced OPEX, realtime-to-market, short-termed ROI as well as beneficial access tonew value chains.

Sectors: Billing (Multiplay); Billing (Outsourced / ManagedService); Billing (Retail); Billing & Charging (Real-Time); Billing& Charging (Utility); Billing & Customer Care; BusinessIntelligence & Process Management; Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid;Corporate Call Management; Customer ExperienceManagement; Customer Relationship Management;Documentation / Bill Design; Infrastructure Platforms; Loyalty &Churn Management; M2M Communication Services; Mediation/ Collection; Pre-paid Management; Pricing, Rating, Charging;Revenue Assurance & Audit; Service Delivery, Assurance &QoS; Systems Integration; Web Billing / Payment / Presentment;Workflow Management;

Parallels, Inc.www.parallels.com/cspJoshua BeilDirector, Service Provider [email protected]: +1 425 988 4103

Alex Danyluk,Senior Director, SaaS/ISV [email protected]: +1 303 885 7620

Parallels is a worldwide leader in Cloud service enablement andbrokerage automation for communication service providers(CSPs) such as KPN, Charter Communications, and KoreaTelecom. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing companywith more than 800 employees in North America, Europe, andAsia. For more information, please visit www.parallels.com/cspand follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud

Sectors: Brokerage Automation; Cloud Service Enablement;

[email protected] 2560 Matheson Bvld East, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4W 4Y9Tel: +1 905 625 2622

Redknee is a leading global provider of innovative communicationsoftware products, solutions and services. Redknee's award-winning solutions enable wireless, multi-service and alternateservice providers to monetise the value of each subscribertransaction while personalising the subscriber experience to meetmainstream, niche and individual market segment requirements.Redknee's revenue-generating solutions provide advancedconverged billing, rating, charging, policy and wholesalesettlement for innovative data offerings, messaging, and voiceservices to over 90 network operators in more than 50 countries.

Sectors: Billing & Customer Care ; Billing (Convergent Pre- &Post-paid); Billing (Interconnect & Wholesale); Billing (Retail);Billing (Utility); eBilling, ePayment & ePresentment; Mediation &Collection;

Singularity singularity.co.ukSITRONICS Telecom Solutions sitronicsts.comSixth Sense Media sixthsensemedia.comSkuku skuku.comSL Corporation sl.comSofrecom (a France Telecom–Orange Group co.) sofrecom.comSoftrax (AFS Financial Solutions) softrax.comSoftware AG softwareag.comSolera Networks soleranetworks.comSonus Networks sonusnet.comSopra Group sopragroup.comSpirent Communications plc spirent.comStarhome starhome.comSteria steria.comStork Ltd storkltd.comStrand Consult strandconsult.dkStreamServe streamserve.comSubex subexworld.comSun Microsystems sun.comSunrise Telecom sunrisetelecom.comSunTec Business Solutions suntecgroup.comSuntech Technologies, Inc. suntechtechnologies.comSurfKitchen surfkitchen.comSword ciboodle sword-ciboodle.comSwyx swyx.comSybase (an SAP company) sybase.comSygnity signity.plSymantec Corp symantec.comSymsoft symsoft.com

40



SAPwww.sap.com/industries/telecomDietmar-Hopp-Allee 16,69190 Walldorf, GermanyTel: +49 6277 7 47474

SAP for telecommunications provides service providers with aworld class, industry specific business process platform thathelps them quickly adapt to market demands and embrace newbusiness models in a fast changing convergent landscape. SAPsolutions for telecommunications provide support for end-to-end business processes across the industry value chain rangingfrom CRM and order management, dealer and point-of-salemanagement to customer financials management and highvolume convergent billing. With over 1,300 customers in telcoand media segments, SAP for telecommunications hasdelivered strong business results and is the leading businessprocess platform for the telecommunications industry. Throughthe acquisitions of Highdeal and of Business Objects, SAP'smarket leadership is strengthened in the areas of high volumeconsume to cash.

Sectors: Billing (Multiplay); Billing (Retail); Billing & Charging(Real-Time); Billing & Charging (Utility); Billing & CustomerCare; Business Intelligence & Process Management; ConvergentPre-/Post-Paid; Corporate Call Management; CustomerExperience Management; Customer Relationship Management;Infrastructure Platforms; Mediation / Collection; PartnerRelationship Management; Predictive Customer Analytics; Pre-paid Management; Pricing, Rating, Charging; SystemsIntegration; Web Billing / Payment / Presentment; WorkflowManagement;

TektronixCommunications3033 W President George Bush Highway Plano TX 75075, USAwww.tektronixcommunications.comTel: +1 469 330 4000

Tektronix Communications enables the world’s largest networkoperators, network equipment manufacturers and cablecompanies to design, build, deploy and manage todaycommunications network infrastructure, including fixed, mobile,

IP and converged multi-service networks. Its portfolio of test,measurement and monitoring product offerings support currentand advanced protocols, applications and architectures.Tektronix Communications systems manage more than 30 percent of the world’s calls, and its network diagnostic andperformance monitoring solutions are installed in more than100 carrier and cable networks in over 40 countries across theglobe.

Sectors: Application Performance Management; CustomerExperience Management; Inventory, Asset & ElementManagement;

Telcordiawww.telcordia.comOne Telcordia Drive,Piscataway, NJ 08854, USATel: +44 (0)1276 515515 Tel: +1 732 699 5800

Telcordia is the global leader in the development of mobile,broadband, and enterprise software and services, with anunparalleled depth of expertise that allows us to fullyunderstand our customers’ challenges - no matter howcomplex, respond appropriately, and deliver as promised.Telcordia enables communications service providers to operatemore efficiently, drive revenues, and deploy innovative,differentiated new services, through its consulting, nextgeneration OSS, network and application interconnection,service delivery and charging, industry research, and newtechnology development solutions. Telcordia has officesthroughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Central and LatinAmerica.

Sectors: Billing & Charging (Real-Time); Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid; Customer Experience Management; Device Management(Over The Air); Inventory & Element Management; NetworkConfiguration Management; Network PerformanceManagement; Network Risk & Trouble Management; Network &Frequency Planning; Number Management; Number Portability;Order Management; Outsourcing & Hosting; Parental & AccessControl; Pre-paid Management; Product Lifecycle Management;Service Delivery, Assurance & QoS; Service Provisioning &Activation; Subscriber Policy Management; Systems Integration;Test & Measurement Systems; Workflow Management;


Synchronica synchronica.comSynchronoss Technologies, Inc synchronoss.comSyniverse Technologies syniverse.comT-Systems t-systems.comTail-F Systems tail-f.comTalisma Corp (an nGenera company) talisma.comTango Telecom tango.ieTanla Solutions Ltd tanlasolutions.comTata tatacommunications.comTech Mahindra techmahindra.comTechnology Research Institute technology-research.comTecnotree tecnotree.comTekelec tekelec.comTektronix Communications tektronixcommunications.comTelarix, Inc telarix.comTelchemy, Inc telchemy.comTelcordia (an Ericsson co.) telcordia.comTelcotec telcotec.comTeleBilling tele-billing.comTelecityGroup telecitygroup.comTelecom Inventory LLC telecominventory.comTelehouse Europe telehouse.netTelemac Corporation telemac.comTelepin telepin.comTeligent Telecom Group teligent.seTellabs tellabs.com Telmap telmap.comTelsis telsis.comTempest Technology tempest-technology.com

Teneo Ltd teneo.co.ukTEOCO Corporation teoco.comTeradata teradata.comTescom tescom-intl.comTevron tevron.comThales thalesgroup.comThe Billing College billingcollege.comTheta Networks thetanetworks.comTIBCO tibco.comTieto tieto.comTilgin tilgin.comTM Forum tmforum.orgTM Solutions Ltd tmsols.co.ukTMNG Global tmng.comTNS, Inc tnsi.comTollgrade Communications, Inc tollgrade.comTransverse gotransverse.comTriad triad.co.ukTribold tribold.comTrigyn Technologies Ltd trigyn.comTTI Telecom (a TEOCO Corp company) tti-telecom.comTUFF - Telecoms UK Fraud Forum tuff.co.ukTurkcell Teknoloji turkcellteknoloji.com.trUkash ukash.comUlticom ulticom.comUpaid upaid.netUshaComm ushacomm.comValimo (a Gemalto company) valimo.comValue Team valueteam.com

VanillaPlus magazine & portal vanillaplus.comVelti velti.comVentraq ventraq.comVerax Systems veraxsystems.comVeraz Networks SARL veraznetworks.comVerimatrix verimatrix.comVerint http://verint.comVeriSign, Inc verisign.comVerizon Business verizonbusiness.comVertek Corp http://vertek.comVISA visa.comVisionael Corporation visionael.comVisiongain visiongain.comVistorm (an EDS company) vistorm.comVitria Technology, Inc vitria.comVoice Objects voiceobjects.comVolubill volubill.comVOSS Solutions voss-solutions.comWeDo Technologies wedotechnologies.comWipro wipro.comXAL xal.co.ukXelas Software xelas.comXINTEC xintec.comXIUS-bcgi xius-bcgi.comxwave (a division of Bell Aliant) xwave.comYahoo! yahoo.comZOHO Corp zohocorp.comZTE Corporation zte.com.cn/en/




[email protected] Media LtdSuite 28, 30 Churchill SquareKings Hill, West MallingKent ME19 4YU, UK

Cherisse Draper, Business Development Director Tel: +44 (0)1732 897646 [email protected]

Mark Bridges, Business Development Manager Tel: +44 (0)1732 897645 [email protected]

Nathalie Bisnar, Digital Editor Tel: +44 (0)1732 808690 [email protected]

Jeremy Cowan, Editorial DirectorTel: +44 (0)1420 588638 [email protected]

VanillaPlus is the leading global magazine and web portaldedicated to communications BSS and OSS. It covers billing,customer care, fraud control, network, service and revenuemanagement. Now in its 13th year of publication, VanillaPlusprovides news, views and features on systems for profitablecommunications, digital media and entertainment. It is availableon free subscription to qualifying readers, and on paidsubscription to all others. The print edition is circulatedworldwide six times a year to 5,641 named directors and seniormanagers within communications network operators and serviceproviders, and distributed at more than 50 key events on 5 continentseach year. VanillaPlus.com gives you and 28,000 other onlinereaders free access to exclusive C-Level video interviews, news,blogs, reviews, webinar podcasts, digital editions of themagazine, and an online directory.

Sectors: Billing (Multiplay); Billing (Outsourced / ManagedService); Billing & Charging (Real-Time); Billing (Retail); Billing& Charging (Utility); Billing & Customer Care; BusinessIntelligence & Process Management; Convergent Pre-/Post-Paid;Corporate Call Management; Customer ExperienceManagement; Customer Relationship Management;Documentation / Bill Design; Device Management (Over TheAir); Infrastructure Platforms; Inventory & ElementManagement; Loyalty & Churn Management; M2MCommunication Services; Mediation / Collection; NetworkConfiguration Management; Network PerformanceManagement; Network Risk & Trouble Management; Network &

Frequency Planning; Number Management; Number Portability;Order Management; Outsourcing & Hosting; Parental & AccessControl; Pre-paid Management; Pricing, Rating, Charging;Product Lifecycle Management; Revenue Assurance & Audit;Revenue Management; Service Delivery, Assurance & QoS;Service Provisioning & Activation; Subscriber PolicyManagement; Systems Integration; Test & MeasurementSystems; Web Billing / Payment / Presentment; WorkflowManagement;

C L O C K I N G O F F !

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to be able to bring you somegood news from CSP-land. “What?” I hear you say. “Surely not?” Yes, that’sright, with it being close to Christmas I thought I would treat you to somethoughts from those at the top who say they want to do things better and in asmarter way next year.

New Year, and same [old] resolutions in CSP-land

Now, I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions,although it should be said that I rarely stick tothem – as my liver would no doubt tell you if itcould speak. Still, it’s best to get the resolutionsall down on paper so that you can hold yourselfaccountable next Christmas when you sheepishlyget it out and realise you’ve managed just one.

Anyway, according to some independentresearch by PwC and Oracle into the ITpriorities of Europe’s Communication ServiceProviders (CSPs), next year CIOs intend to ‘Plot aPath to the Future via Smarter Use of IT’.Apparently, now they’ve seen the light, theyintend to strike a better balance of in-house andoutsourced IT. At the same time, they’ll makebetter use of applications like customerrelationship management in an attempt to moveaway from the 60% of their OpEx budget theycurrently spent on ‘maintenance’.

Addressing this via a more strategic use ofoutsourcing and standardisation is certainlysomething customers could benefit from, andthose surveyed stated this was a ‘major priority’.So, expect to see more key areas such asnetwork and fault management, provisioning andorder management outsourced as CIOs look tocut overheads and make up for a lack of specificskills in-house. Having said that, the researchshows that billing, mediation and reporting willincreasingly be done in-house to keep CIOs intouch with the activities and data that continue toshape the business.

Expect COTS to bepopular in 2012*So, in 2012 commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)

applications will be in favour with CIOs lookingto avoid the costs associated with their painfulbespoke brothers. In all, 67% of these are said tocome at ‘substantial’ budget overruns whilerequiring greater integration and more carefulmanagement.

Of course, next year standardisation is importantto CIOs too – not that it wasn’t important thisyear, of course. Nearly all of them (95%) areseeking to increase their use of COTS as part of adrive towards agility and making thosepartnerships with content and media companieseasier to switch on or off. Getting this right willalso cut the cost of maintaining restrictive legacysystems in a business often characterised byrapid mergers and acquisitions.

What does this all mean? Well, nothing new.Increased use of COTS and the associated lowertotal cost of ownership will allow CIOs to targetmore of their budget to growth activities, and inmy mind that’s something most ought to havebeen thinking on for some time. Additionally,that statistic on 88% of CIOs surveyed planningan upgrade to their CRM systems in order tofocus on more strategic requirements andrevenue drivers such as portal and contentapplications makes total sense.

And the lesson from yesteryear, I mean next year,as Marty McFly might see it? Cut out the deadwood, improve your services... oh, and try to benice to your customers because customerexperience will be the key differentiator.

* For a video of expert 2012 Predictions, go to:www.vanillaplus.com

The authorMark Dye, isassociate editorof VanillaPlus.


vanillaplus magazine dec-jan 2011 edition

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