25 Leading Communications Industry Influencers and Service Providers Interviewed —
Results to be Presented at Management World 2009, Nice
NICE, FRANCE — May 6, 2009 — TM Forum and NetCracker Technology announced today the results of their collaborative project to better understand the impact of the economic downturn on the communications industry. The project involved interviews and discussions with twenty-five of the top telecom industry thought leaders, influencers, and visionaries. These leaders included senior executives at major service providers and industry analysts around the world.
Participating in the survey were executives from Fixed, Mobile, Cable, and converged service providers representing all major regions of the world. Analysts from Analysys Mason, IDC, Stratecast, Yankee Group, and TM Forum also participated.
The project was initiated to clarify the issues and decisions that service providers are facing, and to spotlight the key challenges and opportunities facing the industry as a whole. The survey addressed the foremost threats and challenges to today’s business and operations, top level priorities, and views on how economic conditions are impacting spending on business and operations support systems.
“Like most industries, all of our member companies (representing more than 700 service providers, software and hardware vendors, and integrators) are struggling to better understand the implications of this downturn, not just within their own businesses, but also in terms of the long-term prospects of the communications industry itself,” said Keith Willetts, Chairman of TM Forum. “As the world’s leading industry association dedicated to enabling profitable services for service providers and their suppliers, we felt it was imperative to get a real handle on the current situation and future trends — and to address the needs of service providers through our current and upcoming programs.”
“The economic downturn has caused all service providers to rethink their business strategies and to refocus on critical success factors that will build long-term, sustainable differentiation,” said Andrew Feinberg, President and CEO of NetCracker. “We wanted to bring clarity and insight to what is important in these turbulent times. Initiating this project with our customers and TM Forum was a natural choice given our shared vision and long history of collaboration.”
Highlights of the survey include:
· Close to 60% of the respondents felt the greatest challenge over the next 18 months was revenue retention, driving efficiency, reducing costs, and customer retention. These responses were a reflection of the broader economic slowdown.
· Over 3 years, however, there was almost unanimous agreement that the economic slowdown will not be a significant issue, but managing technology change, including the adoption of new technologies and retirement of old platforms, will be a significant challenge.
· About 50% indicated that Business Agility will be a key challenge. Ability to respond to new competition, eliminating service complexity, and inflexible systems were seen as key requirements.
· Nearly all respondents agreed that addressing major threats will require undertaking major business transformations.
· Some key service provider priorities over the next 18 months are: effective technology evolution, operations agility, increased customer focus, and reducing costs.
· Most respondents indicated that the best opportunities lie in exploiting the promise of broadband and introducing new services while ensuring that there is no gap between ambition and ability.
For more information on how you can get a copy of the survey results, please contact Juliet Shavit at jshavit@smartmarkusa.com or Geoff Devlin at gdevlin@tmforum.org.
About NetCracker Technology
NetCracker Technology is the leading global Solution Company enabling Service Providers to deliver rapidly and manage effectively convergent and content-rich offerings. NetCracker delivers service and resource management through its software and implementation expertise. NetCracker’s portfolio includes a comprehensive suite of product modules as well as specialized vertical solutions (such as Triple Play), all pre-integrated with the NetCracker Framework. Founded in 1993, NetCracker Technology was acquired by NEC Corporation in 2008. NetCracker Technology is headquartered in Waltham, MA, and can be reached at +1-781-419-3300 or www.NetCracker.com.
NetCracker is a registered trademark of NetCracker Technology Corp. All other company or product names mentioned in this press release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
About TM Forum
With more than 700 member companies in 75 countries, TM Forum is the world’s leading industry association focused on improving business effectiveness for service providers and their suppliers. Serving the information, communications and entertainment industries, the Forum provides practical solutions, guidance and leadership to transform the way that digital services are created, delivered and charged. Members include the world’s largest service providers, cable and network operators, software suppliers, equipment suppliers and systems integrators.
TM Forum provides a wide range of information and support to help its members reduce the costs and risks associated with creating and delivering profitable services. These include industry research and benchmarks, technology roadmaps, best practice guidebooks, software standards and interfaces, as well as certified training, conferences and publications. The Forum also provides its member community with extensive marketing and networking opportunities, enabling business with new customers and partners.
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