IG1372 Accelerating Telco to TechCo v1.0.0

Adapting or dying has been a business rule for as long as business has existed.

Telecom CSPs are evolving into technical companies that derive income from multiple partnerships and sources. Still, their business will simplify and commoditize, which requires reducing costs and reskilling or hiring resources to support a new business operating environment. To execute change, a business needs to know where they are and where they wish to get to – the AS IS and the TO BE. To facilitate this, the TM Forum has multiple maturity models to support the required transition, such as the Digital Maturity Model (DMM) and the Digital Talent Maturity Model (DTMM), which allow their CSP members to assess where they are in the evolutionary path of change (initiating, emerging, performing, advancing and leading).

Technological engineering change has established methodologies for structured change and the ODA framework, which uses traditional agile project management approaches. However, applying these approaches to changing people requires a different approach, using behavior engineering methodologies similar to technological change. Driving change in people requires leadership, which establishes sustainable performance, and teamwork, which maximizes operational effectiveness rather than task management, which has often been the approach of legacy businesses. Success in organizational transformation will be aligning people, products, and processes with customer needs, and every component in that market is changing rapidly. Accelerating change is impacted to a greater or lesser extent depending on where our organization is in the maturity framework. For example, partnerships, organization design, culture, talent, and skills management are interdependent, and the balance between them impacts the sustainability of change initiatives.

Acceleration is primarily dependent on leadership competency and consistency, and this document provides a recommended framework for building, developing or acquiring the same and eliminating ineffective management practices which inhibit change.