Telcos Risk Losing Control of Their Customers to Web 2.0 Upstarts, New Report FindsOperators must deploy robust subscriber information management platforms to compete with Web 2.0 service providers, says Services Software InsiderPRNewswire NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The inability of most network operators to deploy robust subscriber information management platforms could put them at a serious marketplace disadvantage compared with next-gen service providers that are primed to attack the telecom services sector with Web 2.0-based technologies, according to the latest report from Light Reading's Services Software Insider (http://www.lightreading.com/servsoftware), a paid research service of CMP's Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/). Subscriber Data Management: It's Time to Get Personal analyzes subscriber information management approaches and technologies available to network operators, and explores the factors that are affecting carrier deployment of those technologies. The 28-page report focuses on two key application categories aimed at helping network operators to deliver a personalized customer experience: identity management and real-time decision enablement. The report also explores emerging trends for creating subscriber information management repositories and evaluates the products and strategies of 14 leading vendors. Companies analyzed in this report include: Alcatel-Lucent, Apertio, BEA Systems, Blueslice Networks, Bridgewater Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Nokia Siemens Networks, Oracle, Redknee Solutions, Sun Microsystems, and Xeround Systems. "Network operators have a wealth of information about their subscribers, and as they broaden their next-generation service portfolios, they are in a position to collect even more information about subscribers' service preferences, usage, and transactions," says Caroline Chappell, research analyst with Light Reading's Services Software Insider and author of the report. "But operators have a short window of opportunity to put in place a strategy and architecture for managing all the subscriber information they possess and using it to more fully capture their customers by personalizing the customer experience." As over-the-top communications services become more deeply embedded in Web 2.0 platforms, and as companies such as Google build out their own networks, the advantages now held by network operators will diminish and eventually disappear, Chappell says. "Unless network operators accelerate their deployment of integrated subscriber information management applications, they run a serious risk of losing control of their customers to more aggressive competitors from the Web 2.0 world," she says. Key findings of Subscriber Data Management: It's Time to Get Personal include: -- Consolidation of subscriber data in a centrally available repository
is an essential prerequisite for enabling network operators to build
personalized services.
-- Network operators say vendors are 18 months behind their requirements
to decouple subscriber information from individual applications.
-- Relational database vendors are beginning to challenge the supremacy
of LDAP directory vendors as providers of in-network subscriber data
repositories.
-- Identity federation is a key application needed to support
personalization on top of subscriber data stores.
Subscriber Data Management: It's Time to Get Personal provides critical insight and analysis for a range of industry participants, including: -- Telecom operators needing insight into how subscriber information
management can help them in their efforts to maintain and build their
customer relationships in the emerging Web 2.0 environment
-- Telecom and IT technology suppliers assessing the most likely
prospects for growth and development in the subscriber information
management sector
-- OSS/BSS suppliers needing a better understanding of the opportunities
and challenges regarding next-gen subscriber information management
systems, and their roles in network operator implementations
-- Investors looking for insight into the impact that subscriber data
management will have on the telecom services sector, and which
companies are best positioned to succeed
Subscriber Data Management: It's Time to Get Personal is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (six issues) to Light Reading's Services Software Insider, priced at $1,295. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license). To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: http://www.lightreading.com/servsoftware. For more information on all of Light Reading's Insiders, please visit http://www.lightreading.com/research. To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact: Jeff Claudino Director of Sales Insider Research Services 619-229-9940 claudino@lightreading.com Press/analyst contact: Dennis Mendyk Managing Director Insider Research Services 201-587-2154 mendyk@heavyreading.com About Light Reading Founded in 2000, Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/) is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. It reaches an extensive audience of executives and technologists within the telecom and enterprise networking communities, as well as the financial/industry analysts and investors who track these sectors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology. About CMP CMP (http://www.cmp.com/) is a media and marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. With the leading online, event, and print brands in all technology market categories, and with services and tools that reach beyond traditional advertising, CMP shapes and influences the technology industry worldwide. CMP publishes highly respected media brands such as TechWeb, InformationWeek, ChannelWeb, CRN, EE Times, and TechOnline; produces major industry events such as Interop, Web 2.0 Expo, XChange, Game Developer Conference, and the Embedded Systems Conferences; and provides business information and marketing services such as the International Customer Management Institute, Semiconductor Insights, and Second Life consulting for technology marketers. CMP is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. For more CMP news, go to cmp.com/news. SOURCE: Light Reading Insider CONTACT: Jeff Claudino, Director of Sales, +1-619-229-9940, Web site: http://www.lightreading.com/ |