Procurement strategies for telecoms BCC – What do operators really want?

There are clear regional trends in procurement strategies – the US market has a bigger propensity towards outsourcing than does the European market. This general pattern continued in 2001, with more than a quarter of North American companies choosing to outsource their BCC solution, compared to less than 9% in EMEA and South America and less than 5% in Asia-Pacific. However, in general, there is a considerable increase in the number of companies choosing a turnkey package in 2001. It is likely that this change is due to the large number of new market entrants over the period, including city carriers, wireline resellers and IP service providers.

Preferred vendors survey

The 2001 preferred vendors survey indicates the awareness of operators of the global BCC vendor base. This year SchlumbergerSema topped the list, with 18.8% of operators mentioning them as preferred suppliers. This unprompted response gives an indication of who operators are likely to contact when they are thinking of selecting a new system, and is a vital way for vendors to judge how effective their marketing campaigns are. The 2001 results show that there is greater awareness of a wider variety of vendors, with billing giants such as Amdocs and Convergys noticeably improving their standing over 2000 results.

Detailed requirements survey

The detailed requirements survey asks operators what specific BCC functionality operators desire – and whether their current system provides this. The surprising finding in 2001 is that the most desired piece of functionality is electronic bill delivery, which showed an increase in demand of 137% over the 2000 results. Demand for this functionality was strong in all sectors, but was particularly desired by fixed and IP operators. Regionally, it was the highest placed functionality in Europe, the Middle East and North America.

This indicates that the changes in the telecoms market brought about by factors such as next generation services and the need to reduce costs and improve profitability are finally driving the demand for electronic bill delivery. Customer demand for this functionality also seems to be increasing, with many corporate customers recognising the value it can have for them – and even being prepared to pay extra for it!

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About global trends and market forecasts: procurement strategies for telecoms bcc

This report is the first supplement to Chorleywood Publications’ report: Global Trends and Market Forecasts in Telecom BCC 2001. It includes:

• an update on contracts for business support systems (BSS) signed between January 2000 and September 2001
• a survey of procurement strategies for telco billing and customer care (BCC) systems
• an assessment of the role of outsourcing and ASP
• a survey of the detailed functionality requirements of telcos
• a survey of preferred BCC suppliers.

• global forecasts for mediation system sales
• Global forecasts for sales of CRM systems.

Chorleywood Publications is the research and publishing division of Chorleywood Consulting. Chorleywood Consulting is a management consultancy that has grown from a core expertise in customer care and billing within the global information, communications and technology (ICT) sectors.

Now part of Informa Group plc, a FTSE 250 company, Chorleywood’s expertise extends across the management and telecoms IT disciplines, offering strategic development through market research and analysis, consulting, systems integration and project management. Recent and upcoming reports include:

• Best Practices in CRM
• IP Mediation
• Global Mobile Prepaid Strategies
• Global Trends and Market Forecasts in Telecoms BCC 2001
• Customer Retention and Churn Management
• SLAs – the Key to Competitive Advantage
• Pricing Strategies for GPRS, DSL and IP Services
• GPRS and 3G Billing – update 3
• Pricing and Billing for Content – Creating New Revenue Streams from Content
• Revenue Assurance – The Key to Revenue Maximisation
• BSS Yearbook 2002
• Partner Relationship Management
• The Interconnect Evolution – Increasing ROI from your Interconnect Billing System
• Minimising the Fraud Risk in Next-Generation Networks

Sue Hubbard is a senior consultant with over sixteen years’ experience in telecoms research and consultancy. Before joining Chorleywood Publications she worked for Systems Dynamics, where she studied the VANS market, and for Romtec where she undertook international telecoms market research. She has written many reports including the best selling reports New Directions in Interconnect and IP Mediation for Telcos. Sue has also undertaken consultancy projects for leading telcos and systems vendors worldwide. Gurcharan Wadhwa holds a degree in Business Economics and is an analyst at Chorleywood Publications. He is responsible for market forecasting and has also contributed significantly to the Target Locator Database, which is Chorleywood’s ongoing research project into the BSS requirements and experience of 2,500 telcos worldwide. Gurcharan has researched telco fraud and is a regular contributor to the Billing Plus newsletter.