Insight
03
Edition Apr 2015
Executive Briefing Bi-annual Magazine
Preparing for the Connected Economy
Technology trends that are shaping the networks of tomorrow and changing how we live, work and communicate.
Letter from the Editor
Thought Leadership
Redknee & Microsoft
Customer Spotlight
Buying Energy Credits through Your Mobile Phone
Customer Spotlight
Supporting the Monetization of Multiple Vertical Businesses
Red Comment
View from Redknee’s VP of Marketing
Beyond the Buzz
Industry updates from around the globe
Redknee Events Recap of MWC
02 06 10 14 18 22 26
04 08 12 16 20 24 28
Red Trends
Top trends impacting the industry
Awards
Customer Spotlight
Utilizing Integrated Charging and Policy to Provide Innovative Services and Pricing Plans
Outside Perspective Telesperiemce
Red News
Latest highlights from Redknee
Red Locations
Where in the world is Redknee?
Redknee Events Meet Redknee at a city near you
Letter from the Editor
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One Step Closer 2015 is quickly moving ahead and it’s already shaping up to be an interesting year. The world economy is finally starting to show signs of improvement and exciting technology changes are in the air. For the past few years our industry has been talking about all the exciting things to come, especially in the area of connected devices and the Internet of Things, but for the first time ever, I believe we are really starting to see the impact; finally moving from experimentation to execution.
The Business behind the Magic As Arthur C. Clarke, inventor and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, once wrote , “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” While that certainly seems to be the case in telecom today, it’s what lies just around the corner that seems truly amazing, and indeed, magical. This issue of
Redknee Insight is dedicated to the business behind the magic. In other words, our focus is on monetizing the digital world by helping service providers, their partners, and businesses of all types create new ways to monetize today’s growing digital economy and the Internet of Things.
2020 – From Science Fiction to Science Fact Take a look into Redknee’s thoughts on the future and the value of your brain on p. 22 in ‘Beyond the Buzz- Industry Updates from around the Globe’. For something less disturbing but equally engaging, read our article “Red Comment: Communication Service Providers – The True IoT Enabler” on pp. 18 about new business models and other opportunities that service providers will see emerge along with the IoT. This is a view into what we think will happen when 5G rolls out in 2020 and the steps service providers can take today to prepare. Additionally, Teresa Cottam, Chief Strategist at Telesperience, has contributed an excellent article (p. 16)
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titled ‘IoT – Opportunity or Hype?’ where she declares, “verticalization and partnerships are key to creating value from Enterprise 2020.”
Speaking of Verticalization Last year we introduced the Redknee Connected Suite; a group of solutions that takes us beyond telecom and into new connected businesses, including energy, retail and transportation. The delineation between telecom and other business verticals continues to blur. For instance, we recently announced that Digicel, a long standing Redknee telecom customer, has launched Easypay, a prepaid electricity metering service. This service enables Digicel subscribers to purchase electricity at any time directly from their mobile phone. Energy customers simply enter their meter number and the required amount of electricity, receive a text message confirmation, and the payment is deducted directly from their mobile airtime balance (to read the full story, go to p. 14) .
Carpe-Diem Another article that highlights business and telecom’s convergence can be found on p. 14. This focuses on a large national conglomerate in APAC using Redknee’s charging solution to support a cross-vertical loyalty points program, helping to build customer loyalty and drive cross-sell opportunities across its group of subsidiary businesses. Businesses like these will seize the day. Those willing to forge new business partnerships and think outside of the traditional box will be tomorrow’s winners; Redknee is here to help. 2015 is already proving to be another exciting year. The reality of the IoT is fast approaching and we look forward to helping our customers grow in the digital age to reach previously unimaginable heights. Join Redknee as we continue our digital journey and as we take you further than a science fiction writer, perhaps Arthur C. Clarke, could have ever dreamt. Sincerely, Michaela Radman, Editor-in-Chief
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Red Trends
Top trends impacting the industry
Tech Trends Systems that let customers communicate in ways that work best for them will be what shapes the successful businesses of tomorrow.
Setting the Scene with Multi-play Up in the Cloud
IsUpVoice in the Dead? Cloud Operators have been trying to update their voice services to compete with all the Over-the-Top (OTT) players in this space, including Skype and Lync. Now, with Voiceover-LTE emerging and discussions for seamless handover to Voiceover-Wifi, there seems to be a new future for voice services after all.
Deploying and using cloud services in different flavors (private, public and hybrid) and the spread of virtualization across many operator domains will change the industry. Virtualizing services not only reduces initial investment costs and operational expenses, but also enables a more flexible business setup. As Internetbased Service Providers have shown, utilizing a cloud environment can make launching new services very fast. Turning to the Cloud will help operators gain momentum and also open up new opportunities.
BSS will play a key role for service providers to achieve the promises of a profitable multi-play offering. While many operators still struggle to consolidate their billing and customer care systems and the corresponding products into a modern IT infrastructure that supports innovative products, extending into new business areas like IoT, again creates challenges. Successful multi-play offerings will require a streamlined, fast and decisive approach towards BSS, if operators don’t want to be stuck in organizational and infrastructure complexity. We will see more emphasis on BSS evolution in the near future.
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Engaging the Customer in Real-time
In the past, a lot of attention has been placed on the touchpoints that influence customer experience, such as proactively engaging with the customer in case of network problems, or having all customer information consistently available when the customer calls the operator. In the future we will see this taken to the next level, where customer interactions are tracked in real-time and personalized marketing campaigns are created based on customer behavior and analytics. As customer experience management evolves we will see this method extended towards partners within the operator’s ecosystem, helping to enable new business models and revenue streams around campaigns and promotions.
Analytics Power to the People The hype around Big Data has pushed the value of business intelligence and analytics in all business areas. However, in many domains we still see a conventional approach to viewing data, such as creating dashboards or corporate reports. While this is an important aspect of controlling the business, it does not tap into the full potential of data. In the future, we will see the rise and increasing emphasis of two additional areas of analytics; exploratory analytics and automated or autonomous analytics. Business Support Systems at the center of service usage and commercial data will play an essential role in enabling all analytics scenarios to enable competitive advantages in the future.
Read Redknee’s Ten Trends to watch in 2015 and beyond at: http://redknee.com/pdf/forms/2015_Trends.aspx
Thought Leadership Redknee & Microsoft
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A New Approach to Retail and the devices and accessories that make these lifestyles possible via its new Smart Store concept. Vodafone UK also announced last year plans to reinvigorate the entire shopping experience by driving further consistency between online and in-store experiences. Even smaller players such as Greek operators Wind Hellas is refurbishing their retail outlets to be characterised by friendliness, high technology, interactivity and personalized service.
Enabling holistic touch points As CSPs look to revitalize their retail experience, there are three questions
N
that need to be address as part of your
ot long ago analyst firms were
through other means, e.g. online. While the
predicting that e-commerce would
study is focused on the banking industry, it
kill brick-and-mortar stores and all
does emphasizes that personal customer
1. How do we make retail an aspect of a
business and customer would move to an
interaction, whether through call agents
multi-channel customer journey?
online retail environment. Fast forward to
or in physical retail buildings, is still a very
2. How do we empower front line staff to
today, this is far from accurate.
efficient means to solve more demanding
have a more personalized face-to-
customer issues.
face customer interaction?
In a recent study of the US banking
strategy:
3. How can we make the retail
industry, consulting firm McKinsey &
Shift to the telecommunications industry,
Company identified several intriguing facts
similar observations can be made. We
experience more sophisticated and
about the value of physical retail branches
see several large communication service
more consistent?
in the banking industry. Not only do 65
providers (CSPs) have already started or
percent of banking customers use multiple
announced initiatives to strengthen their
channels for interaction with their banks,
physical presence by transforming retail
but the study showed customers who use
stores into experience centers. AT&T’s
online and mobile channels at least once
Chicago-based retail store now boasts
a week are over 60 percent more likely
of an Explorer Lounge, Apps Bar, Lifestyle
to use a retail branch1. The study also
Boutiques and more, while rival Verizon is
reported that only 25% of call agents’
focused on showcasing mobile lifestyles
interactions could have been solved
These ‘holistic touch points’ are key to enabling a new generation retail experience that is being driven by sophisticated buyers who are more informed than ever before. In the U.S.,
07 Forester predicts web will account for
more product flexibility and convergent
brings new and innovative retail capabilities
or influence 59% of U.S. retail sales by
services, the integration of retail systems
to CSPs such as:
20182. With today’s connected customers
has lagged behind and has not been
deriving a plethora of information from
readily addressed in the next generation
various sources, brick-and-mortar
retail experience.
shopping is no longer a singular, contained event. Rather it should be considered as part a multi-channel, multi-stage buying process—one that excites customers,
At Redknee, we have been working with clients to address this gap. An initial step for enabling innovative retail solutions
>> Enabling a multi-channel customer journey by integrating retail with web portals and other channel interactions through seamless shopping carts and wish lists; >> Empowering retail agents by giving
is to empower sales representatives with
real-time access to all relevant
the same information and capabilities
information including customer
that other customer care agents have
history and subscription data as well
Designing the new retail experience
through self-care channels. Redknee’s
as recommendations and customer
dedicated Dealer Portal application feeds
life-time value;
In order to achieve this new generation
about customers and enables online
retail experiences, CSPs need to look
customer service features such as
at the design of their business support
product activation, product upsell
systems, as this plays a major role in
and customer information inquiry.
achieving these holistic touch points.
Additionally, the solution integrates with
There is the aspect of delivering seamless
campaign management and customer
and frictionless customer transition as they
recommendations—creating an even
pass through various channels, e.g. online
This pre-defined integration is the baseline
more powerful in-store customer
research for new products or services
for fully addressing the requirements of a
experience.
successful next generation retail strategy.
Some CSPs are looking to go a step
Making retail the “king” of customer interaction
increases loyalty and drives upsell opportunities.
transfers a customer directly to a retail store for purchasing. The systems also need to ensure that all information that is visible in real-time to customers through online channels is also available to sale representatives in the retail store as well as to other channel agents. For example, call center agents should have the same data, recommendations and campaigns available as retail staff. As for customer experience, the new retail experience requires the integration of retail solutions with business systems, most notably the customer relationship management (CRM), billing and provisioning systems. While the closer integration of CRM and billing has been on
retail staff with real-time information
further—a broader transformation of retail support as part of their overall business
>> Delivering a sophisticated customer experience, such as enabling store appointments that reduce waiting time and real-time marketing campaigns that provide more meaningful in-store engagement.
transformation strategy. In such cases,
The push towards this new generation retail
Redknee has worked with Microsoft, a
experience is set to make retail agents the
long time strategic technology partner,
new ‘kings’ of the customer interaction and
to enable a wider retail solution based on
experience. Redknee and Microsoft are at
Microsoft Dynamics AX.
the forefront this transformation and are
This powerful platform gives CSPs the ability to drive innovation into their retail infrastructure, including: store management, logistics, staff management
working with CSPs to make this vision a reality by creating a consistent, real-time flow of information at both ends of the retail process.
and training, etc. with pre-defined
Together we are helping deliver a more
integration to Redknee’s billing and
delightful customer experience—the
customer care solutions—Unified Billing
essence of brand loyalty and future
and Unified CRM. Combined, the solution
business success.
the agenda for quite some time in order to achieve a better customer experience, 1
McKinsey & Company, “The future of US retail-banking distribution.” August, 2014. 2 Forrester Research Inc, “The state of retailing online report.” July, 2014.
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Awards
Redknee’s focus on driving innovation and increasing customer profitability for service providers across the globe, has once again been recognized with leading industry awards, including: Deloitte’s Technology Technology Deloitte’s Fast 500 Fast 500
Telecom Review’s Best Best OSS/ Telecom Review’s BSS Provider OSS/BSS Provider
Gartner Magic Quadrant
Deloitte’s Technology for IRCM increased Fast 500
GTB Power 100
Redknee’s position
These are demonstrative of Redknee’s continued strategy to equip CSPs with innovative solutions that support their growth and profitability strategies.
Reimagining telecommunications in a mobile-first, cloud-first world Omni-channel
Cloud Platform
Workforce Productivity
Make customer experience the top priority by delivering fluid experiences that transcend time, place, context, and device
Respond more quickly to changing needs with a flexible, hybrid cloud that scales for growth
Become a modern workplace by empowering your workforce to make an impact and be responsive
For more information: microsoft.com/telco
Customer Spotlight
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Buying Energy Credits through Your Mobile Phone How Redknee is helping Digicel make life easier for their subscribers Digicel Group is a leading global communications provider with operations in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. Renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network Digicel has a trusted partnership with Redknee, who has been instrumental in supporting Digicel to launch and monetize innovative mobile services across its operations. Differentiating with converged billing and customer care Redknee’s converged solution addresses the full range of Digicel’s billing requirements from a centralized platform. Redknee’s software is enabling Digicel to monetize other digital services across various industries, including utilities and other future business opportunities. Today, with Redknee’s support, Digicel is offering prepaid electricity to residents
Digicel customers to purchase
addition, Redknee is supporting Digicel
electricity at anytime directly from
to deliver an advanced business model
their mobile phone. Energy customers
and generate new revenue streams
simply enter their meter number and
by providing energy customers with
the required amount of electricity,
the ability to purchase electricity via
receive an SMS message confirmation,
their mobile phone through Digicel’s
and the payment is deducted directly
network. Working in partnership with
from their Digicel airtime balance.
the country’s incumbent electricity
Digicel’s postpaid customers can also
utility provider, Digicel and Redknee
utilize the prepaid electricity service
provided an alternative solution to the
were the purchased amount of energy
existing prepaid electricity voucher
is added to the monthly bill.
top-up payment method, where
and business owners in Papa New
With Redknee, Digicel is able to
Guinea.
increase revenue and differentiation
Redknee’s converged billing system and SMS gateway is supporting Digicel’s Easypay ‘Easipawa’ prepaid electricity metering service, enabling
by offering its communications subscribers’ real-time targeted promotions, service bundles, incentives
rural customers had to travel long distances to vending sites that were only available during business hours. This was time consuming, costly and inconvenient for the customer.
and hybrid payment options such
“With Redknee, the Digicel Easypay
as family or group account plans. In
‘Easipawa’ service, which uses a
‘‘
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Digicel has worked in partnership with Redknee for some years to expand our service offerings and increase our market presence. Redknee’s converged billing solution is supporting Digicel to launch new data services and provide advanced customer care capabilities to enhance the experience of our customers.
local regulatory mandates are adhered to within a single platform. In fact, with Redknee, Digicel’s installations are managing five separate currencies. The flexibility of Redknee’s software also enables Digicel to offer creative billing initiatives that gives it a competitive edge.
Monetizing digital services now and in the future
‘‘
combination of USSD and SMS
By deploying Redknee’s converged
technologies, allows Digicel customers
billing and customer care solution,
The utilities sector and other verticals
to use any mobile phone to purchase
Digicel is benefitting from an end-to-
such as health and transportation are
electricity anytime, anywhere.” Said
end platform that enables real-time
increasingly providing avenues for
John Mangos, CEO at Digicel. “In less
rating and charging for a wide range
communications service providers
than 18 months Digicel has achieved
of prepaid and postpaid services
like Digicel to drive customer loyalty,
a positive ROI, and today, Easipawa
across voice, messaging and data.
increase revenues and improve
is responsible for a large majority of
With Redknee’s software, Digicel is
profitability. By utilizing Redknee’s
all pre-paid electricity purchases in
able to deliver personalized offers,
converged billing solution, Digicel
Papua New Guinea.
distinctive price plans and tariffs,
has the capability and agility to
real-time notifications and customer
efficiently manage subscribers and
self-care to enhance the experience
service revenue through a centralized
of its customers. For operators such as
platform. In addition, by consolidating
Digicel, which support multiple markets,
the billing functions onto a core
other key advantages of Redknee’s
platform and managing its multiple
solution is its ability to manage
operations from one base, Digicel
multiple international currencies and
is able to control costs and achieve
tariffs, and ensure that taxation and
OPEX and CAPEX savings.
A powerful partnership for growth Operating in a competitive market with a distributed and remote geographical presence, meant Digicel has unique billing and customer care needs, requiring not only the benefits of a traditional prepaid and postpaid billing solution, but one that could reliably span across a broad geographic region. Digicel also needed to be able to scale the solution to support its rapid growth and to launch new services in a timely and cost-effective manner. Digicel required a solution that could meet the needs of a very diverse subscriber base, including language, currency, social and cultural differences, while providing localized customer care for each market.
Digicel customers can purchase electricity credits at anytime right from their mobile phones.
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Customer Spotlight
Utilizing Integrated Charging and Policy to Provide Innovative Services and Pricing Plans to Global Subscribers at Home and When Roaming Colin Windsor, Truphone’s Chief Operations Officer discusses the benefits of an integrated charging and policy solution to support its growing global mobile network. INSIGHT: Can you tell us about Truphone? Colin Windsor: Truphone is a unique
INSIGHT: How long have you been a
specific requirements in what we do.
Redknee customer?
We built a multi-tax, multi-language,
business in that we operate eight Mobile
Colin Windsor: We selected NSN, which
Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in
then became Redknee, approximately
eight countries, and these are integrated
three years ago. We went out to rebuild
into one global mobile network. That
our network infrastructure and our BSS
means we make you ‘local’ in every one
infrastructure, and selected them to
of those countries. It is very different from
implement parts of that project.
typical mobile providers, who are normally based in one country, and when you travel to another country, you have to roam.
INSIGHT: This is a big project, which other vendors did Truphone evaluate?
multi-currency billing capability, which is integrated into our network, and is very different. Therefore, it was partly our uniqueness that took us down the Redknee NSN path. Our situation is very unique, and one of the vendors that could provide what we needed was Redknee. INSIGHT: What are the benefits of
With our infrastructure, we remove the
Colin Windsor: It was all the
having an integrated charging and policy
need for roaming and make you local
typical big players like Huawei, ZTE
system?
everywhere. On top of that we offer lots
Telecommunications, and HP. The usual
of interesting capabilities, like multiple
suspects.
numbers on one SIM, and 66 countries all
Colin Windsor: For Truphone, the benefits include the ability to represent
in one bundle, that make it a very unique
INSIGHT: Why did you select Redknee
multiple countries and a range of unique
proposition for customers.
above other competitors?
and different tariffs. We have one global set of products, because we operate
Colin Windsor: We have some very
in multiple countries, and the ability to represent that in the online charging
countries, to actually build plans like our World 66 Plan all-in-one bundle requires a very agile system. What we liked about the Redknee products was the flexibility and capability provided by the marketing use cases.
‘‘
The collaborative nature Redknee had while working with us was great. They were a good collaborative company to get things done with.
‘‘
system was critical. To represent multiple
INSIGHT: Can you give examples of the
Colin Windsor: They were very intrinsic
experience. The local calling capability
innovative services, price plans and tariff
to helping us get it off the ground.
is one example, and the fact that we
options you provide to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty? Colin Windsor: Part of our offering is we are local in eight countries, so when you make a call from the USA to the UK, for example, it is a local call. When you call from the UK to Holland, or Germany to Holland, or Poland to Hong Kong, they are all local calls, because they are countries where we have local presence. We also offer the capability to have multiple numbers on one SIM. For example, on my phone, I have eight numbers: USA, UK, Australia, Hong
INSIGHT: How has Redknee helped you facilitate that?
have more points of presence around the world means our quality is very good. The way we have constructed
Colin Windsor: When we were getting
the network is very unique, so our
it off the ground, they were an intrinsic
proposition is very different from that
part of the project team. We had about
of most carriers. We are constantly
five suppliers working with us to build
extending that proposition, such as a
out the solution. We were building a
global portal where you can see all your
global network. We were implementing
traffic around the world, various things
eight countries, and we did all of that in
we are constantly extending, new price
about two years, so it was a pretty fast
tariffs, and having an infrastructure in
implementation of eight MVNOs.
which we can do that is very important to Truphone.
INSIGHT: As a global provider, what are you doing to monetize 4G/LTE?
INSIGHT: How will Redknee’s solution help support Truphone’s future growth
Kong, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and
Colin Windsor: LTE is in our plans. We are
Germany. For me, the benefit is that it
implementing infrastructure to support
makes me more connected to the people
LTE, we are in the process of various
Colin Windsor: We regularly share with
in that country. For example, I lived in
arrangements with Network Operators
Redknee what we are doing. As a supplier
San Francisco for a few years. My friends
to get access to LTE capabilities, and we
normally would, Redknee gives us advice
in San Francisco text me or call me on
expect in the course of this year, to come
and guidance about what they think they
my USA number. For them, it is a local
out with an LTE proposition.
can help us with.
66 Truphone World all-in-one bundle,
INSIGHT: Dynamics in the industry are
Redknee understood the uniqueness
where you get minutes and texting for 66
quickly changing, what does “being fast”
of our proposition, and worked with us
countries around the world, is a pretty
mean to Truphone?
in how we could engineer that in their
call. That is part of our uniqueness. Our
unique proposition. That is all enabled by
plans?
technologies. It is very different when Colin Windsor: What we are talking
you are building something like this. It
about is innovation. We have an
is fundamentally different from most
incredibly innovative product. We focus
MNOs. The collaborative nature Redknee
it on the B2B marketplace. We tend
had while working with us was great. They
INSIGHT: Do you think you could have
to go for the mid-size to large-scale
were a good collaborative company to
accomplished everything you have done
corporations who operate in more than
get things done with.
without Redknee’s functionality and
one country, and when you do that
capabilities?
with our proposition, it is a very unique
the use of Redknee Unified. We offer a very different product than anybody else out there.
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Customer Spotlight
Supporting the Growth and Monetization Strategy of a Leading National Corporation Redknee recently announced a
transportation, real estate, retail, leisure,
based on triggers such as the purchase
significant deal with a leading enterprise
and business support services, to offer
of services or goods, the time and cost
business where Redknee’s Connected
a special loyalty points program and
of the purchase, and even the location;
Suite, powered by Redknee Unified,
marketing promotions that span all of
for example, at a train station or retail
will support different industry verticals
their businesses.
store. With Redknee, the service provider
experience, including loyalty and cross bundling programs as well as rating and charging of various kinds of transactions. To support its growth in the retail sector, the service provider selected Redknee to provide its complete solution stack, which enables monetizing services across Telco, Cable, Utilities, and M2M. Redknee’s software platform will enable the service provider, which offers
A real-time loyalty solution to increase customer satisfaction Redknee’s system allows flexible
will also be able to deliver real-time promotions and marketing campaigns via SMS, email or social networking sites such as Facebook.
calculation of loyalty points in real-time
‘‘
‘‘
to deliver an improved customer
Redknee is supporting the implementation of an innovative retail energy solution, to monetize energy, retail business and other digital services to consumers and business customers.
creates loyalty points at a Point of Sale (PoS). Depending on the amount spent, the customer will receive a corresponding amount of loyalty points. Typically these will be attached to a member’s loyalty card. In turn, the
‘‘
With Redknee’s converged charging, billing, policy management and customer care solution, the service provider can utilize the loyalty management system to support other lines of business, including energy supply, transportation, retail and cable TV, all from a single platform.
customer will be able to redeem the loyalty points to help pay for goods and services at any of the service provider’s various businesses. The solution can also
consumption data and benefits via a
‘‘
Redknee’s real-time loyalty solution
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dedicated smartphone app and web self-
be used to offer personalized coupons.
care portal.
Monetization software to support growth and differentiation
Delivering tomorrow’s needs today
As well as the advanced real-time loyalty
The Redknee Connected Suite provides
scalability: manage billions
customer care, real-time analytics,
of events or transactions in
points and rewards program, Redknee will also be supporting this customer to implement an innovative retail energy
billing and real-time rating for various digital services. Designed for both
High throughput and
real-time
solution.
telco and non-telco businesses, the
Partner billing and
Redknee Connected Suite enables
Redknee Unified will rate and bill data
the delivery of bundled offers and
settlement: manage
from smart meters and Home Energy
promotions across various industry
Management Systems (HEMS) in real-
verticals, including utilities, smart homes
time. The service provider will be able
and transportation, and it also provides
to notify customers about their energy
partner billing and settlement to manage
consumption by providing real-time
the complex Internet of things (IoT)
insight on electricity usage and billing
partner ecosystem. Service providers
data. Customers can access their
can leverage Redknee’s highly flexible and scalable solution to support other lines of business from a centralized platform.
the complex IoT partner ecosystem Dynamic rate and tariff plans: support various business models and payment types Cross bundling of offerings: bundle offers and promotions across various industry verticals Cloud-based: scale up or down with ease. Cost efficient and secure.
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Outside Perspective Telesperience
Opportunities from
Teresa Cottam, Chief Strategist Telesperience
IoT – opportunity or hype? Each January, as the year stretches ahead of me, I wonder what the next great telecoms trend will be. Without a doubt, the most hyped topic of 2014 was the Internet of Things (IoT) and, in early 2015, the interest and conversations around IoT show little sign of abating. Unlike many hyped trends, IoT looks like it will deliver sooner rather than later, and is being driven by industries other than our own – both in terms of vision and demand. The inevitability of IoT was underlined for me when, at CES15, Samsung’s CEO and president BK Yoon stated that by 2020 the company’s entire range of hardware would
and frightened it because the industry
being disintermediated into dreaded bit-
is as yet ill-positioned to maximise the
pipe status and, although I strongly believe
commercial potential to itself from these
a utility network business has undoubtedly
opportunities
got its place in the mix, most CSPs desire
As important as IoT will be to Enterprise
more than this.
2020, however, it must be remembered
The good news is there are a wide range
that the smart, connected enterprise of
of ways in which CSPs can add value,
the future encompasses not just IoT but
assume critical positions within the value
connected and mobile people as well
chain, and build a more lucrative business
(employees, customers and partners)
for themselves. To do this they need to
– creating what has been termed the
identify not just horizontal services but
‘Internet of Everything’ (IoE). Opportunities
also verticalized services they can deliver
thus arise from how enterprises run
– since much of the value deriving from
themselves, as well as from how they
Enterprise 2020 will lie in verticalization,
interact with customers, and from how they
just as it lies in personalisation on the B2C
make money.
side.
be Internet-connected – whether that was
To take just one vertical market example,
when it senses that the user has walked into
Verticalization and partnerships are key to creating value from Enterprise 2020
the room and is feeling cold.
As enterprises move to a more connected
Mobility. The Oil & Gas industry is somewhat
model of doing business, the challenge for
ahead of mining but shares common
communications service providers (CSPs) is
drivers. It needs to comply with legislation
to secure a lucrative position in the future
and must address key operational
value chain. If they fail to do this, they risk
challenges such as improved efficiency
air purifiers, ovens, vacuum cleaners or the ‘smart’ chair he posseted might warm up
This bold stake in the ground should have both excited and frightened the telecoms industry in equal measure. Excited it, because it will create untold opportunities;
in the Mining and Minerals industry there is a rapid shift from ‘Rock Factory’ to ‘Smart Mine’, fuelled by IoT, Big Data, Analytics and
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and shortages in human capital, as well as operating in ever-more remote operational locations. However, due to the sudden drop in oil prices, the Oil & Gas industry is experiencing particularly acute pressure to combat pricing volatility with increases in operational efficiency, which reinforces the need for smarter, connected technology. At the other end of the spectrum, retailers perceive huge commercial advantage in creating personalised and compelling buying experiences, fuelled by an understanding of the customer context and profile. Retailers are ‘weaponising’ social media, deploying WiFi for both alwayson connectivity and customer location purposes, and investing in multichannel commerce – with the emphasis always on the commercial reality of attracting customers, and subsequently persuading and enabling them to spend more money. As exciting as these scenarios are, however, pragmatism is required. CSPs are unlikely to
Enterprise 2020 presents huge opportunities for those who can think differently and react quickly To prosper in the longer term and to squeeze more value out of the connected world, CSPs need to consider how they will
and preferences to deliver better experiences and new commercial opportunities >> Helping enterprises transact for the services and experiences they provide in the connected world.
enable Enterprise 2020 beyond providing
For once, lack of opportunity is not the
bits and bytes. For example by:
problem. The problem is creating CSP value as the commercial world becomes ever-
>> Providing tuneable and guaranteed QoS – to meet the connected enterprise’s need for performance >> Securing and protecting the connected world across any network and to an appropriate level for different customer and service types >> Providing Cloud-based applications, storage or analytical capabilities >> Delivering seamless, appropriate and network agnostic experiences >> Monetizing proximity to the end customer by analyzing context and delivering context-appropriate experiences >> Creating insight on customer behaviour
more connected. The nightmare scenario is having to manage ever-rising data traffic without the commensurate rewards to compensate CSPs for doing so, while being locked out of more lucrative opportunities because they moved too slowly. To avoid this trap a mindset change is required. Simply charging for data by volume and focusing on traditional, direct business relationships risks missing out on the value generated by indirect (albeit often more complex) business relationships, as well as the true value inherent in the data itself.
be able to adequately serve every vertical, and so must choose which ones hold the most potential for them. They’re also unlikely to be able to innovate internally every product required by a vertical, which points to the requirement for a clever partnership strategy supported by the ability to manage and recompense partners in the value chain.
Teresa Cottam is the Chief Strategist at Telesperience. She has over 20 years’ experience in the telecoms industry and has worked in senior roles at Analysys Mason, Chorleywood Consulting and Ovum. She is the author of numerous influential reports and trends papers, is a regular speaker and chair at telecoms events, and is a judge at the Global Mobile Awards presented annually at Mobile World Congress. In addition she has worked as a consultant and strategist in a wide-range of vertical and geographical markets. Her current research focus is to help CSPs maximise their opportunities, attract and retain customers, and operate more efficiently. You can follow Teresa on Twitter at @teresacottam.
Red Comment
View from Redknee’s VP of Marketing
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Communication Service Providers
-The True IoT Enabler Chris Newton-Smith,
Vice President of Marketing
G
artner’s Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies ranks the Internet of Things right at the top. That is to say that the IoT is at the ‘peak of inflated expectations’, or in layman’s terms, everyone is talking about it but only a few are actually doing it. Before long, within the next 3-5 years, the business models will shake out and the IoT will move beyond the height of the hype curve and more towards reality. The introduction of 5G in 2020 will be the technology enabler that supercharges the IoT, empowering even the smallest of connected devices to support rich content and services. 2G networks were designed for voice, 3G for data, and 4G for apps and broadband internet. With 5G, we’ll see computing power combining with communications, so billions of things will be able to talk to other things. This
is where the Internet of Things becomes the Internet of Everything. Today, in much of the consumer IoT market, there is a home gateway that connects sensors to the Internet via Bluetooth, Zigby or Wi-fi. With 3G and 4G networks, your Fitbit talks to your smartphone and then your smartphone talks to a 3G or 4G network. This is a 2 step process with a gateway in the middle. The reason for this is that connecting sensors directly to today’s networks cause power and frequency problems. At the current stage 5G will address these issues by more efficiently use spectrum, thus enabling lower power usage. It opens up the playing field for more sensors to move away from their reliance on Wi-fi and fixed networks and connect directly to mobile networks.
Many industry pundits are imagining where CSPs will fit into the IoT value chain– will they be focused on connectivity alone, or will they move into IoT device management and have their own IoT offerings, expanding into other verticals such as connected home, transportation and utilities? Today, if your smartphone talks to your Nike wearable device account – there is no value-add from a CSP’s perspective. The connection is routed through a gateway. But if CSPs move towards managing the individual devices themselves and providing the connectivity, which will be possible with 5G, there is more value delivered from the CSP, and more services that they can bill for. Now let’s take it a step further, to a model where the CSPs not only deliver the connectivity and device management, but the rating, charging, policy management and partner settlement as well.
‘‘
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The introduction of 5G will be the technology enabler that supercharges the IoT, empowering even the smallest of connected devices to support rich content and services.
‘‘
The thousands of businesses entering the IoT ecosystem will need all of these services, and the majority of them are not equipped. 5G is only 5 years away, and in many ways the industry is moving forward already. We are progressing towards this now and CSPs need to be ready. They need to decide what the impact will be. What does it mean for business models and how will they make money in this changing ecosystem? As Steve Prentice, vice president and Gartner Fellow points out, “CIOs must understand that the most disruptive impact and competitive threats — and, equally, the greatest competitive opportunities — arise not from simply digitalizing a product or service, but from creating a new business model and value proposition,” Our view, even in today’s 4G world, is that the new business model and value proposition lies in the enablement of enterprise businesses in the IoT. There are a growing group of industries and businesses that need an easy
and efficient way to launch their IoT offerings and support their various partners. CSPs that provide an IoT BSS ‘Platform as a service’ (PaaS) with enterprise middleware/integration will be among the early winners in monetizing the IoT. The “billions” of devices that are projected to be connected will need to be connected to something that has value on the other end – and businesses will need a way to charge for these services beyond a flat rate. Gartner estimates that IoT will support total services spending of $69.5 billion in 2015 and $263 billion by 2020. Today’s early IoT platforms are successful because they make it easy for CSPs to support new IoT businesses - they bundle together connectivity, device management and some basic billing functionality, allowing IoT businesses to quickly launch new services. But many of the platforms in this space today only provide the most basic billing functionality–flat rate billing for connectivity of IoT devices with a few basic SLAs that need to be supported. The problem is that the
IoT is a complex space with complex partnerships and billing arrangementsand it’s only going to get more and more complex. There will undoubtedly be many instances where flat rate billing isn’t enough; where additional one time fees, usage based billing and real-time payments and partner settlements will be required. CSPs can offer connectivity with full turnkey BSS support to their enterprise IoT customers, just like they do for their traditional MVNO partners today. CSPs are trusted brands that can help their enterprise customers by moving beyond connectivity, towards providing a full IoT packaged offer. This should include device management along with charging, policy management, partner settlement and customer care. CSPs should be able to look at the services their enterprise customers want to provide and give them the flexibility to make it happen; from supporting new business models and complex charging scenarios, to launching campaigns and promotions on the fly. All provided with an out of the box solution that can be quickly implemented, so IoT businesses can do what they do best, focus on developing their next killer app.
Learn more about Redknee’s innovationin the IoT marketplace:
http://goo.gl/6FpRSA
Red News
Latest highlights from Redknee
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Redknee Unified Introduces Innovative Features to Deliver Faster Monetization Dedicated to developing innovative software to meet the challenges of service providers around the world, the latest release of Redknee Unified is now available and includes innovative features to help drive revenue, increase profitability and advance the customer experience. Redknee Unified 10 empowers service providers with greater flexibility, scalability and the ability to monetize new revenue streams faster in today’s challenging market.
Redknee, PLDT-SMART Foundation (PSF) and Smart Communications Inc. continue to provide relief to support Philippine communities a year after Typhoon Haiyan A little over a year ago, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded devastated parts of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. In response to the natural disaster, the Philippines leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) in partnership with the government, national and international enterprises like Redknee, supported relief efforts. A key initiative that PSF is driving is the rebuilding of schools, especially in remote areas. Today, PSF is identifying possible sites for construction of classrooms in the areas of Antique and will utilize funds and partner with Redknee to achieve this school project.
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Redknee’s Connected Suite Enables Growth in the Retail Energy Sector Redknee signed its first commercial order with a leading national corporation and service provider in Asia Pacific, enabling them to monetize their retail energy business and other digital services to both consumer and business customers.
Monetize the Mobile Data Explosion with Redknee’s Policy Wizard Redknee’s Policy Control Server (PCS) provides operators the agility they need to deliver and charge for digital services in ways that work best for their subscribers. Its easy-to-use interface allows marketing and non-technical teams to create new policy and charging plans that customers crave – in minutes.
Vodafone India Leverages Redknee Unified Charging Operating in one of the most competitive markets in the world, Vodafone India has chosen to employ the latest version of Redknee Unified Charging to boost its data subscribers’ adoption and enhance customer satisfaction. Redknee’s converged charging solution is driving customer loyalty and generating new revenue opportunities for this Tier 1 operator.
Beyond the Buzz Industry updates from around the globe
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Your Watch May be Watching You Wearables are invading the workplace, leading to new ways of improving employee productivity and engagement – and perhaps even some spying. Source: TechCrunch http://goo.gl/culnqV
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How Much is your Brain Worth? By 2020, a $1000 personal computer will have the raw processing power of a human brain. This will impact how and to what extent humans will add value in an increasingly complex marketplace. Source: Cisco http://goo.gl/swnYvw
Back to the Future Ax Pax, a Californian company, has successfully tested prototype hoverboards that are lifted by a magnetic field created by disc-shaped hover engines that can levitate about an inch from the ground. Source: International Business Times http://goo.gl/LCj2PW
Red Locations Where in the world is Redknee?
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As the birthplace of Redknee’s visionary founder and CEO, Lucas Skoczkowski, it is only fitting that Poland is home to the company’s core Research & Development division. Supporting Redknee’s global business, the Polish R&D unit is one of the company’s most vital locations providing product design, development and delivery as well as exclusive 24/7 customer support. With over 200 forward-thinking professionals including world-class software engineers, solution architects and project managers, Redknee Poland hopes to expand its talented team this year.
Redknee Events Recap of MWC
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Redknee Showcases
Real-Time Monetization
at MWC 2015
A
t the year’s most anticipated mobile technology event, Mobile World Congress, Redknee once again stood before 90K+
attendees at the forefront of leading-edge solutions for today’s service provider. In over 150 meetings, Redknee demonstrated how we help our customers unlock the potential of new revenue streams at the heart of worldwide innovation while driving profitability in their businesses. Redknee will ready your business for navigating the complex world of mobile technology to deliver an advanced customer experience. From data and wearables to connected homes and cloud services, we facilitate the means for your business to support the new business models that tomorrow’s technology requires.
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At Mobile World Congress 2015, we showcased our latest product demos:
Integrated Multi-play Seamlessly replicate the mobile product offers and selfservice experience that consumers have come to love and extend it to other lines of business. Streamlining your billing and charging into one convenient system for multiple business lines can bring innovative product cross-bundle opportunities that will raise new streams of revenue.
Smart Loyalty Pave the way for a more connected and smarter city with direct loyalty applications for transportation, retail, entertainment and communications that will improve your customers’ experience and power a varied ecosystem of enterprise businesses from a single platform.
Data Monetizaton Enhance your ability monetize mobile data. Stimulate usage across your active customer base, gain new business insights, launch ‘smart’ campaigns and tap into new revenue streams. Leverage new business insight to identify opportunities and see how you can quickly rollout marketing campaigns that guide customer behavior while shaping demand.
Listen to Redknee’s CEO, Lucas Skoczkowski, as he explains the opportunities and challenges in monetizing the growing world of digital content and the Internet of Things. http://goo.gl/u7LhZc
Redknee Events Meet Redknee at a city near you
APRIL
30
28
2015
(12pm EDT)
VanillaPlus NFV Roundtable Discussion Webinar http://redknee.com/about_us/news_events/ events/NFVRoundtable_2015.aspx
MAY
2015
20-21
Telco Strategies 2015 Jakarta, Indonesia http://redknee.com/about_us/news_events/events/ events05201501.aspx
MAY
2015
26
Data Hypergrowth: Challenges, Opportunities and Monetization Strategies Webinar http://redknee.com/about_us/news_events/events/ webinars/DataMonetizationWebinar2015.aspx
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JUNE 2015
1-3
TM Forum Live! Nice, France http://redknee.com/about_us/news_events/ events/events06011501.aspx
JUNE 2015
16-17 MVNO Industry Summit LATAM 2015 Mexico City, Mexico http://redknee.com/about_us/news_events/ events/events06161501.aspx
Redknee Corporate Headquarters 2560 Matheson Boulevard East Mississauga, Ontario Canada L4W 4Y9 Tel: +1 905 625 2622 Fax: +1 905 625 2773 www.redknee.com