Following on from this, the question is what does the next decade hold and how can we get ready for it? In my view, the coming years will see customer demands grow and an ever increasing flow of new technologies.

In preparing for this, it’s vital to create a flexible and agile approach to service creation and new product development. This will future-proof the organisation as a whole and deliver competitive advantage.

Telecoms operators that achieve this will have the ability to create and deliver new services faster than their competitors. They’ll not only be able to maximise their customer knowledge to ensure service offerings meet customer expectations and needs but also differentiate their product offering. Without this, every business looks the same and there is a race to the bottom in terms of pricing.

This approach has never been more important. In fact, I would argue that a new services model is an absolute necessity owing to the speed which the market is continually growing and changing, alongside new players and technologies.

The main challenge is how to get the systems and software in place to ensure this model, while gaining the return on investment needed to make it worthwhile.

Opportunities do exist for operators who want to be leaders in service creation, but the question they need to ask themselves is, “how can we get there from where we are now?” – especially when legacy systems often hold them back.

Scott Goodwin is CEO of weavesys

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