 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific II 2006 |
| Article no.: | 15 | |
| Topic: | Customization in global business communications | |
| Author: | Thomas Tai | |
| Title: | International Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Region | |
| Organisation: | VSNL | |
| PDF size: | 44KB |
About author
Thomas Tai is VSNL’s International Senior Vice President for the Asia Pacific Region; he is responsible for the company’s operations sales and marketing for the carrier and enterprise markets in Asia. Previously, he served as Vice President, North Pacific Region for Asia Netcom, and as the Managing Director of Concert’s International Carrier Services unit in Asia. Prior to Concert, Mr Tai was the Regional Sales Director of AT&T’s Carrier Market for Asia. At AT&T, Mr Tai held various management positions in market research, carrier relations, corporate sales and systems engineering. Mr Tai holds a first-class honours Bachelor of Sciences degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa in Canada. He also attended the Advanced Telecommunications Management Programme at the University of Southern California.
Article abstract
Global organizations increasingly rely on a wide variety of communication technologies and services, such as email, instant messaging, voice messaging and digital media conferencing, to build business productivity. Further transformation, particularly in the sphere of technology and service customization is expected. Today, the ICT enterprise business is valued at approximately US$600 billion and is growing rapidly. Significantly, this also sparks the rise of increasingly customized and personalized business communications, which is now emerging as a dynamic driver in the sector.
Full Article
The Asia Pacific region is among the world’s most rapidly growing economic sectors, with Southeast Asian countries in a particularly dynamic phase. Economically, the Asia-Pacific ranges from the mature economy of Japan; to the newly industrialized economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore; to the developing economies of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia; to the emerging potential growth of Vietnam. Across Asia-Pacific, IT and telecommunications has become a critical parameter in assessing national and regional development. Advances in microelectronics, fibre optics and network software, on the one hand, and progressive market liberalization, on the other, have brought forward a new paradigm for end-to-end global business service in the region. Since its inception, Singapore has ensured that investment in modern infrastructure is integral to its development. Singapore is a major innovator and user of submarine cable networks, ISDN and broadband technologies. Optic fibre links, for example, are personalized according to customer demand; these enhancements enable and facilitate information interaction via data, voice, text and image media. Outsourcing as a customization driver Driven by heavy economic, trade and investment interdependencies within Asia, the giant economies of China and India will take on increasingly significant roles in the economic growth of the region. Most US and European organizations have established R&D, BPO, business process outsourcing, and a variety of offshore facilities in China and India. The enormous success of business process outsourcing operations to India has encouraged many US and European organizations to outsource their high-end knowledge operations as well. Cost savings, operational efficiencies, access to a highly talented workforce and superior connectivity infrastructure are the underlying reasons companies offshore high-end processes to India. On a number of levels, the offshore opportunity has created enormous potential for customization in the way business is conducted. Organizations are reducing tremendous costs and driving productivity by outsourcing non-core IT operations to telecom-run data centres. Leveraging the competitive advantage gained, they can focus on further developing customized end user capabilities. Additionally, by tapping in to the facilities and capabilities offered, enterprises are benefiting from a range of customization options in global co-location, as well as the shared and dedicated hosting solutions available in offshore data centres. Vertical niche focus Globally, customers are becoming more discerning and demanding. Vertical industry requirements drive them to focus on very specific business and technical demands. As industries evolve, it is vital for telecom companies to leverage their domain expertise of various vertical segments like banking, IT/ ITES, information technology/ information enabled services, manufacturing and distribution, media and entertainment services, hospitality, pharmaceutical and government to develop truly granular customization. The banking industry, for example, has issues of prime importance to their sector, the most critical of which is security. In this segment, the decision to settle for a layer 2 (data link layer) or layer 3 (network layer) technology platform depends upon the desired level of security. In the media and entertainment industry, network traffic volumes may be of particular concern. Customers will look for the freedom to opt for flexible types of billing models, i.e. usage-based or fixed-price billing. They may also require customized network performance reporting to suit varied viewing and decision-making levels at the customer end. Other vertical segments will benefit from flexible contract and payment options to meet industry-specific business cycles. Telecom providers must holistically understand the customers’ business environment and the applications the network utilizes. Global collaboration and consolidation Collaboration is another key trend driving enhanced customization. Partnerships between telecom service providers, equipment vendors, Internet players, content and e-service providers have become critical to users of converging technologies who need to customize their business communications. For example, on the wireless consumer front, end-user personalization – for example, the popularity of ring tones and music downloads on mobile phones – continues to ring in the profits backed by strong collaborations between the telecom and music industry. In terms of consolidation, the recent spate of mergers and acquisitions on a global scale indicates a trend to combine the complementary service and product portfolios of companies with operational synergies. Several Asian telecom conglomerates are today looking at acquisitions as a means of organically growing their businesses and ensuring that customers benefit from integrated services. Customized capabilities benefit organizations by streamlining business processes, enhancing employee communications and, also, ensuring the ability to utilize resources efficiently. Telecom providers in the best position to offer flexible and tailored solutions, are those that can leverage top-quality global network assets to deliver technological advances, and offer a flexible and competitive price structure. Global infrastructure ownership and next-generation development will play a large role in enhancing reach, scalability and quality. Several companies in Asia, the US and Europe are overlaying the switching fabric with MPLS ,multi-protocol label switching, and Ethernet to enhance the business connectivity and communication experience. Scalable, multi-technology connectivity, superior network capabilities, commercial flexibility and innovative managed services will catapult enterprise services customization. A critical convergence Integrated voice, video and IP communication services are also enhancing service customizability. Convergent technologies unify and simplify all forms of communication, independent of location, time or device. Multiple networks (fixed, Internet, cable, satellite or mobile) are brought together and unified communications users can be accessed anywhere, at any time, and can communicate via any media using the device they prefer. Enterprise users now have a critical need for this level of mobility. Employees can be geographically independent, while benefiting from transparent integration of communications with business processes. Remote users need real-time knowledge to ensure effective decision-making. Convergence will help to support customized access and interaction within specific enterprise environments, driving benefits across key areas of the organization. Convergence will be a catalyst for business process transformation and enhanced collaboration, workflow, and customer satisfaction. By enabling anytime, anywhere tools and services, unified communications can facilitate seamless interaction between employees to streamline business and improve productivity. Many organizations are in the process of upgrading their data networks to support multimedia applications and the various IP-based technologies and protocols. As capabilities converge onto single networks, enterprises seek greater service customization for the protection and maintenance of their networks. As enterprises become reliant on one network for all mission-critical services it is important that users are confident in the quality of service, QoS, security features, and disaster recovery. Key carrier trends In response to growing demand for customization, carriers must not only invest in collaborative partnerships and convergence technologies, but also seek to even further tailor offerings to rapidly changing customer needs. In a recent carrier survey (see figure below), respondents highlighted their most critical challenges and concerns. In addition to ‘managing profitability’ and addressing ‘convergence issues’, a significant business concern cited was ‘targeting customer demand’. More than ever, telecom carriers must work toward sharing a common set of expectations with their customers about the unique challenges faced by the enterprise. As technology and the industry itself evolve, the ability to target services will come to define competitive differentiation in this space. Telecom customers have a wide array of factors determining their customization requirements: organizational size, industry verticalisation, stage of development of converging capabilities and collaboration demands, among many others. The aim of telecom service providers should be to build offerings to reach the very specific needs of these customers. A variety of factors will drive customization and personalization of business communications in the region within the next three years. Government regulations aimed at the telecom industry in emerging Asian markets will drive part of the need for customisation. Technology, especially the continued penetration of broadband with disruptive technologies, such as WiFi and WiMAX, and the wider deployment of IP applications like VoIP, will create new possibilities for affordable customisation and personalisation. Basic enterprise requirements for business intelligence, business content offerings, security management, collaboration and eCommerce will play a vital, ongoing role in the growth of customisation and personalisation. The critical measure of success for global telecom providers will be the ability to facilitate truly a customized environment by understanding unique customer segments. Finally, telecom companies must be in sync with the customer’s network operations teams and foster the flexibility to find the right product mix and constantly innovate.
