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How does cloud add value to traditional telco service portfolios?

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Increasing competition from over-the-top (OTT) providers, and the fact that customers expect high-quality, attractively priced services, cause telecoms to search for new revenue streams. In order to generate revenues from new sources, communication service providers (CSPs) have to create true added value for their customers. Low-priced packages of voice, text and data have already become the basic minimum and the expected norm in the market. In order to remain competitive, telcos have to expand their product portfolios. To do this, they are turning to cloud services.

Cloud technology has been growing in importance for quite some time now. With clear advantages in terms of business efficiencies, cost-benefits, scalability and easier access, cloud-based offers are also becoming more popular in the telecommunications industry.

Cloud-based offers are more than just a new revenue stream for telecom companies as resellers. They are an opportunity to offer true added value to private and business clients. Cloud services provided by the telecom industry enable their customers (in the B2B and B2C segments) to use cellphones for several non-voice purposes such as retrieving information, e-commerce, backup and invoicing. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises often struggle with repetitive daily processes which can be easily and cheaply improved with cloud services.

Using the cloud saves the high initial expenses of building systems and purchasing infrastructure. Undoubtedly, telecoms’ strengths such as their huge network infrastructure, proximity to customers, and service competence create a competitive advantage for CSPs as cloud service providers. However, the risks and challenges related to adding this kind of offer to their portfolios might seem too high for some telecoms.

Introducing a completely new kind of service requires a change in attitude and strategic thinking, as well as openness to cooperation, often with recent competitors. It is also crucial to prepare appropriately for the move; finding a trustworthy partner and assessing available resources for investment are two important parts of the process. Adopting the white-label model is an increasingly popular strategy that can help telcos expand their offer to include cloud solutions.

White-labeling – the ideal business model for telco cloud services

White-label branding, also known commonly as white-labeling, is a marketing and manufacturing practice in which a product or service is produced by one company and then rebranded by another to make it appear that it is their own. Often, though, more than just the appearance changes. Over the last decade, the nature of white-label partnerships has transformed.

The scope has extended, and companies now offer many more options and functions as a part of the white-labeling process, an evolution caused mainly by more demanding customer requirements. Nowadays, services offered in the white-labeling model are also frequently modified to meet certain specific needs of the reseller, and are integrated with their existing systems.

In such a way, a client receives a crafted product ready to be sold. White labeling is an excellent option for a telecom provider seeking to enter a new market segment quickly and easily with its “own” branded products or services. It helps to create a competitive advantage and differentiate from competitors, leading to increased customer loyalty thanks to an innovative portfolio offer that truly provides added value.

White-labeling solutions work exceptionally well for cloud services, which can be tailored rapidly and easily. Crucially, this approach allows telcos to avoid numerous pitfalls associated with building a cloud solution from scratch, so they can side-step issues such as extended time to market, wasted resources and missed changes. Manufacturers are aware of that, and offer a broad range of cloud solutions in white-label format, including hosting, storage, invoicing, and more.

Succeed in cloud services with modern it tools

With a professional cloud management system, telecoms can eliminate many challenges associated with introducing and integrating cloud services branded as their own. These can then be offered and sold from the cloud, using a convenient online portal. Based on the automated processes underneath, telecoms can start selling services to their clients in no time. When offering software tools for their business customers in the white-label model, telecoms will usually rebrand the graphic user interfaces of both the cloud webshop and each offered IT system, in line with the corporate identity of their own brand or that of their client.

It is advisable to find an IT provider that you see as a trusted partner in the process, one that will be able to offer a more individual approach to white-labeling. Such an approach includes full rebranding, separate instances, integration with existing IT systems, full automation of sales processes, maintenance, training, testing and monitoring of service performance parameters, among other things. No matter which approach to white-labeling you choose, your business partner should be flexible enough to be able to accommodate any approach to the project.

 

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