How to help enterprises turn imagination into reality...and grow top line

Behaviors, attitudes and intentions toward emerging technologies have changed. Enterprise 5G and internet of things (IoT) use cases have shifted, and enterprise perceptions of technology suppliers and industry ecosystems have evolved. So, where do telecoms businesses stand today?

At the beginning of 2021, EY conducted a survey of more than 1,000 enterprises and the findings have been enlightening. It highlights the transformational promise of 5G-based IoT. It shows that pressures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing organizations to accelerate their emerging technology agendas — with 5G playing a pivotal role. And it highlights that fast-changing demands have put a greater responsibility on telcos to educate, inspire and support their customers.

From my personal perspective, several key themes have emerged that I feel need to be addressed immediately,?the most pressing of which is for telcos to improve the way they are perceived by enterprises. Right now, telcos are viewed as IoT experts, not as digital transformation experts. There’s a credibility gap, and for many reasons, most importantly seizing the opportunity to grow the top line, this simply must change.

Become a trusted partner

Telcos must build ánd demonstrate their expertise beyond merely supplying the technology itself. The next wave of industries requires service providers to be trusted partners that provide end-to-end solutions and deliver lasting business outcomes.

While 5G is gaining momentum with more than half (52%) of organizations surveyed indicating that they are more interested in 5G and IoT due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 64% are struggling to identify the right 5G vendor to fulfil their aspirations for the technology. In fact, most think their current 5G interactions are largely tactical and transactional. In other words, there’s a mismatch between vision and reality.

Importantly, organizations do not see 5G as having the potential to increase business value in and of itself. Companies are keen for 5G to be harnessed alongside other emerging technologies, many of which they are already investing in. Respondents see analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) (75%), robotics and automation (63%) and edge computing (57%) as complementary to their organizations’ 5G and IoT strategies.

Lead a wider ecosystem

With the growing desire to blend technologies to solve business problems, there’s an increasing need for telcos to work with a wider ecosystem of suppliers. After all, no one can be an expert at everything. It’s vital for telcos to work closely with customers too, because while they might know the technology inside out, only the customer will truly understand what they want to achieve with it.?

Telcos therefore need to be able to and convince customers that they can purposefully support them on their transformation journey. They need to speak the same language and effectively collaborate with partners. Enterprises only want to work with companies that can deliver tangible, sustainable outcomes. And 79% of survey respondents believe their organization will prioritize vendors that can deliver these outcomes as “co-customers” –?working closely together.

Be very aware of the market

It’s more critical than ever for telcos to keep up to date with market changes, especially shifting use cases. If we take health care as an example, the past 18 months have almost been like a proof of concept for many key technologies across the industry and organizations have had no choice but to embrace them. Having now seen the benefits for themselves, health care respondents have the confidence to focus on more sophisticated 5G use cases than ever before. For example, 42% of health care respondents are currently investigating or planning to invest in 5G-based IoT for patient monitoring, compared with just 29% in 2020.

The survey clearly highlights a step change from the year before. Connected hospitals, connected ambulances, remote surgery and systems and processes that are complicated to implement are now being prioritized. There’s a collective belief that they can be achieved. And simpler use cases, such as the passive collection of wellness data, which many organizations have found a way to carry out without the use of 5G technology, have been deprioritized.

From a regional perspective, interestingly, European businesses are lagging in adoption and ambition. Could this be due to increased regulatory complexity, a lack of understanding around the policy environment or the fact that Europe is geographically more fragmented, making it harder to control 5G across the region? Again, it’s up to telcos to be aware of these factors and respond accordingly, taking the time to inform and educate European businesses that the challenges can be overcome and putting forward solutions that deal with these.

It’s time to transform the role of the telco?

As the world continues to evolve and greater reliance is placed on emerging technologies such as 5G and IoT, telcos must transform themselves to be relevant and help enterprises thrive. From supplier to trusted partner; from independent organization to leader of a connected ecosystem; from blinkered expert to tuned-in adviser – change is required to fully grab the opportunity that is in front of them.?

Drawing on the survey results, the study provides valuable insights and guidance on both the current and future state of enterprises’ usage of 5G and IoT and their evolving relationships with 5G and IoT providers. Continue your transformation journey here .?