The transition to techco is as much a vendor transition as it is a telco transition

We are at a critical juncture for the telecommunications industry. For telcos, the way forward is to become more resilient against external factors. They need to put in place a sustainable monetization and cost model that can generate new growth from a more efficient, quicker, and smarter mobile network. Vendors need to enable revenue generation at a lower total cost of ownership in the most efficient and sustainable way. Solutions need to cater to changing needs, be agile and automated.

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Vendors can help telcos achieve the change that is needed. In fact, they can become strong partners to telcos. For this to happen, change is as much a necessity for vendors as it is for telcos. Vendors need to focus on performing and delivering consistently to earn the trust of telcos as a pre-requisite. The importance of joint success has to be prioritized over vendor commercial interest for endeavors to be win-win for both parties. It will be helpful now if vendors work to make things happen for telcos.

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As telcos go beyond connectivity in search of new revenue streams, solutions need to be flexible enough especially when it comes to the data model, experience, and security as it will be used in multiple industries. An industry agnostic product catalog, CPQ, and monetization model that converges across different industries will be needed. Telcos will need a standardized approach to onboarding and enabling partners as with each additional industry, integration will become more complex.

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There needs to be a master catalog to synchronize with other catalogs that are already in place and open API to bring it all together. There also needs to be means to achieve automated provisioning across different platforms and systems in different industries. Solutions running on Open Digital Architecture (ODA) can help with this. Achieving a standardized interface, enhanced security, and customer care geared to serve the needs of multiple industries are some areas that will need development.

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At a high level, it is about enabling a co-creation environment that is able to facilitate collaboration between multiple partners to create offers that can extend across multiple industries. Telcos need vendors that have proven technical product superiority, successful transformation experience and innovation capability. As such, vendors need to push the limits to become strong partners. Their approach to telcos and solutions needs to change. Focus needs to shift to ensuring telcos succeed as it is only then that vendors will succeed overall.

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There is so much talk about the telco to techco transition with pressure being put on telcos to initiate and make a successful transition. How much of this pressure is being driven by vendor self-interest? Ultimately, the transition to techco is as much a vendor transition as it is a telco transition. Vendors need to step up. Change initiated and achieved from all angles -- telcos, vendors, and solutions -- will bring new dimensions to the industry. It is only with all round change and growth mindsets that the industry can start a new chapter.