Major Shift Required in Network Planning and Rollout for Next Generation Services, Amdocs Survey Discovers
08 Diciembre 2009 - 5:03AM
PR Newswire (US)
Need to manage change within the network prolongs time to market
for new services; tighter link between marketing and network
planning functions is essential ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At Management World Americas 2009, Amdocs
(NYSE:DOX), the leading provider of customer experience systems,
today announced the results of an independent survey that explores
the requirements and challenges for network build and rollout to
support next generation services. According to the global survey
conducted by analyst firm Analysys Mason, new approaches to network
operational planning and execution are needed. This is due to a
technology and process gap between the increasing and changing
uptake for next generation services, and the network's ability to
deliver and respond at an optimized and competitive speed. The
survey examined network planners' concerns as they attempt to
adjust plans to accommodate rapid changes in service creation and
deployment, and identified the technological and operational
changes needed to respond to the new challenges. Survey highlights
include: -- # 1 challenge in network planning is "managing change":
Survey respondents ranked "managing change" as their number one
challenge. Network planners must respond to changes in budget
allocations, assumptions of uptake and usage of new services,
equipment specifications and technical or operational problems
during the rollout process. With no mechanism in place allowing
them to respond quickly and efficiently, planned changes are taking
too long and ad-hoc changes are disruptive to service rollout. --
Time to market - Inability to plan efficiently and alter the
network prolongs service creation and delivery: Respondents
estimate that it takes six - twelve months to launch a 'simple'
service such as VOIP, and more than twelve months for 'complex'
services such as IPTV. Nearly all interviewees said that if a
service requires more than minor network capacity augmentation, it
takes more than one year to plan and launch the new service. As a
result, many service providers are increasingly threatened by
competitors that can respond more quickly to dynamic customer and
service demands. -- Marketing and network planning organizations
are siloed; a tighter link is required: Eighty percent of survey
respondents said they would prefer to plan for new services using
marketing forecast data (top-down view) to set the baseline, and
network capacity consumption trends data (bottom-up view) to
confirm marketing's assumptions, plans, forecasts and needs. At
present, network planners' existing tools do not enable them to
consolidate and share these views and there is no consistent
methodology in place, leaving service providers struggling to
ensure that service expectations can be met. -- A time-lined,
consolidated view of network usage trends is highly desired, but
unavailable: Almost seventy percent stated that stove-pipe
solutions and legacy systems can't deliver visibility of network
usage over specific time periods. With no visibility of past,
current and future usage trends, service providers are unable to
effectively plan, manage and deliver network capacity in real time.
"Today's survey confirms that the marketing department plays a
dominant role in planning new services, with service providers
recognizing the need to move from being a technology and
network-driven organization, to one that is customer-driven.
Service providers need planning and analysis tools that will help
them to communicate with each other - and more effectively match
supply to demand," said Dr. Mark H. Mortensen of Analysys Mason.
"Demand for new services and data consumption is increasing.
Service providers must manage capacity demand while optimizing the
investment in the network," said Seth Nesbitt, vice president of
products and solutions at Amdocs. "Amdocs provides network planners
with the technology to trend and forecast, and allows them to see
where capacity demand is needed, how much, and at what rate to
build it out. As a result, service providers can improve budget and
network planning, and deliver next generation services quickly to
remain competitive." The survey was independently conducted for
Amdocs by leading analyst firm Analysys Mason and interviewed Tier
1 and Tier 2 wireline, mobile and cable operators in North America,
Central and Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. About Amdocs
Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience systems
innovation, enabling world-leading service providers to deliver an
integrated, innovative and the intentional customer experience(TM)
- at every point of service. Amdocs provides solutions that deliver
customer experience excellence, combining the software, service and
expertise to help its customers execute their strategies and
achieve service, operational and financial excellence. A global
company with revenue of $2.86 billion in fiscal 2009, Amdocs has
approximately 17,000 employees and serves customers in more than 60
countries around the world. For more information, visit Amdocs at
http://www.amdocs.com/. Amdocs' Forward-Looking Statement This
press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking
statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including
statements about Amdocs' growth and business results in future
quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions,
we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or
that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve
risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ
from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited
to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs' ability to
grow in the business segments it serves, adverse effects of market
competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the
Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major
customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our
customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the
international market. Amdocs may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, however the
Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and
other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in
our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September
30, 2009, filed on December 7, 2009. DATASOURCE: Amdocs CONTACT:
Garland Harwood of Weber Shandwick for Amdocs, +1-212-445-8373, Web
Site: http://www.amdocs.com/
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