Putting Products First
If it's not the secret sauce, it's probably the pot it's cooked in.
In a recent Tribold case study, Donald Toland, director of program operations at CenturyLink was quoted saying, "We were looking at an evolution on the same scale as manufacturing several decades ago when the industry transformed from designing with a pencil to full blown CAD modeling. We wanted to model products, but hadn’t the tools to model.”
The Microsoft Mash
As previously reported by Pipeline, Microsoft has been making significant headway into the operational and business support systems (OSS and BSS) arena by way of their "Mashable Ecosystem." As recently as this issue, Microsoft is being featured in the Breaking Benchmarks article which highlights their recent accomplishment with ecosystem partner Redknee in reaching 250 million subscribers. This benchmark put Microsoft, and it's ecosystem partners, in the Tier-1 scalability category from the start."We've had tremendous success working with communications service providers and our ecosystem partners," said Johan Norvik, managing director for telecommunications for Microsoft. "Each day we are combining Microsoft technology with our partners' products to provide real solutions that support the heart of telecom operations."
Also an avid Microsoft partner, Tribold announced their support for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 last month. ISVs, like Tribold, are teaming up with Microsoft so that they can focus on their core
product expertise, expand their footprint, and leverage the collective expertise of the ecosystem at the same time:
“We’re a big (Microsoft) advocate. Having built our entire suite on Microsoft from the outset enables us to focus heavily on the user experience and functionality rather than underlying platform technology,” continues Margitta. “That's the biggest differentiator we have in the marketplace against companies like Oracle and Amdocs. It allows us to remain user-focused versus technology focused.”
While enabling ISVs to focus on their core competency is a considerable advantage, the former should not go without notice. Vendors like Tribold and Redknee are slowly chipping away at the
foothold of industry titans by leveraging a titan of their own, Microsoft. "It takes the platform discussion off the table," as Margitta puts it.
Through the ecosystem, Microsoft's partners are able to openly leverage Microsoft, their relationships, and other ecosystem partners to offer carrier-grade scalability, cloud-based solutions, and lower cost of ownership based upon pre-integrated solutions that are delivered on a common platform. The result is a more cost effective solution that is easier to deploy, which may keep competitors like Oracle on their toes, if not their heels.
"We win on usability every time," Margitta adds. "While competitors are focused on a diverse and often disjointed set of products, Tribold is focused on one. When you combine Tribold EPM with the platform and SaaS capabilities it eliminates many potential concerns that may have previously presented an obstacle. Cloud-based delivery ensures Tribold is treated more like a desktop application which makes it easier to buy and easier to deploy directly to the business user."
Through the ecosystem, Microsoft's partners are able to openly leverage Microsoft, their relationships, and other ecosystem partners to offer carrier-grade scalability, cloud-based solutions, and lower cost of ownership based upon pre-integrated solutions that are delivered on a common platform. The result is a more cost effective solution that is easier to deploy, which may keep competitors like Oracle on their toes, if not their heels.
"We win on usability every time," Margitta adds. "While competitors are focused on a diverse and often disjointed set of products, Tribold is focused on one. When you combine Tribold EPM with the platform and SaaS capabilities it eliminates many potential concerns that may have previously presented an obstacle. Cloud-based delivery ensures Tribold is treated more like a desktop application which makes it easier to buy and easier to deploy directly to the business user."
And, that's just not lip service. Tribold has recently done very well winning business from Oracle shops like Orange, CenturyLink, and Sky and they don't see that momentum slowing down
anytime soon.
The Heart of the Matter
CSPs can leverage product management solutions to better design, develop, deliver, and hone a superior customer experience. An experience that is impacted more by interactions with the customer's products than the less frequent interactions with their service provider. The appeal, diversity, and quality of those products are also what will most likely not only attract customers, but retain them as well. Even some of the least liked CSPs may be able to attract customers through superior products and services, but the key to customer retention may be how well a CSP is able to capitalize on their understanding of their customers to evolve their product offerings in order to keep their customers engaged. In this respect, the product experience is at the center of the customer experience and any product innovation cascades through to new and existing customers (Figure 1, next page).
