Those who do not respond to the digital age will surely bear the scars of their inaction, but the irony is that achieving success need not be difficult nor involve risk, according to industry speakers at this year's Margin in Voice and Data event (June 11th, Forest of Arden Hotel).
The lesson of 2015's Margin in Voice and Data conference is that ongoing success is within the reach of all who are willing to react to what's happening in the market. There is nothing new about how the combination of mobile and the rise of apps have changed perceptions of what people need from technology. But the full implications of a new user experience may not be so strongly felt. "There's a conflict," explained event Content Director and host Paul Cunningham. "Telcos position themselves as service providers but what user's really want is simple. They want a great user experience based on contextual comms, with any combination of devices providing a common experience. They don't know, or care, where it comes from."
With voice provided as a 'function' there are no training requirements, no maintenance contracts, and perhaps no channel, all signposting the high altitude rise of OTT elevated by a forklift of consumers using the network to get what they need. "OTT providers entering the market are disruptive," added Cunningham. "Users now have a choice, they have availability, lower costs and can use various networks. Traditional networks are unable to match these demands. Free of charge OTT applications are turning telco services into browser functions without infrastructure. CPE, cloud and OTT will coexist for the moment with a focus on their interoperability, but the future is already defined."
With round-the-clock industry developments refusing to stop for a breather, the demands on ICT resellers to take note of the wider world grow, and with that comes the danger of inaction. This much is assured, and with equal certainty Vice President of Market Offers at BroadSoft, Mike Wilkinson (pictured), predicted a big spike in demand for cloud-based UC solutions in the UK based on trends in Europe. The Netherlands, he noted, is alive with cloud adoption driven by faster average broadband speeds. "Our Dutch customers have taken 35 per cent of the PBX market," he stated. "Other customers in Scandinavia have 40 per cent of the market, delivering all-mobile UC solutions that replace the PBX. In 2015-2016 the UK will spike as cloud moves into larger segments."
BroadSoft works with 700-plus service providers globally, mainly in UC and claims 30 per cent market share. The PBX market globally is circa 55 million seats, and so far cloud accounts for around five per cent of that figure, he noted. The main adopters are start-ups and distributed businesses. Cloud may have started in the SMB sector but it's now moving up market, and to prove the point Wilkinson noted a BroadSoft customer in America with one million seats.
In the UK BroadSoft has 80-plus cloud operators, now gaining traction in the mid-market where the benefits of flexing up and down and pay per use are realised. Other key trends noted by Wilkinson are the rise of PaaS and WebRTC in the contact centre space, and Cognitive Load. "Digital distractions can lower productivity as users take on more apps," he said. "We are working on an analytics engine to improve workflows and productivity by managing Cognitive Load. The idea came from the airline industry where the amount of information projected onto a pilot needs to be managed."
Like BroadSoft, comms resellers are mostly bound by instinct to jump on the nearest opportunity, and following a keynote by Bernie McPhillips, Head of Telefonica's M2M Authorised Distributor Channel, the good fortune in M2M was blindingly obvious. He showed delegates that the opportunity is real, how they can make money, and he put forward strong arguments for resellers to regard M2M as part of their future strategy. Ten years ago the technology barely blipped on the radar screen, but analysts now forecast 30 per cent year-on-year growth. "IoT is rapidly building connections between devices and wearables," said McPhillips. "M2M solves a big problem, but it needs to be simple, and it needs to integrate. The channel is in a prime position."
He cited two important partner successes, both had no previous experience of delivering M2M solutions, but as novices they won deals worth £1.4 million and £950k, blasting the notion that M2M revenues are small. "Yes you can win, but largely through partnership," added McPhillips. "O2 is a smart connectivity provider and its partner ecosystem is open to all. Resellers without an IoT strategy need to get one quickly. IoT is like the Industrial Revolution - both transformed industry."
Down on the ground, end-to-end M2M solutions can be tailored to specific verticals or delivered as a horizontal play by specialising in clearly defined areas of the value chain across different markets. A good starting point, noted Jon Ford, Business Development Manager at Timico Partner Services, in a panel debate, is to first identity the advantages that exist under your nose. "It's important to look at how you operate and see the M2M opportunity as an extension of existing skill sets," he said.
Like IoT, marketing is about rapidly building useful connections. But marketing has moved on from the days of 'spray and pray'. The language of marketing has regenerated into the vocabulary of Digital, Social and Mobile (DSM), and an integrated approach must be taken for new opportunities to be found, according to Andy Grant, Managing Partner at Junction Marketing.
Those who fail to bring a greater focus on marketing in the digital age will plunge into negligence and perhaps suffer at the hands of rivals who embrace another version of DSM (Doing Something Meaningful). That is the sensible way, urged Grant, who referred to figures that add full support to his argument: Amazingly, there's circa seven billion people populating the world, of which six billion have a mobile phone, 2.5 billion access the Internet and 1.8 billion are active on social networking. Understanding where marketing sits today is a top priority.
First and foremost, noted Grant, businesses must ensure that their websites are optimised for mobile, not just in response to the billions of mobile users roaming the world. "Google searches are more mobile friendly now and this has a big impact on search results," he told delegates. "Make sure your marketing campaigns are accessible via mobile. Optimise your website for mobile devices."
His call to action is just one sign of how far peoples' behaviour has changed when researching and consuming information online. "Fifty per cent of B2B lead generation comes from SEO," added Grant. "People are always connected and searching. Now, it's about targeted marketing, but only 34 per cent of marketers ask customers what they want. Make sure you're connecting and talking in the right way. Over half of businesses have closed a deal from social media leads. Connecting with customers like this is critical to success."
Marketers who take an integrated approach to create 'awareness, consideration and action' (through the intelligent application of Social, Digital and Mobile techniques) play into the hands of today's consumers. Augment this approach with the clever use of content and all handicaps will be removed. "In research, online content had a major impact on vendor selection for 87 per cent of respondents," stated Grant.
"Vendors have a plethora of information. Take that content and use it with an integrated approach across target markets. Content will get consideration as part of an overall mix. Select the target market and approach it in multiple ways including more traditional methods. It's important for marketing to become a cog in the overall business, reach the right people and create revenue."
The fate of a business also hinges on effective change management, pointed out Clodagh Murphy, former Managing Director of Eclipse. The company was founded in 1995 and focused on consumers. It was acquired by KCom in 2005 but below cost selling caused a loss making scenario. In 2007 Eclipse saw a return to profit. Two years later a strategy change planted the firm squarely in the B2B market, and in 2011 good sales and churn management sparked revenue growth by H1. 2013 brought more refinements and 2015 is the fifth year of sustained growth.
"Our business transformation followed a simple formula," said Murphy. "We found the right skills, partnered well, motivated and incentivised sales staff in the right way, and everyone was engaged. There's a shift in performance when all staff understand the strategy and goals. Over-communicate in all you do. By not talking to our customers we lost two years on our journey. Engage with customers and the market to understand both. The harder you work, the luckier you are."
The Margin in Voice and Data conference was time well spent for delegates because no serious reseller could ignore the signposts and pointers that gave a new a direction to their journey. The speakers outlined opportunities on an industrial scale, and spotlighted factors that define success in what Knight Corporate Finance Director Adam Zoldan described as a 'super-dynamic reseller sector'. He urged delegates to understand their aspiration, know the market, plan and manage properly, consider their message and understand how their company is viewed by others.
"Delivering on these imperatives could have a great impact on company value," said Zoldan. "Get these right in a market with low barriers to success and there's no reason why any company can't deliver results. You just need to define what success means to you."