The B2B opportunity
The clear distinction between the online and offline worlds has been fading away due to everything now being merged and digitalised. With (nearly) no exceptions, every sustainable and thriving business sector has, to some extent, embraced digital transformation.
As the provider of the connectivity that enables other organisations to function and grow in the digital economy, this shift has created the right circumstances for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to tap into a new business opportunity.
Boosted by an exponential growth in IoT, and with 5G opening up new revenue streams and business models, Business-to-Business (B2B) growth can potentially outperform Business-to-Consumer (B2C) for CSPs in the upcoming years. In addition to protecting the connectivity business, CSPs must understand emerging market trends and enterprise customers’ needs, decide what to tackle, and finally capture the value arising from these new digital revenue streams.
CSPs’ competitors are no longer only other CSPs…
The last decade brought a significant change in expectations relative to services and business models, both from individuals and enterprise customers. At the enterprise level, stakeholders have their expectations set by their personal experiences with digital service providers like Netflix, Spotify, Uber, Facebook and many others. By reshaping how people interact with, acquire and use services, these are now CSPs’ business competitors.
…and the business landscape continues to change rapidly
CSPs’ traditional services, such as SMS and Voice, are already seen as a commodity. Connectivity may be what’s left, but with enterprises continuing to move their data centres to the cloud, and with new market offerings for secure software-defined networking solutions, CSPs’ dominance is being challenged.
5G promises to unleash the full potential of IoT by setting the ground for more data-hungry, massive projects based on ultra-reliable, secure and low latency communication, along with high coverage, scalability and data speed. Mobile private networks, secure cloud-connectivity, edge computing, IoT applications, data analytics and artificial intelligence are now among the hottest technology topics that many CSP enterprise customers are looking for. Along with the digital experience disruptors, other players such as network OEM and system integrators are coming forward in this new technology landscape, challenging CSPs on B2B opportunities.
Businesses still need a trusted partner for their Digital Transformation
With an increasing number of technology options and cloud service use growth, businesses need a trusted and expert partner for their digital journey. CSPs can position themselves for that.
However, to do so, CSPs need to strengthen their role in the value chain, turn their data access into a critical asset and leverage a broader digital partner ecosystem to co-create innovative and customer-centric services. Moving from connectivity providers to digital service providers, CSPs will have to leverage deep technology expertise and market reputation, along with their strong track record in supporting organisations of different sizes and sectors.
Learn more about Celfocus B2B Offer here.
