Align Portfolios with Core Competencies to Succeed in Evolving Ecosystems
Communications service providers (CSPs) face myriad challenges today. Shrinking revenue and margins on all commodity services (e.g., connectivity, wireline voice and data), limited opportunities to differentiate with existing portfolios, and difficulty identifying key use cases for next-generation solutions (e.g., intelligent contact center, AI, IoT, 5G). Telecom services are becoming part of broader digital transformation projects and, therefore, are becoming deprioritized. Dated internal processes and infrastructure are limiting provider agility and ability to innovate.
There are urgent needs for service providers to:
- Re-establish and ramp up capabilities as technology providers, delivering more than traditional telecom services
- Enrich portfolios with next-generation services that align with core competencies
- Modernize internal systems (lead generation, sales quoting, billing, customer support) to drive operational efficiencies
- Enhance digital customer journey capabilities
- Identify new use cases and addressable opportunities – e.g., customer operations and workflow integrations, verticals, frontline workers, home/hybrid workers
- Collaborate and co-create with a technology ecosystem to differentiate, enhance customer value and drive growth
Capitalize on Cloud Communications Opportunities with the Right Technology Partner
Over the past couple of decades, cloud communications, including hosted/cloud private branch exchange (PBX) and unified communications as a service (UCaaS), have offered providers opportunities to address growing customer needs for more cost-effective, yet flexible and robust communications solutions compared to monolithic legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM) systems and complex, expensive premises-based IP telephony solutions. Leveraging their robust telecom networks, providers are empowered to bundle voice services with hosted/cloud PBX and UCaaS applications to deliver end-to-end business solutions. The maturing cloud PBX/UCaaS market continues to grow at double-digit rates annually, in terms of both users/seats and revenues, compelling providers to continue enhancing their portfolios and revamping their go-to-market strategies.
However, new challenges are emerging for service providers. The communications services value chain is experiencing disruption from the co-existence of bundled and unbundled cloud telephony and UC applications, the emergence of compelling UCaaS wholesale/resale models, and Microsoft’s rising market influence.
Collaboration-first UC services have gained traction, shaping new sales motions and deployment scenarios, but diminishing CSPs’ role in the value chain. Furthermore, vendors/technology partners have made strategic shifts toward becoming service providers themselves through over-the-top delivery, forcing CSPs to resell vendor-managed cloud services rather than leveraging third-party software to build their own differentiated solutions. To complicate matters further, certain long-time CSP technology providers, such as Metaswitch, currently owned by Microsoft, have announced the end of life of their UCaaS platforms, thus forcing CSPs to look for new partners.
As a result of rapidly evolving market trends, CSP are negatively impacted by:
- Shrinking margins on as-a-service solutions
- Reduced brand equity and customer ownership
- Limited differentiation opportunities
Understandably, CSPs are struggling to select partners in a crowded space in which former technology partners have turned into competitors over time. More than ever, CSPs are looking to strike a balance between expanding their portfolios to address broader customer segments and the need to cut costs through technology stack and vendor consolidation.
Providers must identify partners that meet certain criteria:
- Robust platform capabilities and technology roadmaps aligned with key market trends and shifting customer requirements
- Partner commitment to the CSP channel and CSP support capabilities: admin portals, documentation, sales and marketing support e-bonding, back-office automation, rapid onboarding, etc.
- Partner financial viability
- Partner geographic alignment with CSP target markets regarding data residency, vertical regulations, calling plans, language support, etc.
How Intermedia is Answering the Call
CSPs evaluating cloud communications technology partners would be well-advised to consider Intermedia among their primary options. Intermedia positions itself as an integrated cloud communications, collaboration, and customer experience services provider. Intermedia Unite encompasses a full-stack UCaaS solution, including an enterprise-grade PBX fully integrated with SMS, video/web meetings, team collaboration, multimedia communications recording and archiving, and a unique blend of file sync, share, and backup—all accessible through mobile and desktop user interfaces and all enhanced with AI .
Intermedia differentiates from most cloud communications providers with its channel-centric market approach. The provider reports a roster of over 7,500 active channel partners, including value-added resellers (VARs), managed services providers (MSPs), distributors, and telco carriers (CSPs). Intermedia continues to invest in enhancing its partner programs and capabilities to serve a wide spectrum of partners more effectively, from agents to white-label resellers.
Today, Intermedia is doubling down on the telco/CSP channel. Drawing on its CSP experience with Telax CCaaS, Intermedia aims to boost CSP success with an integrated UCaaS + CCaaS solution set and value proposition. In addition to Intermedia’s compelling cloud solutions portfolio, key benefits to CSPs include:
- white-label branding
- back-office integration
- infrastructure management and capacity planning
- service quality monitoring and analytics
- security and regulatory compliance
- managed 911
- device certification and fulfillment
- sales engineering
- deal support (pre-qualification, quoting, provisioning)
- marketing support (brandable resources, pre-built campaigns
- a rich technology ecosystem (e.g., App Marketplace)
