The Telecom sector has been witnessing major shifts in recent time – rising traffic volumes, falling incomes, growing difficulties in managing facility investment, and so on. It is in this context that many Telecom companies have started to explore the possibilities of Cloud Computing. How is the Telecom industry using Cloud Computing, though? Here’s how.
Optimize business processes:
Cloud-based services used by the telecom industry are distinct from those used by the IT sector – the telecom industry’s requirements for high levels of availability and reliability must be met. Additionally, telecom operators also seek to utilize the significant investment they have already made in their existing infrastructure. Telecom software typically runs on dedicated computer systems. Launching new network services implies that service providers are faced with the complexity of managing multiple proprietary pieces of hardware and integrating these physical devices in a network. The Telecom Cloud can help address these issues effectively.
Making use of Local Presence to provide Cloud Services:
A Telecom Cloud provider is a telecommunications company that has moved a significant part of its resources from providing landline service to providing Cloud Computing services.
In the early days of Cloud Computing, when the cry was for services that were globally homogeneous, the local presence of telecom operators was seen as a liability. But today, telecom operators are actually turning their local presence into a key factor in their Cloud business strategy. For instance, they are working in collaboration with local software traders and using their SME and LME customer base to expand their services in each market.
Telecom operators can also make use of their local presence to identify local SMEs that had not yet made heavy investments in IT, and offer them customized Cloud applications. However, these applications should not be mere copies of generic applications suited to the business conditions of large enterprises. Rather, they should be designed taking into account the peculiar characteristics and needs of local enterprises.
Telecom companies should also keep a close watch on the trends current in enterprise and IT. For instance, a number of industry verticals – healthcare, education, retail, and logistics – may be looking to downsize their IT departments, which makes them likely prospects as customers for Cloud Computing services.
Future Prospects for profitable business:
Today, Cloud business is more than just connecting IT resources and services. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications are increasingly gaining foreground in services focused on vertical industries (healthcare, education, retail, and government). In response to the needs of vertical industries, increasing amounts of data are being accumulated from outside the cloud. This mandates the integration of services and processes through a wider range of sensors – to be linked with the telecom operator’s Cloud. This provides a prime opportunity for telecom operators to expand Cloud-based business.
The shift to Cloud services allows telecom companies to repurpose underutilised networking resources (relieved mainly from numerous dropped landline connections) and make effective use of existing business relationships. It is likely that in the near future we will see the telecom sector leveraging Cloud technology in even bigger ways.