IBM SmartCloud for
Service Providers
Launch new cloud services simply and quickly to
increase revenue
Highlights
●● ● ●Offers a pre-integrated, pre-configured,
building-block approach to cloud services delivery
●● ● ●Includes a solutions portfolio specifically
targeted for the CSP and cloud service provider market segment
●● ● ●Helps speed time to market for new
services for a faster return on investment
●● ● ●Delivers IBM industry-specific expertise
based on a proven cloud services strategies
Many communications service providers (CSPs) like you face declining revenues due in part to commoditized voice and data revenues. Unlike other industries that might focus on cloud as simply a cost-saving tech-nology, a full 71 percent of CSPs report that cloud is an important source of new revenue streams. More than half—57 percent—of CSPs surveyed plan to harness cloud for radical business model innovation.1 Leveraging your infrastructure and customer base provides an ideal opportunity for you to add cloud capabilities and offer cloud-based services as cost-effective new sources of revenue.
The IBM® SmartCloud™ for Service Providers portfolio is targeted for cloud service providers and the communications industry segment in particular. It includes flexible cloud capabilities to meet the requirements of virtually every cloud service provider. Whether your strategy is to offer infrastructure as a service (IaaS), become a cloud service broker or reseller, provide industry-specific cloud solutions, focus on mobile enterprise solutions, or provide other differentiated cloud services, IBM is uniquely qualified to help you build the right cloud capabilities.
Using your existing CSP infrastructure to
generate new revenue
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Solution Brief Telecommunications
IBM Software
aggregation expertise that can help you offer a full portfolio of cloud-based services. Along with this network experience, you also have a deep understanding and ownership of end-to-end service delivery and quality of service.
In addition, you have a large existing customer base in place, a local presence, experience with marketing through many chan-nels and an understanding of how to gain deep insights into your customer base through analytics. But such a dramatic change in your business model can bring with it an unfamiliar set of challenging questions. For example:
●● ●What cloud services should you offer?
●● ●Will you provide entry-level and premium services? ●● ●How do you assure a consistent and satisfying customer
experience?
●● ●Will you attack the market with horizontal offers, or dive deep to serve the needs of a specific industry?
●● ●What tradeoffs will you make between cost, reliability, security and scalability of your cloud platform? ●● ●How will you speed the release of each new service?
Standards-based building blocks to
support your chosen strategy
Most CSPs are finding that a one-sized cloud solution does not meet their specialized needs. That’s why you need solutions that provide a modular approach and let you purchase the right set of components to match your strategy. In order for your potential customers to adopt cloud-based services, your cloud offerings must be compelling and resonate with your target customer. They must also meet a high level of security, avail-ability and scalavail-ability, especially for those customers running business applications.
With IBM, you get the flexibility of cloud capabilities based on industry standards, and a building block approach. In addition, IBM SmartCloud solutions deliver the robust technical require-ments necessary to meet the needs of more of your potential customers, including the most demanding of enterprise customers.
SmartCloud Integrated Infrastructure for Service Providers
Based on the IBM cloud computing reference architecture, this solution pre-integrates a set of cloud building blocks that provide a lower entry cost point, more flexibility and improved scalability. This pre-configured approach uses an IBM PureSystems™ foundation to create, manage and monetize cloud services if you decide to build or manage your own public cloud infrastructure. SmartCloud Integrated Infrastructure for Service Providers is specifically designed to include multi-tenancy and meet the highest levels of security and service management requirements of cloud service providers. You may also choose the even more feature-rich IBM Cloud Service Provider Platform to develop your own customized cloud environment.
●● ●Select the cloud capabilities that best fit your cloud strategy ●● ●Build your cloud infrastructure quickly and affordably ●● ●Integrate your storefront with backend infrastructure ●● ●Change or combine storefronts or cloud components rapidly
with minimal impact to existing cloud environment ●● ●Manage the cloud infrastructure with advanced integrated
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SmartCloud Aggregator for Service Providers This solution allows cloud service providers to act as a cloud service broker by offering both internally delivered and third partner hosted cloud services. The cloud services can be located in your data center, an IBM data center or aggregated from the cloud using available standardized APIs. It lets you offer a widening array of services quickly and easily by eliminating the complexity between the storefront and backend systems. ●● ●Integrate with new or existing cloud services using proven
and scalable IBM cloud integration technology
●● ●Create an adapter for each service only once and then easily connect this service to multiple storefronts, other cloud services and enterprise applications
●● ●Create template-based integration processes in an easy to use visual drag and drop format, creating durable integrations without the need for complex coding or costly developer skills
SmartCloud Service Delivery for Telecommunications This integrated and scalable cloud-based service delivery platform allows CSPs to rapidly and cost effectively build and deliver services on a variety of devices.
●● ●Support revenue growth and help drive a richer customer experience by enabling new value-added services
●● ●Facilitate a competitive advantage through innovation, with faster time-to-market and improved flexibility
●● ●Help reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs while providing an end-to-end cloud-based solution
●● ●Apply predictive analytics for market analysis and targeted promotion
●● ●Reduce the cost and complexity of launching new services by using a standard set of pre-integrated APIs, interfaces and business processes
IBM Managed Infrastructure
SmartCloud Enterprise and SmartCloud Enterprise+ provide a secure, scalable, and advanced IaaS for your enterprise cus-tomers to safely adopt cloud services that meet their business demands for lower cost and greater agility. You can become a cloud service provider quickly without intensive capital infra-structure investment.
●● ●Remove IT complexity, resulting in greater business agility for your enterprise customers
●● ●Offer greater flexibility and scalability to dynamically allocate capacity to meet your customers’ business needs
●● ●Lower IT operating and capital costs for you and your cloud customers
●● ●Provide fast access to the latest technology and compute power
●● ●Deliver infrastructure services with rapid provisioning ●● ●Assure users of cloud security
●● ●Meet 24x7 support demands of enterprise customers that are implementing cloud technology
IBM SmartCloud Solutions
This cloud building block approach allows you to quickly offer packaged cloud-based services to your clients, such as enterprise solutions including social business, backup, security and others, as well as industry-specific solutions such as smarter home or smarter cities.
●● ●Offer new types of innovative services to your enterprise customers, from transportation and public safety to electron-ics and healthcare
●● ●Adopt a common architecture and platform for the deployment of wide variety of industry-specific services ●● ●Extend the platform to enable connection of all devices with
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Solution Brief Telecommunications
IBM Software
Simple ways you can get started with
cloud today
IBM has several recommendations for service providers who are interested in becoming a cloud service provider and enhanc-ing future revenue potential. Cloud solutions from IBM give you the opportunity to offer a wide variety of new services to your current consumer and enterprise base. In addition, because of IBM expertise, these solutions make it easier to enter new markets in vertical industries such as government, retail, healthcare and more. Here are some first steps to consider.
Start with strategy: Determine the services strategy that’s right for your organization and identify the portfolio of services needed to be successful with that strategy. Because IBM has such extensive experience and expertise in cloud development, IBM experts can help you determine your cloud strategy and the set of services that are right for you.
Begin with internal: Build a private cloud for your own IT use first so you can fully understand the technology and see its possibilities. Not only will your enterprise enjoy the cost savings and flexibility of cloud technology, but once you feel more confident with cloud, you can deploy a public cloud offering.
Build your partner ecosystem: IBM can help you build your ecosystem of applications, from storefronts and applications to infrastructure. IBM has already formed working relationships with hundreds of partners, so you can be up and running quickly increasing the volume and velocity of new cloud- based solutions you can bring to market.
Launch one service: Begin with one cloud-based service that is compelling for your target market, then build on that success. Offering new, relevant consumer and enterprise-based services helps you build on the trusted relationship you already have with your customers.
Why IBM?
The development of cloud strategy and technology by IBM has spanned decades and includes direct industry-specific experi-ence in at least 17 different industries. Because the company has been such an instrumental pioneer in cloud services, you get the benefit of IBM expertise to help identify the cloud strategy best suited for your organization.
The IBM-developed cloud computing reference architecture (CCRA) is based on real-world input from many cloud imple-mentations across IBM. These standardized building blocks mean every IBM cloud offering is designed to be flexible enough to meet the varying requirements of many types of cloud service providers.
IBM has an enormous partner ecosystem—perhaps the largest in the business—that includes cloud-based applications for all types of industries, ready for deployment with CSPs as your channel to increased revenues. What’s more, the IBM building block approach allows you to add or exchange partners at various component levels without significantly impacting your overall cloud offerings or time to market.
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For more information
To learn more about the SmartCloud for Service Providers, please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website:
ibm.com/communications
Additionally, IBM Global Financing can help you acquire the software capabilities that your business needs in the most cost-effective and strategic way possible. We’ll partner with credit-qualified clients to customize a financing solution to suit your business and development goals, enable effective cash management, and improve your total cost of ownership. Fund your critical IT investment and propel your business forward with IBM Global Financing. For more information, visit: ibm.com/financing
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Produced in the United States of America October 2012
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1“The natural fit of Cloud with Telecommunications: Winning in a new game through new business models” IBM Institute for Business Value, 2012
