Outsourcing options
and
approaches
for
communications
service providers
Contents
03 Executive summary
04 Service providers face new business pressures
05 What can outsourcing achieve for the communications service provider? 06 You’re considering outsourcing –
so what next?
06 Deciding the scope of any outsourcing deal
07 Setting business targets for outsourcing 07 Choosing the right approach for
implementation
08 Choosing the right partner
09 Managing the outsourcing program
11 Conclusion 11 Glossary
A note about definitions: The terms “managed services”
and “outsourcing” are often used interchangeably in
telecommunications. In this White Paper, managed
services are defined as having a managed services
partner taking on the responsibility for managing and
delivering network related functions under a service
level agreement (SLA).
Outsourcing is a managed services solution that
includes transfer of personnel from the service provider
to the managed services partner. Out-tasking is a
managed services solution in which no personnel
transfers are involved.
Executive
summary
The communications industry is changing rapidly. Commercial pressures on communications service providers are rising, demanding that they generate innovative and differentiating services. This requires more substantial investments to deal with an increasingly complex technological landscape and rising demands from consumers for a wider choice of more advanced services. Conversely, falling ARPU and increasing competition from existing players and new entrants means that costs must be kept down. Dealing with this dilemma requires service providers to adopt new practices and to re-evaluate their business models to determine what is core and what is peripheral in their business operations. Service providers can no longer rely on network technology as their main source of differentiation. The activities required to run the network and its services are increasingly being seen as peripheral. Instead, service providers need to focus more on revenue generating activities and building and
maintaining customer relationships. Outsourcing peripheral activities can benefit service providers by allowing them to focus on their core activities to achieve the differentiation they need. It can also provide access to skills and resources that can help transform their operational performance and bring down their operational costs.
The increasing recognition of the benefits of outsourcing by service providers is resulting in a rapidly growing market. The global managed services market for telecoms service providers was worth USD 1.9 billion in 2006 and is predicted to grow at a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2010 (source: IDC, February 2007).
Outsourcing can bring considerable benefits to any service provider. These benefits include:
• Managing complexity. The arrival of new technologies and the convergence of mobile and fixed telecom environments are making technology management more complex and creating other organizational challenges. This increases the service provider’s workload, demands new skills and creates pressure to achieve greater efficiency in operations. By outsourcing the related activities, the service provider can rely on a partner to manage these complexities, bringing in best-practices, efficiencies of scale, experienced, skilled personnel and related technology know-how
• Business transformation. Outsourcing deepens the relationship between the service provider and the managed services partner to help overcome future business challenges and supports the service provider in achieving its strategic goals. While the outsourcing partner takes care of specific activities like network operations, the service provider can focus its management activities on branding, new user services and customers. • Improved financial
performance. Outsourcing can
reshape a service provider’s telecoms-related OPEX, CAPEX and balance sheet entities, to ensure long-term competitiveness and profitability. Typically, managed services can bring a 20% reduction in OPEX for a service provider and a decrease in time-to-market for new end-user services of 50% or more, leading to a faster return on investment (source: IDC, February 2007).
All these benefits add up to greater shareholder value.
The managed services market is predicted to grow at a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2010 (source: IDC, February 2007)
New Revenues
Customers
¥ Ongoing pressure to reduce OPEX, optimize CAPEX and generate new revenue
¥ Need to transform and consolidate complex networks (e.g., network sharing, FMC)
¥ Dis-aggregation of telco value chain
¥ Service provider business models shift to outsourcing
Technology/products
¥ Hardware standardization (boundaries between telco and IT disappear for core network and platforms) ¥ Growing importance to support
Ð converged fixed and mobile services Ð broadband multimedia services Ð IP network transformation
¥ Standard IT products and services are increasingly part of solution offerings
Competition
¥ Ongoing consolidation amongst established network vendors
¥ Multi-vendor service offerings are intensifying the competition
¥ Horizontalization and new competitors
Operational Efficiency New Growth Markets IP centric convergence
Key themes for Services business
Figure 1. The relationship between changing technologies and their impact on service providers’ business models
Service providers face
new business pressures
Several different factors are imposing business pressures on today’s service providers. These include working in an environment that is becoming ever more complex, both technologically and commercially. Many companies will have to transform their businesses to adapt to the new environment and secure a new position in the value chain. As the world’s communications networks continue to merge with the Internet, consumers and businesses will demand a wider range of advanced services, such as IPTV, video sharing and IP voice, built on multiple access technologies, such as WCDMA, HSPA, WiMAX, WLAN, xDSL, FTTC/FTTH and CATV. These bring increased speed and capacity to networks, but also make it more complex to manage the many different technologies and interfaces. Increased complexity will also manifest itself in the need for greater collaboration between business partners. Breaking into new business areas demands the collaboration of communications service providers with players from other sectors, such as Internet companies, content owners and broadcast providers. This is an opportunity that is already being chased by some service providers who aim to achieve triple-play and even quadruple play offers that encompass mobile, fixed, TV and broadband services. Service providers also face severe financial pressure from fierce competition in the market, as well as from regulatory changes that result in decreasing ARPU. This forces service providers to focus on finding ways to generate more revenue, as well as taking every opportunity to reduce costs and raise operational efficiency.
Furthermore, as the business environment evolves with the entry of new types of competitor and new
business models, many service providers are rethinking their business strategy and positioning in the value chain. Transforming their business and operational structures is a huge undertaking. Outsourcing peripheral activities supports this process by enabling the service provider to focus more on the critical challenges related to its customers, services and brand.
Achieving these aims brings the additional challenge for service providers of building and maintaining an organization with the necessary competence and flexibility to match current market needs and
requirements. Increased complexity and shorter technology life-cycles increase the need for more specialized skills and competence. An additional difficulty is that these resources are often needed for shorter periods of time.
The traditional success criteria of coverage, capacity and quality are outmoded in mature markets. Being a successful service provider used
to depend largely on managing the network, but today it’s increasingly about managing customer
relationships. Each service provider must focus more sharply on customer-facing aspects of their business, such as service development and management, marketing, branding and customer relationship management. For many companies, this means transforming their businesses and technical systems to fit a more agile, flexible model.
Outsourcing peripheral activities enables a service provider to focus more on the critical challenges related to its customers, services and brand
Figure 2. Successful outsourcing calls for in-depth analysis of many criteria Subscriber growth CAPEX strategy Cost reduction Complexity reduction Service quality improvement Focus on core competence Buffer for peak workloads
¥ Clear joint intent & aligned objectives ¥ Clear scope for managed services ¥ Well planned transition
¥ Long-term contract ¥ Service Level Agreement ¥ Incentives for both parties ¥ Practical contract management ¥ Contractual flexibility for emerging
needs
Outsourcing Model
Outsourcing intent aligned with business strategy
Good understanding of what to outsource Defined objectives for the managed services Commitment to make it happen Available, interested & competent managed services partners Drivers Requirements
What
can
outsourcing
achieve for the communications
service
provider?
Taking the step to outsource activities to a managed services partner is a major decision for any service provider (Figure 2). No two service providers are the same and each must consider the potential benefits from outsourcing from its own unique perspective.
The different types of outsourcing available to service providers all fall under the ‘managed services’ business model and can vary widely in scope. Managed services projects can range from a managed services partner fully hosting the network or services on behalf of the service provider, to selected functions related to network operations being out-tasked.
When deciding whether to outsource, what should be outsourced and how, service providers will typically need to consider the following general points: • Can outsourcing contribute to the
overall business strategy and objectives?
• What does an outsourcing deal need to deliver in order to
complement the service provider’s business?
• What is the potential scope to be outsourced?
• What are the specific targets and objectives of the business transformation?
• What are the criteria for selecting the right managed services provider?
• How should the service provider manage the outsourcing process? • How can an efficient governance
structure be established? There are many reasons for
considering outsourcing and there is no general right answer to these questions.
The main benefits of outsourcing are: • Business Transformation As competitive pressures increase,
each service provider needs to
rethink its business strategy and position in the value chain. One way to increase differentiation and lead the way in controlling costs is to simplify the value chain and move closer to customers by focusing on mobile services, content and portals. All of these require intense effort to develop, launch and market. Service providers need to focus on these differentiating activities at a time when the increasingly complex technological environment can strain their resources.
• More efficient operations, which
will improve the bottom line
No matter what a service provider’s competitive strategy, driving down costs is essential if they are to be successful in a competitive market. All service providers need to consider whether their business could benefit from the economies of scale that a managed services partner could deliver. Outsourcing to a single, global-scale partner brings with it the advantages of industry best practices for higher efficiency and a single point of contact that reduces administration costs and management workload. Managed services vendors have typically been able to deliver up to 20%
operating cost savings compared with in-house capabilities (source: IDC February 2007).
• Focus on services and quality If a service provider manages its
operations and network properly and invests in the necessary capacity increases and modernization, the quality of its services will already be meeting its customers’ expectations. This is unlikely to be a differentiating factor however, since any service provider should be able to deliver the same in today’s mature markets. Only innovative mobile services and applications provide significant possibilities for differentiation and grabbing market share – but only until the competition catches up. An experienced managed services partner can help a service provider make the most of this window of opportunity.
• Ability to manage complexity The arrival of new technologies and convergence of mobile and fixed telecom environments add layers of complexity to technology management and create
organizational challenges. This all increases the workload, demands new skills and creates
Figure 3. Factors that influence the eventual scope of any managed services arrangement
The service provider can rely on a partner to manage these complexities and bring in best-practice solutions Service providerÕs business objectives Boundary conditions ¥ Operations ¥ Personnel ¥ Culture, Brand Telecom Services: Available managed services partners WhatÕs inefficient? ¥ Benchmarking Technology discontinuity
¥ Target scope defined ¥ Optional scope(s) considered
Scope definition:
¥ Current operations? ¥ Future development? ¥ Included definitely? Optionally? ¥ Organization, Personnel, Asset?
pressures on the service provider to be more efficient in its
operations. By outsourcing the related activities, the service provider can rely on a partner to manage these complexities and bring in best-practice solutions. • Efficient resource management Service providers need to manage
their resources to cope with peak loads and make the best use of the organization and its capabilities. Outsourcing is an efficient solution for resource management. A managed services partner can plan its business dimensioning and share resources among several service providers to achieve economies of scale and avoid unnecessary resource buffers. • Improved CAPEX utilization
will improve cash flow
Improving CAPEX utilization is one of the key ways of improving a service provider’s cash flow. Managed services can cover network design, optimization and operations activities, which can in turn be used to track and improve CAPEX utilization.
• Visibility and predictability
of OPEX
With outsourcing, the service provider will achieve full visibility and predictability of related operational expenditure. This will enhance the service provider’s business planning process and OPEX budgeting, thus reducing risks. In addition, service providers can optimize the balance between service levels and cost.
Outsourcing is a major change and any decision should be carefully considered. Outside expertise can be helpful and the service provider should consider bringing in specialized consultants to help with the learning process and achieve best practices to support decision-making.
You’re
considering
outsourcing –
so what next?
Once a service provider begins to explore the possibility of outsourcing some of its activities, various decisions need to be taken.
Deciding the scope of any outsourcing deal
The scope of an outsourcing contract depends on the service provider’s strategy and the various challenges it faces in its business environment. Outsourcing some essential but non-differentiating activities will allow a service provider to concentrate its efforts on those areas that are critical to winning and maintaining a growing portfolio of satisfied subscribers. A service provider’s core business
encompasses the key activities that it believes it can do better than the competition, thereby gaining a competitive advantage.
Factors affecting the scope decision are shown in Figure 3. There are several aspects to be considered and the decision must be in line with the service provider’s business objectives and strategy.
Nevertheless, since outsourcing is always a decision that affects personnel and the work
environment, people issues should
be analyzed carefully to ensure motivation and the best use of a skilled workforce during the transition and transformation of activities.
The scope varies case-by-case, depending on the factors described previously. The scope of an
outsourcing agreement may include some or all of the areas shown. Field maintenance, network availability and performance are often the basic requirements. However, projects increasingly involve a greater degree of financial restructuring while the technical scope is moving from the network level towards value-added services. This trend has also raised the requirement for hosting services, where a hosting provider sells its technology capabilities to service providers seeking the benefits of cost management, rapid time to market, and faster service adoption (i.e. new revenue potential). Hosting services may complement an outsourcing deal.
Supporting activities form the context around this core and are potential areas for outsourcing. However, it does not always make sense to
• The service provider expects the quality of existing services to remain the same or improve by 10% during the contract period. The quality of new services should be meeting launch requirements more quickly, which provides a faster time to market. This gives the service provider faster access to revenue streams from new services.
• The service provider wants to reduce the cost (OPEX) of selected technical operations by 20%, in this case resulting in 3% EBITDA improvement. It is expected that the chosen managed services provider can achieve better cost efficiencies than in-house efforts thanks to greater economies of scale. • The service provider expects the
managed services partner to improve the utilization of existing network assets by 5% and demonstrate 5% better CAPEX optimization for new network investments.
With these genuine benefits available to many service providers, it’s no surprise that the trend towards
outsourcing network operations is growing year-on-year.
Choosing the right approach for implementation
Outsourcing can be implemented in different ways. Figure 4 shows the factors affecting which approach is selected.
First, the service provider needs to decide whether it selects outsourcing with
• One-stop shopping, that is one key partner
• Best-of-breed, that is several partners.
outsource all of them. The actual scope of any outsourcing deal could be decided by considering the following question: “Which activities could be run as well as, or better than, and more efficiently by, a managed services partner and what would be the benefits?” When defining the potential scope of the outsourcing contract it is important to take a holistic view and ensure that potential cross-functional synergies are achievable. The larger the scope of the outsourcing agreement, the greater the potential for maximizing efficiencies and reducing costs. Network-related technical activities are favorite candidates for
outsourcing. After all, it’s an important objective to ensure the right network quality and
performance, while optimizing costs by improving the cost-effectiveness of day-to-day operations.
Setting business targets for outsourcing
Outsourcing is not the only solution to the challenges facing service providers, but it is an important option. When well-aligned with a service provider’s business strategy, outsourcing can benefit a service provider by managing complexity, increasing business focus and improving financial performance. All these benefits add up to greater shareholder value.
More specific business targets need to be clearly understood and defined before entering into any detailed planning or implementation of outsourcing. Measurable targets must be defined and quantified wherever possible so that their impact on profitability via additional revenues and/or cost savings can be analyzed. While business targets for outsourcing vary between service providers, the following points provide an example of business drivers for a hypothetical service provider considering outsourcing:
The larger the scope of the outsourcing agreement, the greater the potential for maximizing efficiencies and reducing costs
Figure 4. A variety of factors affect the outsourcing approach
Policies & regulations¥ HR ¥ Purchasing ¥ Legal Telecom Services: Available managed services partners ¥ Outsourcing approach ¥ Engagement process ¥ Criteria for outsourcing partner
Outsourcing Approach:
¥ One-stop shopping vs. Best-of-breed ¥ Big Bang, Step-by-step, Spin-Off/JV
¥ Engagement process: RFQ, few candidates, pre-selected partner
¥ Business objectives for outsourcing ¥ Boundary conditions
Figure 5. One-stop shopping or Best-of-breed – pros and cons Service provider Company 1 Company 2 Company 3 Service provider Company 2 Company 3 Company 1 Joint governance Pros
¥ Single partner, no fingerpointing ¥ Effective governance
¥ Bigger scope Ð bigger savings?
Risks
¥ Margin on margin?
¥ Sufficient competences to deliver? ¥ Contractual/commercial surprises?
Pros
¥ No margin on margin
¥ Most competent party delivering services ¥ Highest savings?
Risks
¥ Fingerpointing, difficult governance ¥ E2E responsibility for service quality and
new service deployment?
Figure 5 shows the advantages and possible risks of both alternatives. Second, after the partner has been selected, the service provider decides how to manage the changes. Figure 6 illustrates two approaches: • Single step, that is making the full
transition in one go
• Step-by-step, that is a more gradual process.
In the single step approach, the service provider makes the full transition to outsourced activities at once. If the transition is well organized and proceeds smoothly, the service provider can progress rapidly to the transformation phase and implement the required process and efficiency improvements. However, this approach entails major effort to effectively manage the change, and there is a risk that normal business operations may suffer a discontinuity.
The step-by-step approach carries lower risks during transition and avoids major discontinuities. However, the project will take longer and the transformation phase cannot be started until the transition is fully complete. This may delay the realization of the planned benefits and savings.
Choosing the right partner
The choice of partner for managed services is critical. It is important that the selected partner has the skill and expertise to ensure that the service provider has access to a fully functional, fully available network delivering the highest quality of service.
Many well-established vendor management and procurement practices also apply when choosing a managed services partner. However, due to the strategic importance and long contract terms in outsourcing, some key issues should be highlighted:
• While the outsourced activities are no longer core activities for the service provider, they need to be part of the managed services partner’s core business.
• The managed services partner must be capable of ensuring the successful transfer of employees. In particular the vendor should have company values that ensure a good working environment for transferred personnel.
Figure 6. Big bang or Step-by-step approach – pros and risks.
Pros
¥ One major change Ð shorter overall transition ¥ Less uncertainty
Risks
¥ Very large change management ¥ Business discontinuity risks are higher
Pros
¥ Smaller changes Ð easier change management at one go
¥ Better possibilities to cancel the process
Risks
¥ Longer overall transition Ð more uncertainty ¥ Longer time before full savings materialize
• The scope of managed services includes critical processes for the service provider. Service
providers therefore require and expect high quality from the delivered services, plus a high degree of technical and process competence from the managed services partner. In today’s multi-vendor networks this competence must always include the ability to deal with equipment from other vendors.
• The managed services partner needs to be able to adapt the transferred operations to deliver jointly agreed targets sufficient to justify the business case for both parties. This means having the ability to restructure operations in an innovative way, such as by centralizing them or increasing the use of remote operations. Changes are likely to encompass people, processes and systems.
• As the technological environment becomes more complex, more is required from managed services partners. They must deliver an end-to-end technical and operational capability, including the network, protocols,
applications and terminals. • Long-standing service experience,
a large service organization and services management know-how are all significant benefits in a managed services partner, especially if they include both global and country-specific components.
• Selecting a partner with whom the service provider already has an established business relationship reduces risks significantly and may also enable the managed services partner to gain extra efficiencies by optimizing the overall delivery structure. • Since the co-operation between
the service provider and managed services partner will need to be deep, the cultural fit between the two companies should be strong.
• When selecting any business partner for long-term co-operation, the financial stability of the managed services partner needs to be analyzed with care.
Figure 7 illustrates how finding the right partner can foster an all-round winning relationship.
Managing the outsourcing program
Figure 8 shows (times are only indicative) the progress of a typical outsourcing program depending on
which approach has been selected. An outsourcing program is a major joint development project involving several organizations. To get predictable results within the required timescale calls for a well-planned program, complete with phasing and timing. The main difference between the three options is the length of the project. With one trusted key partner, the planning, preparation and negotiations can be done more quickly.
Figure 7. The ingredients of a win-win relationship
Working as a team
¥ Ensure joint goals and high level relationships
¥ Set up efficient governance to implement joint processes for planning, transition, measurement, escalation, change management etc.
¥ Display trust Ð success is delivered together
For the service provider
¥ Clear understanding of business scope ¥ Allow managed service partner to build
economies of scale
For the outsourcing partner
¥ Fully integrate outsourced activities and people into company processes ¥ Build in flexibility to the scope
Figure 8. The three options for a typical outsourcing project
Execute Transition
0
Managed Services delivery Follow-up Key partner Transition preparations Negotiations Preparations Planning Execute Transition
Managed Services delivery Follow-up Few candidates Transition preparations Negotiations Preparations Planning Execute Transition
Managed Services delivery Follow-up
Request for proposal
Transition preparations Negotiations Preparations
Planning
Figure 9. Effective governance structures will keep outsourced operations on track in the long term
Strategy & objectives
¥ Quarterly meetings ¥ Annual planning ¥ Quarterly reviews ¥ Network expansions ¥ Technology roadmaps Operations ¥ Monthly meetings ¥ Quarterly planning ¥ Monthly reviews ¥ More frequent meetings
where necessary ¥ Asset & contract reports
Service Levels
¥ Quarterly meetings ¥ Quarterly reports ¥ Quarterly reviews
(planning rules, targets) ¥ Monthly status reporting
Executive Review Meetings
Governance areas
Participants
¥ Executive level & Head of Customer Business Team ¥ Operational level: Technical Director, Operations Manager,
Network Performance Manager
Vendor 3rd parties
Participants:
Executive level: CEO, CTO
Operational level: CTO, Operations Director, Planning Director
To manage the process from beginning to end, it is recommended that the service provider should establish a program that incorporates the following: • Sufficient management and
subject matter expertise from the functions that are being outsourced
• Human resources – especially in cases that require staff transfer from the service provider to the managed services partner • Additional expertise from support
functions such as financial, legal, IT, facilities, communications and procurement departments • A program manager. In large
outsourcing cases this should be a full-time job to ensure efficient transition and successful transformation of processes. In addition to the dedicated program team, a service provider’s top management should steer any outsourcing project, with a proper joint governance structure to be commonly agreed between the service provider and the managed services partner.
When the outsourcing service partner has been selected, some of the program management and steering structures should be aligned and organized jointly by the service provider and the managed services partner. Outsourcing operations is not a “fit and forget” solution. Figure 9 shows the sort of governance procedures that need to be in place to keep the relationship between the service provider and the managed services partner running smoothly in the long term.
An effective governance model is a crucial part of a successful outsourcing project. Governance covers all phases from due diligence, contracting, and transition to
transformation. Well-planned and executed governance is needed to set the business target, to follow-up and to ensure business transfer from service provider to managed services partner.
With one trusted key partner, the planning, preparation and negotiations can be done more quickly
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Conclusion
Communication service providers used to focus on running efficient network operations, but providing full coverage and network quality are no longer the differentiating factors they once were. Service providers are therefore shifting their focus towards building better customer relationships and the job of running efficient network operations is increasingly peripheral.
Outsourcing network operations to a managed services partner is an important option for service providers looking to transform themselves into a more customer-centric business. The right managed services partner can help service providers deal with increasing technical complexity, as well as leveraging established best practices and economies of scale in their network-related activities.
The decision to transfer major responsibility to a managed services partner must be considered carefully. A well planned outsourcing
agreement can free the service provider to focus on core activities, as well as providing a more cost-effective, flexible network. Of course, only the right managed services partner will be able to deliver all these benefits.
ARPU Average Revenue Per User
CAPEX Capital Expenditure
CATV Cable TV
EBITDA Earnings Before Income Tax, Depreciation and Amortization
FTTC/FTTH Fiber To The Curb/Fiber To The Home HSPA High-Speed Packet Access
KPI Key Performance Indicator
NOC Network Operations Center
OPEX Operating Expenditure
SLA Service Level Agreement
WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
xDSL Digital Subscriber Line
Outsourcing is an important option for service providers looking to transform themselves into a more customer-centric business
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Other company and product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade names of their respective owners. Products and solutions herein are subject to change without notice.
