Realize the Potential of Telecom

Tim Manahan, VP Consulting Services, Telcordia

As the Head of Telcordia’s Consulting Services group, I spend a lot of time listening to service providers as they lay out their expectations for the future, and express their frustrations with the present.  Frustration is a key word here.  Perhaps strangely, it’s not so much the things that are going wrong that trouble them. It’s what’s going right.  What’s going right is booming demand, especially for all-new services and devices.  What’s going right is a phenomenal shift in the use of networks for data rather than voice.  All of which is creating new frustrations in networks and operations, leading to the realization that there’s room for improvement -- big room for improvement.

But how often are plans inspired more directly by the true potential of telecom?  More often than not, we’ve got our hands full already dealing with the problems of telecom, including keeping networks up and running, processing orders, keeping track of equipment and keeping customers happy.  In this mindset, our ambitions and expectations are defined largely by modifications to current processes, current systems, and current ways of working.  Yet I believe we have a much greater opportunity to realize enormous untapped potential of investment already made in systems, processes, network, and indeed people.
 
We already know the potential of telecom to connect people. There’s the potential of telecom to open up new wealth-creating opportunities (a hundred thousand apps – really?) and there is a correlation between the economic progress of nations and their investment in modern, high speed digital infrastructure. Can our day-to-day work be directed by this kind of potential? What must we do to realize it?

Realizing the Potential

Realizing potential starts with imagining a different mode of operation than exists today -- in speed, level of performance, automation, and cost.  Imagine the changes you’d like to facilitate in your group’s workload or output.  How actively engaged are you making these changes and to what extent are they part of your monthly or yearly agenda?  Yet it’s only by imagining change that we can step into the gap between what is, and what isn’t possible.

Second, industries change and new leaders emerge when they focus on making an interesting idea a driving force for their business; challenging the traditional wisdom.  We take it for granted nowadays, but there is no reason for airlines to insist on the issuance of paper tickets.  The companies who focused on overturning that irrevocably changed the travel industry. There is no reason why a computer manufacturer can’t make money selling content, or a retailer can’t be an insurance company.  Although these are now obvious examples, the point is that a resolute focus, based on imagining a totally different mode and outcome of operation, are critical.  Challenging preconceptions is a great way to explore a candidate alternate focus for your group, department, or business.

Third, we need to persist. If all that was required to realize potential was logic, then professors would be Olympic athletes. To realize the potential of telecom requires not only insight, but the ability to press on despite challenges (expected and unexpected), and believe in the need for continuous improvement.  In telecom, the relentless pursuit of automation best reflects this ideal. In any process – find where the work is being done and remove it. “Work” in telecom represents the waste (or muda) of the Japanese kaizen system: aim for zero waste by taking the effort out of the process.  Only the persistence and culture required to continually drive change, and to keep exploring the next improvements, will yield results.

A few examples might help bring my perspective to life.

Potential Realized...

For its fiber rollout program, a well-known service provider recognized the need to dramatically scale up its service order fulfillment by a factor of 40.  With zero increase in costs.  Without hiring hundreds of additional staff.  Can you imagine doing that?  With Telcordia’s help, that organization upped “intervention-less” orders from 50% to 90%. And it cut the time to complete the remaining 10% by half. The key was not a systems change, but an analysis of the process, where effort was being expended the most, and an appreciation of how existing systems could be better put to use.

Here is another example.  A provider of Enterprise Services was confused that its internal SLA metrics showed up as all “green”, yet customers were leaving in droves.  It turned out that the division of the service delivery process into atomic activities had given each organization a comfortably-met KPI, but which left the customer frustrated by the end-to-end process.  Each team, satisfied with its own 2-3 day activity turnaround performance, saw no reason to change.  This blinded the organization from the fact that their process took twice as long as the industry norm and prevented them from setting necessary targets for improvement.  Again, with Telcordia’s help, an action plan was developed to realize the potential of best-in-class service delivery within nine months.  With a focus on challenging the traditional wisdom, this operator was able to make a significant improvement in service to customers.

Here is one final example.  A major mobile provider realized they could save $1.4 billion by moving to Ethernet backhaul from T1s provided by local incumbents -- that’s $1.4 billion. The key to realizing the savings though, was some detailed work to construct a cookie-cutter process for upgrading each and every cell site.  That effort required a level of detailed knowledge and experience that isn’t part of any industry standard, yet is a vital ingredient in getting the job done quickly and right the first time.  The persistence required to dig deep, find and root out deep levels of detailed effort (“= waste”, remember?) is what it takes to realize the potential of telecom.

Where it all comes together

I’ve offered a brief introduction to my recipe for realizing the potential of telecom. In outline: imagine, focus and persist. But I want to call out one last, essential ingredient: the ability to manage change.
 
It is only within the service provider’s own business that the potential of telecom is made real. It is only there that all the requisite elements are present: network, systems, people and process.  It’s only there that change can be effectively designed, coordinated and orchestrated.  And it’s critical that change is actively managed across them. It is the interplay between these dimensions that offers the greatest potential benefits.

It’s possible to listen to the individual parts played by sections of an orchestra, but it’s only within the concert hall that the full experience is felt. No one player can achieve the same effect, regardless of their individual brilliance. Similarly, addressing only parts of the business or operations into pieces that can in reality reduce the potential for truly great steps forward.
 
With these ideas, I believe that the frustrations of today’s service providers can be overcome and the potential of telecom truly realized.

For more information, please contact Tim Manahan, VP of Consulting Services, Telcordia at manahant@telcordia.com.  Tim leads a team of experts that have helped plan, design and build the world's largest, most complex telecom networks for nearly three decades. That experience gives Telcordia a unique perspective on the challenges you face, so you can avoid common pitfalls, seize opportunities quickly, and realize the potential of telecom.