Component Customer Intelligence

Service providers are upgrading their networks to remain competitive. They are supporting an array of new services and trying to lower overall costs. Wireless, wireline, and cable operators worldwide are expanding service offerings to include triple play-telephone, data, and video, and quadruple play-cell phone service in some cases. They are all fighting valiantly to keep their current customers, grow revenues, attract new customers, and increase their profitability. These companies are restructuring themselves from simply providing the pipes that deliver bits to focusing on higher value-added contributions by delivering an expanded range of services.

The service providers are trying to build agility into their networks so they can support delivering new services at a faster rate. Their network needs to be cheaper. Furthermore, they need to future-proof the network so they can easily offer emerging services at little cost. Yet they have legacy systems and must transition both rapidly and gracefully.

The access network is identified at the forefront of battlefield, specifically to provide enough bandwidth for new services. Video and services like video on demand is the bandwidth hog. But backhaul and core network needs upgrading too. Transitioning to IMS and/or service delivery platforms, for example, promises to provide the basis for a low cost and highly flexibly infrastructure.

Component vendors need to know requirements well in advance of system deployment. Component Customer Intelligence focuses on opportunity identification for semiconductor companies, with an emphasis on understanding vertical markets and applications. Ovum RHK's research begins with carrier business needs and deployment plans, identifies changes in the network architecture, forecasts trends in the system vendors business, and identifies product opportunities for semiconductor manufacturers.

What is Component Customer Intelligence?

Component Customer Intelligence identifies new opportunities for component vendors by detailing how their customers and their customers' customers are impacted by network transitions.

(* Component vendor is defined as a supplier to telecom equipment manufacturers.)

The importance of Customer Intelligence to component vendors

A component vendor's market view is heavily influenced by the feedback it receives from its customers, telecom equipment manufacturers. Without direct contact with service providers, components vendors are left with an incomplete view of the market opportunity available to them.

The Component Customer Intelligence service develops a forward-looking view of network transitions by conducting primary research with carriers and telecom equipment manufacturers. By focusing on equipment manufacturers and carriers near the top of the components food chain, Ovum RHK's Component Customer Intelligence service develops a comprehensive view of the market, including future market scenarios based on projected subscribers to emerging services.

Why Component Customer Intelligence?

• Draws on Ovum's service provider strength and Ovum RHK's network infrastructure expertise
• Provides analysis of current and future market conditions to help component vendors strategize for revenue and market share growth and exploit upcoming market opportunities

What makes us unique?

We are a vertically integrated firm. Our research covers all segments from applications, services, and subscribers to traffic, equipment vendors, equipment requirements, and components. We have strong relationships with service providers and vendors. Our broad base of research and expertise underpins our components forecast.

Component Customer Intelligence consists of two key topic areas:

• Access technologies: examines the migration of wireless and wireline network equipment and networks to support triple play. Coverage includes FTTx migration, WiMax, WiFi meshes, and enterprise Ethernet.
• Telecom server and modular platforms: examines the migration from proprietary technologies to standardized hardware components. The service focuses on applications such as IPTV, VoIP, and online gaming that are driving the transition to standardized hardware. Wireless and wireline network equipment are included.

The "Customer Intelligence" value proposition

Source: Ovum RHK

Who will benefit from the service?

Component Customer Intelligence is aimed at helping your company benefit from our in-depth industry knowledge in the networking infrastructure area. Our research can help end users in the following ways:

• Business planning teams - to build their 3-year plans using our actuals and forecasts
• Product managers - to gain understanding of service provider requirements and telecom equipment vendor products and strategies
• Product marketing teams - to position their solutions to their customers
• Strategy teams - to gather industry insights about forthcoming deployments
• Technology marketing teams - to track developments and plan for the next wave of deployments.

Key questions that Component Customer Intelligence will answer:

• Where is the market potential for telecom servers? For modular architectures?
• What issues are the leading telecom equipment manufacturers wrestling with and how will they affect telecom server usage?
• What markets could be eroded by new technologies (for example, will WiMax erode FTTx deployments?)
• Which suppliers and service providers are driving the technology revolution?

Your next move...

To find out more about Ovum's services contact us at your nearest office.