Service Providers can Significantly Increase Cloud Sales with Process Improvements and Best Practices

Cloud has become big business for Service Providers. A new white paper by Eastern Management Group reports that Service Providers have spent billions of dollars on cloud architecture, services, and operations to support a large market for their cloud services. They are not about to be disappointed. Our research finds that businesses from large and medium enterprises to SMBs are spending tens of billions of dollars on public and private clouds, with much more to be spent in the future. Service Providers are in a good position to take a significant share of the cloud market. They bring with them assets, customers, networks, systems, staff, practices, as well as recurring revenue business experience. From our experience consulting to Service Providers there are already many good operating models to be found among Service Providers’ cloud businesses. Some may have model portfolios, or model channels, or model branches, or model marketing, or model systems. There is a correlation between companies that have model operations and achievement.
There are Service Providers that churn-out good results from their cloud business. However as a counterpoint there are Service Providers that are aspirational, not yet generating needed results, but hopeful. Carriers in each group may be motivated to do better.
Model operations either already exists at a cloud Service Provider or they can be developed and rolled-out. Model operations sit on top of a best practices foundation. The carrier’s starting point is determining what is being solved for. Is it validating the best way to go-to-market? Is it model branch? Is it recovering a now-at-risk business plan?
A carrier’s business operations in need of improvement, and any resulting process improvements and best practices, should be confined to areas affecting the desired outcome. As an example, a client wanted a model branch created that would be implemented and replicated throughout the Service Provider’s territory. Although sales targets were being met, certain operating efficiency was being sacrificed and many processes varied by geography. Another Service Provider client wanted an appropriate pricing structure for their cloud offers that properly reflected the carrier’s value proposition and brand. In each of these examples the operations that were examined, the processes improved, and best practices outcomes were substantially different because the problems were dissimilar to begin with.
Where do the cloud model operations and best practices come from? They’re influenced by different sources, usually in some combination. For example in our practice, in addition to the consultants’ experience, we frequently get input from the Service Provider’s staff, their peers (similar Service Providers), vendors, and customers.
Eastern Management identifies nine business operations as having a substantial tough different influence the Service Provider’s cloud results. Which levers to pull, in other words which operations to examine and implement for best practices, is governed by the objective (e.g., model marketing). The operations to be assessed are selected with the goal of putting in place process improvements and best practices for the initiative.
The nine operations are grouped under three headings. They are 1) Organization; 2) Effectiveness; and 3) External Influences.
Our research shows there are billions of dollars of potential new cloud sales every year that Service Providers may miss out on for want of best practices. Eastern Management has published a white paper that details what’s involved in a Service Provider process improvement initiative. The paper is called Best Practices to Grow Service Provider Cloud Revenues and it is available on request.
About The Eastern Management Group:
For more than a quarter century The Eastern Management Group has served as a management consultant to more than 400 communications industry clients worldwide including all classes of Service Providers (ILECS, IXCs, Wireless, Cable), equipment manufacturers, software and Operations Support Systems (OSS) vendors. John Malone is the Company President and a former AT&T executive. He also leads the Service Provider consulting practice. The Eastern Management Group provides advisory services to more than 100 Service Providers. We would be pleased to discuss your requirements and our capabilities. Reach us by contacting jmalone@easternmanagement.com or visit us at www.easternmanagement.com