Digital Transformation World 2022, held in Copenhagen last month, brought together an enthusiastic telecommunications community with many attendees simply happy to be returning to an in-person event following the long Covid hiatus. Operators, motivated to develop new business models supported by more flexible and autonomous software systems and architectures, arrived eager to engage and apply guidance from TM Forum as well as learnings from successful peer strategies. Aria Systems was an active participant in the event, with a show floor exhibition booth and demo, a winning Catalyst presentation, and a lunchtime case study with Salesforce that showcased the successful digital transformation of M1 Singapore. Here are the top three themes from the event:
1. ODA Gains Momentum
With DTW serving as the first significant in-person gathering of TM Forum operators, service providers and vendors since the Open Digital Architecture (ODA) was introduced two years ago, the event served as a barometer for industry attitudes toward the new standard. There was no shortage of enthusiasm for the ODA and its accompanying themes of automation and open integration, with operators benchmarking the efforts they have made to move toward compliance, and vendors eager to showcase their adoption and ability to fit within next-generation agile architectures and networks. From the exhibits and demos on the show floor to the Catalyst presentations, momentum around ODA was palpable, defined by a general openness to explore new opportunities and apply best practices. While the ODA remains in its early days, DTW underscored the industry’s eagerness to support this major TM Forum shift.
2. Confidence in the Cloud Increases
The first-time presence of the major cloud vendors Azure, Google, and Amazon at this year’s event highlighted the increased momentum around movement to the cloud. Operators are demonstrating more confidence in the cloud and software-defined networks for all aspects of their businesses as they pursue greater agility, expanded partner ecosystems, and the generation of revenue streams from new industry verticals. DISH, for example, showcased their “all-in” approach to the cloud for everything from infrastructure to new service delivery. While some companies remain cautious, and others have more urgent problems at hand, DTW chatter demonstrated the continued belief among a growing number of businesses in the maturity, reliability, and transformative capabilities of pursuing a cloud strategy.
3. Securing Talent Remains a Challenge
With so much transformation on display at DTW, not to mention the innovation taking place daily across the industry, the recruitment and retention of the right talent has become a top priority for CSPs. The effort to move beyond basic connectivity to offering new services that drive additional revenue requires people with skills and knowledge outside the traditional telco space. Existing operator workforces may be well versed in selling mobile services and wide area networks, but they don’t have expertise in the vertical markets telcos are now pursuing, nor do they know how to market to these new end users. Adding to the challenge, telcos are now competing with major technology companies for the technical talent needed to drive innovation, propel transformation, and build the digital, open, and software-defined telco industry of the future. The ability to secure new talent will go a long way in determining future business outcomes for today’s CSPs.
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