Co-creation key to digital services success, say operators

• DSP Leaders World Forum session focuses on digital services developments 
• BT and Vodafone highlight need for co-creation strategies to develop new services
• Multiservice, API-friendly platform required to meet customers’ needs
• Quality of underlying network key to operator success

Partnering with existing experts and developers, and then co-creating new applications, will be key to success as telcos look to add new digital services to their portfolios, noted senior service provider speakers during the DSP Leaders World Forum 2020 session Digital Services Markets and Business Models.

During the discussion, both Tanja Richter, Technology Director Consumer Products and Services at Vodafone Group, andJohn Vickery, Enterprise CTIO, at BT stressed the importance of working hand-in-hand with domain specialists, particularly those with knowledge of industry verticals, to develop the most suitable services for customers while building the most suitable network and service platform. 

“We can develop a platform where we can start to integrate new APIs… we can be agnostic to partners, we can partner with the hyperscalers, we can partner with new developers and really focus on those customer outcomes, without thinking we've got to do everything ourselves, because I think that would be naïve,” noted Vickery. 

Richter added: “Co-creation is becoming more and more important [for the] platform play where different parties are bringing everything together … We as telcos have to start building more of those services platforms by ourselves, because that gives us the possibility to differentiate, to iterate fast.”

And Lumina Networks Andrew Coward was on hand to remind the panel about the importance of having the best underlying network infrastructure. “All these great new services we're talking about, customers will select them based on the performance of the network…  that's really the fight that's going on between the telcos -- creating the best network ever. The key to that is driving automation,” noted Coward.

Check out the full panel discussion here.

The development of digital services strategies is just one of the topics to be discussed during our upcoming Extra Shot programs, which will look back at the highlights of the online DSP Leaders event and include the views of special guests. Look out for further details of the Extra Shot programs. 

• Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV