The Cloud Brings Visibility to Telecom

The Flow Thru Logic team is very pleased to become part of the GlobalOne family. We truly believe that there is no better time to be producing and supporting cloud-based solutions to the telecommunications industry. Many telecom companies are consolidating, streamlining, adding new services; while always looking to be more efficient. To meet the needs of telcos we are leveraging the salesforce.com platform; more specifically using force.com to produce robust solutions for workflow, activation engines, inventory management and more.

We know from experience that there is no off-the-shelf OSS in a box for the telco industry. It’s not uncommon for companies to have to buy several boxes, including a variety of OSS components. And while connecting these boxes is easy on a presentation slide, connecting them in the back office is a challenge. Today, many telcos still have a variety of systems installed, and are in a different stage of evolution; whether it is product mix, vintage platforms, multiple platforms, growth rate or market forces. Add to this complexity the fact that many existing telcos’ are a result of mergers and acquisitions. The salesforce.com cloud offers great opportunity by providing a cohesive solution to normalize the operating environment, resulting in a unified home for process, data and visibility.

The Cloud also allows for rapid development, flexibility and scalability – terms not typically used within a telco. What’s more common are discussions around directional-boring a new fiber route, lighting a new building or creating a riser for an incremental new customer. If you just think about how much capital expenditure is tied up in that approach, and how much revenue is waiting in each phase of installation, the value of the Cloud to telcos really starts to becomes apparent. Workflow in the Cloud gives open, easy and mobile access to all parties involved. By removing the need for heavy lifting, the Cloud will bring light and transparency to telco processes.

Once this investment in cloud technologies is made, the telecom company’s value to their customer remains in the long-term relationship that most have with customers. And over time the customer will add new services and grow. Telcos must know the existing configuration in order to respond efficiently to customer needs. But can customers rely on what telcos are billing them? Does the configuration in the serving equipment have attributes not identified in inventory? Does the rep processing the order even have access to the true system of record? Is there another change order in flight? Ironically, by adding a layer of abstraction, the Cloud brings visibility.

Telcos have many views of a customer: focus on their networks… focus on their technology. But there’s one truth: focus on the customer is the key to success. The Cloud is our best tool to help Telcos focus on the customer. I am glad to join the GlobalOne team, which understands the importance of the cloud, has the resources to quickly move from idea to solution, and puts the customer front and center.