Get started with the 10 telco transformation journeys

Organizations with low digital maturity often make the costly mistake of not understanding the full scope and many interdependencies of digital transformation. They may fail to understand that in order to realize the full benefits, every technology transformation must include parallel transformations of culture, organization and skills; services; operations; and customer engagement. TM Forum’s Digital Organization Transformation collaboration team is developing best practices and tools to help companies implement these changes simultaneously. This blog is an excerpt from the team’s new white paper which draws on Martin Creaner’s Ten Transformation Journeys and the real-world experience of several communications service providers (CSPs). Subsequent blogs will look at each journey in more detail, highlighting case studies of CSPs that have gotten it right.

Before the journey to digital transformation can begin, organizations need to know what their level of digital maturity is. The TM Forum Digital Maturity Model can help them discover this, and our research shows that many companies today are only at the “emerging” level of maturity.

Organizations that have achieved higher levels of digital maturity are likely to have developed and communicated a deep and shared understanding of the holistic scope of digital transformation. The strategic concept of Creaner’s Ten Transformation Journeys articulates the very broad scope of telco digital transformation and the multiple strategic issues that need to be addressed in concert for transformation to be successful. Although the journeys are grouped logically into four areas – technology, digital services, operations and customer engagement – it is critical to proactively manage the interdependencies between different journeys and orchestrate them in parallel.

Technology transformation journeys include:

1. Journey to an autonomously managed, virtualized communications and cloud infrastructure


2. Journey to a uniformly orchestrated, security-centric enterprise


3. Journey to a uniformly orchestrated, data-centric enterprise


4. Journey to an Open API platform architecture

Digital services transformation journeys include:

5. Journey to a diverse portfolio of digital services


6. Journey to existing in a vibrant ecosystem of partners

Operations transformation journeys include:

7. Journey to utilizing multiple business models in core and adjacent markets


8. Journey to a digital organization and culture

Customer experience transformations include:

9. Journey to operating multiple channels to market


10. Journey from single channel to 360-degree omnichannel management to continuous journey management of the customer

‘Lighthouse Vision & Strategy’

The scope and priorities of a telco’s digital transformation are dependent on its strategic destination. Companies should develop a ‘Lighthouse Vision & Strategy’ to guide the organization to its chosen destination.

Successful digital transformation is important for all the telcos’ stakeholders. Customers certainly benefit with a wider range of innovative digital services that generate additional revenue streams, and levels of customer satisfaction improve significantly. The use of AI and automation leads to significant cost reductions, and shareholders benefit from improved profitability.

Extensive research and real-world experience over the past decade have shown this. For example:

• Capgemini found that successful digital companies can increase profitability by 26%, valuation by 12% and revenue to asset ratio by 9%.


• A 2018 World Economic Forum and Accenture analysis using data from 16,000 companies found that there is an overall positive return on investment from digital transformation, although most of the gains are clustered among industry leaders. These early adopters saw a 70% productivity increase, compared to just 30% for industry followers (although percentages vary by industry segment).


• China Mobile saved 30% on its operational costs in the development of two of hyperscale cloud data centers, totaling over 600,000 square meters, while achieving 99.999% uptime, according to Schneider Electric’s 2019 Global Digital Transformation Benefits Report


• Elisa saved 14% energy OpEx, reduced 5G CapEx by 30%, improved fault resolution time by 79%, and automated 100% of the alarms in their Network Operation Center by applying AI and automation.

Transformation destinations

Creaner outlines five potential telco transformation destinations, each with a different investment profile and representing a different core business model:

1. Dumb Pipe – a telco that focuses almost exclusively on providing connectivity on a wholesale B2B basis (low margin, ultra-low cost)


2. Outmoded Player – a telco that attempts to provide a full portfolio of infrastructure and services, but is under-funded to compete effectively (low margin, high cost)


3. Smart Pipe – a telco that supplements infrastructure and limited digital services portfolio with an Open API platform enabling third parties to go-to-market (high margin, medium cost)


4. Integrated Digital Services Player (IDSP) – a telco that offers a full and wide integrated portfolio of infrastructure and advanced digital services (high margin, ultra-high cost)


5. Services Player – one or more telco spin-offs that offer a portfolio of digital services and rely on parent and others for their infrastructure offering (high margin, low cost)

The choice of transformation destination informs every aspect of the scope, design, investment and implementation strategies for telco digital transformation. The graphic below shows which journeys are required or recommended for each business model.

In blogs to follow, we will look at these transformation destinations more closely and the journeys CSPs are taking to get there. TM Forum’s Ten Telco Transformation Journeys white paper is currently under review by TM Forum members and will be generally available after it has been approved. If you are member who would like to review the white paper, you may download it from the link below. To learn more about TM Forum’s collaborative work on digital transformation and maturity, please contact me directly.

Download whitepaper