Make it happen – Strategies for enterprise billing

This is an extract from our recent report Future enterprise billing. For further detailed insights into the current state of telcos’ enterprise businesses and why legacy billing systems limit their ability to target enterprises, download the report now. Today’s enterprise billing systems were designed to support connectivity services developed 10 to 20 years ago, and in some cases they are even older. These will not suffice if communications service providers (CSPs) are to develop new enterprise services that take advantage of 5G and edge computing. To support new use cases operators need new business models, and they must adopt cloud-based billing systems capable of supporting many partners. Following are recommendations for CSPs as they evaluate the enterprise opportunity:

Focus on connectivity

Even if CSPs do not believe connectivity represents an opportunity for profitable growth, it will remain a foundational requirement and capability. We believe they can deliver many services beyond connectivity including playing a proactive role in partner ecosystems and potentially developing orchestration or go-to-market capabilities. CSPs should develop new connectivity solutions tailored to use cases or applications, and they should be prepared to offer service level agreements to guarantee quality of service.

Look for systems that offer customization

Creating customized connectivity solutions that deliver services based on network attributes such as speed, latency and location is a challenge for CSPs. Most traditional connectivity services do not require dynamic changes in the network, but if operators want to offer service level agreements for variable attributes, they will need to introduce new charging and billing capabilities. This will require tight integration between the network, IT systems and business units.

Prioritize partners

Rather than thinking of billing only in the context of services delivered to end users, CSPs need to reposition billing internally as a capability that can add value to relationships with partners. The ability to offer real-time visibility and transparency of the way partners and enterprise customers are using all the features that make up a service can be a real differentiator. As part of this approach to deliver value to partners, operators will need to invest in systems and capabilities that feed data to their customers about usage.

Learn from consumers

Given that CSPs are still only in the early stages of experimenting with 5G-enabled enterprise services, it may be difficult for them to commit to large investments in new billing systems designed to support specific use cases and applications. But for mobile operators especially, there may be opportunities to create new services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and bill for them using existing consumer billing systems. CSPs that have carried out digital transformation of customer-facing systems may be able to use data analytics and real-time charging for their B2B customers.

Let customers lead

CSPs need to reach out to potential enterprise customers and offer to experiment, rather than agonizing over which roles to play and business models to adopt. Experimentation requires software developers and engineers from CSPs, enterprises and other partners to collaborate on potential use cases. While the commercial arrangements between the partners are unlikely to be prioritized during the early stages of co-creation, it is important to understand what is and is not possible if the trial becomes a commercial service.

Make wise purchases

Given the excitement around B2B services, CSPs may be tempted to buy new billing capabilities that promise to address a variety of market opportunities. This could be repeating a past mistake as many operators have procured systems with capabilities they thought they would need have gone unused. CSPs should look for systems that are built using a modular approach such as the one laid out in the TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA). The ODA defines standardized, interoperable software components organized into loosely coupled domains. These components expose business services through Open APIs, which are built on a common data model.