TM Forum’s quarterly survey results confirm that communications service providers and vendors are making progress in using TM Forum’s Open APIs, but they also reveal vendors’ native Open API support lags behind demand from CSPs. As a result, some leading CSPs are taking a DIY approach to implementing Open APIs which presents a particular opportunity for vendors.In July, TM Forum
published a pilot API adoption assessment report for communications service providers (CSPs) and vendors to help them understand their progress in implementing TM Forum Open APIs relative to their peers. The results of the survey were intended to help companies understand how to accelerate adoption of the standard APIs.
Today the Forum is releasing the results of the second survey completed at the end of the third quarter of this year. While the survey results confirm that both sides of the industry are making progress in using Open APIs, they also reveal vendors’ native Open API support lags behind demand from CSPs. As a result, some leading CSPs are taking a DIY approach to implementing Open APIs which is presenting an opportunity for vendors that can move fast in the space.
The goal of TM Forum’s Open APIs is to enable zero-touch interoperability and zero-touch partnering, helping service providers improve agility and reduce IT integration and maintenance costs. TM Forum’s suite of over 50 REST-based
Open APIs enables end-to-end seamless connectivity, interoperability and portability across complex ecosystem-based services.
Standard application program interfaces (APIs) are critical for CSPs because they enable plug-and-play interoperability of components within their IT systems. APIs also allow operators to expose these capabilities to partners using platform-enabled business models.
Platform business models are revolutionary. They have changed not only how we buy, sell and exchange goods and services, but also how we communicate with each other and live our lives. Standard, publicly available APIs are at the heart of these business models, enabling modular, componentized systems to be assembled, disassembled and reassembled quickly and at low cost.
To date, 53 of the world’s leading CSPs and technology ecosystem participants have signed TM Forum’s
Open API Manifesto, publicly endorsing TM Forum’s suite of Open APIs.
The results of this quarter’s survey show that the average maturity level of Open APIs is 26 percent higher for CSPs than for vendors. This gap is indicative of CSPs undertaking significant DIY activity.
Lester Thomas, Chief IT Systems Architect, Vodafone Group, confirmed this trend. “The majority of our Open API implementations to date have been wrapping our product vendors’ legacy APIs. This is partly driven from the fact that we are building a digital experience layer across all our markets while we are modernizing the back-end vendor systems-of-record at a slower rate,” he said. “We have started to see native TM Forum Open API implementations from some of our vendors, and all of the new BSS implementations we have done over the last two years have included native support for TM Forum’s Open APIs.”
Thomas also noted the growing demand for zero-touch partnering Open APIs outside the telecom sector. “In the enterprise space, we are also seeing some enterprise customers mandating the use of Open APIs as part of their RFPs, and we are starting to see inter-operator use-cases based on Open APIs as well,” he added. (Listen to Thomas discuss Vodafone’s use of open standards and Open APIs in an on-demand
webinar.)
Importantly, CSP and vendor priorities are generally well aligned for key API collections. Vendor intent towards the Customer API collection presents a particular opportunity for vendors.
The below charts show the Q3 2019 results from the rolling report which will produce results every calendar quarter. As the survey matures it will evolve to stay relevant to changes and updates in the market. If you haven’t already taken the survey please
contact TM Forum to take part.
Vendor Adoption assessment report results
