ODA Unboxed: Etiya uses ODA to make operators future-proof in a complex multivendor environment

Etiya is a leading global software provider and has been a TM Forum member since 2009. Founded in 2004, Etiya offers comprehensive products including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), AI-powered business processes, and autonomous operations. With a focus on enabling digital business and enhancing customer experiences, Etiya helps companies transform and innovate through its scalable, cloud-based solutions.

We spoke with Etiya's Head of Product Strategy, Fahri Kerçek to understand how achieving Ready for ODA status has benefited the organization and its customers.

What is the functional scope of your product(s) that have achieved Ready for ODA status?

We have received the Ready for ODA status for our flagship solution, our AI-driven digital business support systems (BSS). It is a comprehensive, cloud-native, microservices-based digital platform, that is built in accordance with the Open Digital Architecture (ODA) standards and principles, and it covers all the key BSS modules: CRM, product catalog management (PCM), configure, price, quote (CPQ), order management (OM), customer service management (CSM), omnichannel digital frontend, revenue management, and also Etiya API Gateway as decoupling and integration layer. With the Etiya AI Engine at the center for embedded AI capabilities, it offers our customers a cutting-edge digital BSS that helps them navigate the challenges of this new digital ecosystem.

Why was it important for you to align these product(s) to ODA?

ODA makes us and our customers future-proof. It offers a framework that not just enables easier use and deployment of software solutions, but also allows market players to capitalize on new technologies and opportunities.

Standardized foundations enable our digital BSS platform to be compliant and compatible in multivendor environments with less integration efforts and complexity. Seamless software integration reduces time and costs, which is of utmost importance in a transformation project, and also enhances operational capabilities and efficiencies after deployment.

But beyond this, we also aim to provide AI-driven automation to our customers, deliver low code / no code capabilities, AI-driven virtual assistance for business and operational teams, business process automation tools and much more. ODA provides us with essential guidance within this perspective as well.

We also follow ODA’s security and privacy guidelines, which is an increasingly important aspect, when systems and processes move into the digital space.

Overall, ODA is very much aligned with our product strategy, and it offers communication service providers (CSPs) vital support in simplifying their transformation journey and achieving the agility they need in a rapidly evolving market environment.

What tangible benefits did it bring to you and your customers?

One of the advantages of ODA is cost efficiency, both on short and long term.

By using ODA standards, operators can realize immediate cost reductions already in the integration process, with less complexity, less need for development and faster deployment.

Once a project is deployed, the company can start to see more short-term cost efficiencies as a result of process automation, improved resource utilization and labour costs, lower IT maintenance needs or system update needs, reduction in the number of systems, and related costs, etc.

On a longer term, the significantly higher level of agility, flexibility and scalability that ODA provides will mean a more cost-effective adaptation to changing market demands. Instead of costly large-scale overhauls, you can do incremental upgrades, that are both faster and also provide better service quality and reliability. Flexibility also allows improved collaboration options in a broader ecosystem of ODA compliant solutions. The resulting new innovative offerings, together with the enhanced personalization capabilities, will ultimately lead to higher customer satisfaction, retention and it will reduce churn-related costs.

The other advantage of ODA I would like to highlight is easy integration, which is increasingly important in a multivendor environment and in complex ecosystems, with a constantly growing number of external parties.

For this, the best example would be a recent project we did for Togg. They are a Turkish technology and mobility ecosystem provider with a mission to offer user centric, innovative services and business models built around its smart electric vehicles. Etiya’s ODA compliant BSS allows Togg to offer a seamless order process from product configuration to fulfilment, integrated with all related processes like payment, production, licensing & registration, insurance, etc. Besides this, the heart of this mobility ecosystem is Togg’s Trumore application, where collaborating 3rd parties can be integrated with unparalleled ease, and onboarding to this digital experience platform is fast and easy.

This showcases how you can use and adapt your long-standing telco BSS capabilities to a different industry, and how ODA is relevant in other verticals as well.

What challenges did you face in adopting ODA as your reference architecture, and how did you tackle these?

The standard set by TM Forum are in a constant state of evolution, making member feedback and collaboration indispensable in the process. This posed a challenge, as we were trying to adapt, fully understand and utilize the advantages of such standards.

However, our active participation in TM Forum’s collaborative initiatives, such as their collaboration programs, has been pivotal in aiding our adoption of the ODA, and being able to translate all the advantages to tangible customer benefits.

How did your staff gain expertise with ODA and learn how to use it effectively?

We are proud to say that Etiya is one of the leading partners in TM Forum training attendances and we are actively participating in several collaboration projects and award-winning Catalyst projects. These all helped us a lot, to meet fellow participants on a regular basis, and try to figure out together how to apply these standards the best way possible. And, of course, we received a lot of support from TM Forum itself during the whole process.

As a company who is now ready for ODA, and having a deep understanding of these standards and their benefits, we are fully committed to follow the guidelines in different layers from TM Forum ODA standardization studies