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Find out more about Singtel's Paragon platform and how it addresses the BRB market in a new way to drive 5G monetisation.
Dean Ramsay, TM Forum
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Singtel’s Paragon signifies a platform milestone
Growing net new revenues within the telco space has been challenging for several years now, with very few new service models bringing adequate RoI. However, real growth potential exists on the B2B side. Accessing that growth opportunity in new value chains CSPs will require platform business models and a sharp partner ecosystem strategy. Fostering a partner ecosystem to access B2B2X opportunities requires several fundamental shifts in the way telcos are set up both individually and as an industry. Cultural, commercial, competitive environment shifts are all needed but probably the most accessible change program telcos can undertake is the transformation of their IT in service operations.
Singtel’s Paragon platform is interesting for many reasons, but most of all it addresses the B2B market in a new way to drive genuine 5G network monetisation. The platform includes an omnichannel self-service front end, a broad enterprise application marketplace, API library, cloud management platform and NaaS infrastructure management.
As shown in the below diagram, the architecture of Paragon reveals a complex, layered environment with many partners and suppliers operating in unison to create a cohesive platform. Interoperability and extremely efficient orchestration are key to successful operation of such a platform model. Singtel has capitalised on the benefits of this greenfield deployment by assembling a collective of market-leading suppliers, cutting-edge technologies and the latest open architecture standards. Delivering target use cases like advanced logistics and manufacturing will require a complex series of orchestrated workflows to be processed through the platform’s many components, all in a highly automated manner.
There needs to be a fully automated BSS/OSS and network management setup with a highly efficient service orchestration layer to provide this platform functionality at scale. Singtel is working closely with Ericsson to empower customers with highly sophisticated technologies through a simple-to-use platform, providing:
The industry narrative around 5G has always been that the standalone era of 5G would bring network slicing and a wealth of new revenues direct from B2B business. For many reasons that has not played out yet, but as an industry we really haven’t leveraged our partners and customers in an effective way. Building platform businesses like Paragon rely on the eradication of complexity. Presenting partners with an incredibly simple, digital-first interface means partners can easily achieve their business goals or make new connections to customers and partners of their own – facilitating organic growth of connections in the ecosystem.
Fully automated service orchestration integrated into the 5G network management is no mean feat, and it’s critical for the Paragon project’s success. Ericsson was tasked with bringing knowhow and assets from across the network and IT to provide service orchestration capabilities, using TM Forum ODA as a framework and Open APIs to build a future-proofed open architecture.
The significance of this is that we are actually starting to see live deployments of the kind of automated, AI-enabled telco IT that we have been discussing for over a decade. If this level of delivery is now possible, that may be a genuine signpost for the telecom industry’s ability to start driving B2B2X growth with new business models.
From the conversations we have had recently with telcos thinking about their business diversification strategies and ways of accessing new vertical markets, a platform in the Paragon model is seen by many as the answer. I think we will see many similar ecosystem plays appearing in the next 12 months as telcos leverage their extensive existing network investments.
Learn more about Singtel’s Paragon platform and how it helps empower organisations by watching our on-demand webinar here.
