Tailoring transformation to meet future customer experience needs

Etiya's CEO, Aslan Dogan, discusses with TM Forum's Inform how customers' changing expectations are impacting telcos' transformation choices and how communications service providers (CSPs)' differing requirements tailor their digital journeys.

What do you consider to be the major current trends in telco CX transformation and what is shaping them?

Telco has always been an industry that brought all the latest technologies into people’s daily lives. However, we should not forget the importance of the human touch and personalized dealings with customers. Prioritizing customer experience is a trend in itself, and it is now a differentiation tool, a tool to protect mobile operators’ margins. Having AI technologies like NLP and ML helps companies to have the right customer insights, be more tailored and offer products and services on an individual customer level. Customers are more satisfied if they feel they are “being understood” and “being served according to their needs”. And, of course, they are more willing to buy, if they feel that the offers, they receive are really what they need, and not just mass-market promotions.

Omnichannel – or multichannel – is another key trend that we see. Our lifestyle is very different to that of let’s say, 10 years ago. We are busier, we have much more information available for us to make decisions with, and we have new tools to use. We, as consumers, want CSPs to align with that lifestyle, and offer us more flexible solutions also in terms of where and how we shop and how we use customer care. Offering online purchase and selfcare options is already a lifestyle factor nowadays, but consumers also want to have the added flexibility to be able to mix channels during one single customer journey – without losing data input and progress when switching between channels. This is what omnichannel can offer to them.

Etiya recently announced that Bouygues Telecom is deploying its Cloud-Ready End-to-End Digital Business Platform. Do you see a growing interest for full-stack BSS solution on the market, or is it rather a case of companies selecting individual BSS modules for upgrading their legacy capabilities? What are the key drivers for CSPs to go fully digital?

Companies across the globe face different market challenges and all are in a unique situation, with specific needs. So, interest for software solutions also differs by each company. Also, companies take different approaches on how to do their transformation. Those who have already started their journey with only a part of their legacy system and have started to see initial results, usually request another one or two specific modules. But there are also many companies looking either for full-stack BSS solutions, or other complex, multi-module omnichannel solutions.

There are several drivers for CSPs to transform their operations. The pandemic accelerated certain processes, like customers switching to digital channels, online purchases, self-care, etc. They also require a more personalized approach and service, that is simply not possible with the old legacy background. On top of that, CSPs are busy investigating how to utilize new technological opportunities, and how to be quicker and more flexible to launch new offerings. In this context, we can specify these key drivers as follows: a) simplification: moving from silos to lean architecture, a modern structure that can be easily integrated with the ecosystem b) customer experience c) cloud d) 5G and time to market.

At this point CSPs see the limitations of their legacy systems for all new requirements and want to avoid losing their business to competitors. Becoming fully digital is essential to meet future demands and take customer satisfaction to the next level.

We live in turbulent times that are impacting all industries, including software companies. How has Etiya been coping with the challenges of the last two years and what are the plans going forward?

The last two years were unprecedented, but being an already agile company meant it was perhaps a little bit easier for us to cope.

First of all, we need to talk about how it affected our employees and our way of working. Etiya has operations in different countries and various locations, so remote work and remote collaboration were not something completely new to us, and it worked fine, it has been part of our culture already. Employees enjoy the trust of the company that they will do their jobs wherever they are, and Etiya provides all the necessary tools for them to manage such situations. In this period, the most crucial thing for Etiya was to protect the physical and psychological health of our employees. Based on this, we have conducted weekly/monthly surveys to get information about the health conditions of our employees and, we organized some online events such as live broadcasts, online gatherings, live gym sessions, coffee break series, etc.

In terms of business – the pandemic and the recent crisis highlighted even more, how and why companies need to modernize their business systems and processes: to be able to serve new customer needs flexibly, and also, to be able to work more cost efficiently. More and more C-level decision makers realize that such investments are inevitable and need to be prioritized, even in hard times. But software suppliers, like us, also need to adapt and offer scalable products, flexible and tailored solutions, that will allow customers to proceed with their transformation, but still remain within their means.

The telecom industry was always a disruptor, and still continues to be one, with novel technologies, brand new use cases and exciting new partnership opportunities. How is Etiya contributing to this trend and supporting CSPs on their journey?

CSPs are not only looking for solutions on the BSS side, they are looking for strategic partners. The bottleneck in the world's IT workforce makes this a necessity, companies that maintain the spirit of start-ups and focus on creating value with their customers come to the fore. Companies that adapt new technologies quickly to trends add more value in the telecom sector as in other sectors. All these needs are our strong muscles that define us. Our company tagline, ‘Exceed every day’, means this. This 'exceed every day' enthusiasm accelerates them and us in competition to build a self-sustained growth journey. Our strategy is to design technologies that will shape tomorrow's standards beyond catching the requirements of today. As we progress in this way, the essential aspect that enlightens our way is always the expectations and needs of service providers. Our basic philosophy is to be ready for the next day and to implement the change, not to define the change. We believe in together stronger.