How to lead in the Open API economy

By now, the story of how Jeff Bezos used APIs to turn Amazon Web Services into a half-trillion dollar business seems trite, but there are still lessons to be learned, particularly in the telecommunications industry. As a whole, communications service providers (CSPs) have not yet figured out how to turn APIs into platform gold. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say they know how but are only beginning to execute on the plan.

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They must move more quickly. As Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange, explained during his keynote address at TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World Series in October, the way telcos operate IT is too complex, rigid and costly. He believes that monolithic core IT systems and legacy processes and technologies are “a systemic part of the problem,” and he suggests that CSPs are not transforming fast enough.

“Progress in addressing these challenges is so slow that some studies predict that by 2025 technical debt will consume more than 40% of operators' current IT budgets,” Richard said.

This report assesses where we are on the path to the Open API economy, looking at the status of adoption, drivers, how CSPs are using the interfaces and which suppliers are supporting them. It also looks at challenges to using the Open APIs that will need to be overcome to advance them as the standard. Read it to understand:

• What Open APIs are and why companies are using them
• Which Open APIs are most widely used and which companies are using them
• Why CSPs want more suppliers to implement Open APIs, and which companies are leaders in adopting Open APIs
• Why operators are focusing on customer-facing systems first
• What the quantifiable benefits are of using Open APIs (and why some CSPs and suppliers say it is difficult to quantify them)
• How AT&T, Axiata, BT, Bharti Airtel, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Globe Telecom, MyRepublic, Orange, Rakuten, stc, Telefónica, Telia, Three Ireland, Vidéotron, Vocus and Vodafone are using Open APIs to transform their IT organizations
• Why the Open APIs are more powerful when used in conjunction with the ODA, and how the combination can enable platform based software marketplaces and new 5G business models
• Whether the Open APIs can become the de facto standard in the telecoms industry and how collaboration among standards development organizations can help