Contributed Content
Open APIs – the key transformation enabler for CSPs
Behind all the industry buzz around digitization, customer experience transformation and 5G monetization, there’s still a lingering issue at the core of CSPs’ everyday business that needs attention: Up to 80% of CSPs’ IT budgets are still being spent on system integration and customization1.
This leaves limited resources for innovation and actual IT transformation. This also raises larger questions like:
- Why is the right shift of most CSP business models so slow-paced?
- How do CSPs bridge this gap between traditional IT problems and the latest industry and customer demands?
- How do CSPs evolve and collaborate into the new ecosystem involving hyperscale digital natives?
- What are the best ways to capitalize on new technology waves such as 5G, edge computing, and AI?
The IT estate of most CSPs is too complex and rigid, comprised of monolithic core IT systems and legacy processes and technologies. CSPs’ current IT environment consists of many different application stacks that have been modified over years. These often either have overlapping and redundant functionalities or have gaps in the end-to-end integration of their customer journeys, which operators address through further developments and customizations.
Open APIs and Open Digital Architecture (ODA) solve these problems at their source
The use of open APIs and ODA to connect disparate systems not only protects IT budgets; but also goes to the core of how CSPs can address many of their key functions, including:
The challenge of a complex legacy and a siloed IT estate has been common among the majority of CSPs, and so is the need to participate in platform-based digital ecosystems The TMF Open APIs combined with component-based architecture like the ODA are a wise solution for CSPs looking to reduce IT complexity.
TM Forum's Open APIs along with ODA is the futureproof approach designed with an outside-in perspective. It can provide the plug-and-play interoperability of components within their IT systems (and networks), reduce complexity, and enable digitization of customer-facing systems and reduce cost of integration as well as time to market for new services digital services. This while also supporting both existing and new digital services and addressing the implementation of B2B2X digital ecosystems, which will be critical for operating and monetizing 5G and edge computing.
The shift to open API and ODA requires a holistic approach to address key concerns around these key areas:
Open API-based integration and open digital architecture enable CSPs’ IT estate to become more agile and resilient, which translates into tangible business benefits:
In the end, TM Forum Open APIs and ODA are among the most critical weapons a CSP needs in its arsenal today. This means the difference between realizing and squandering the opportunity to monetize innovative 5G services. Most importantly, open APIs will help CSPs evolve and establish themselves as end-to-end service providers.