Discovering value in B2B and B2B2X ecosystems

The 5G era is here, with 5G core deployments well underway. Communications service providers (CSPs) have invested tens of billions of dollars on 5G infrastructure, and are projected to spend $1 trillion on 5G by 2025. But CSPs want and need to see return on their 5G investments today, writes James Kirby, CSG SVP & Head of EMEA Business at CSG.

Business models for 5G will look very different than their predecessors. Unlike earlier wireless generations, and even fixed networks, operators realize their revenue is unlikely to come from connectivity alone, as few consumers are willing to pay a premium for 5G voice and data offerings.

Instead, revenue will come from the digital services that take advantage of 5G’s superior specifications. Analysts predict that being able to deliver these services through B2B2X business models will be key to CSPs' future profitability.

Some digital offerings, like entertainment and gaming, could monetize untapped B2C opportunities, but the lucrative B2B segment offers the greatest opportunity to help industry verticals differentiate and tap into high-margin revenue streams. To achieve this, co-creation across industries, and cross-verticals will be crucial.

Four main areas will make or break success for CSPs in B2B2X: a focus on business outcomes; embracing dynamic ecosystems; agility; and trust.

Business outcomes

To be successful in B2B2X revenue growth, CSPs need to better understand their customers’ verticals an

d particular challenges to collaborate with partners that can bring the necessary expertise. They will need functionally-rich capabilities to design solutions that can provide solutions for the most pressing challenges and biggest opportunities. CSPs also need to invest in B2B2X platforms that enable easier integration without sacrificing flexibility. Collaboration and co-creation will produce tailored solutions with embedded third-party components to deliver value to the end customer.

Execution in ecosystems

For an ecosystem of partners to succeed, all parties need to be highly interoperable, dynamic, and scalable. In the past, ecosystems were simpler, often pulling together offerings from vendors and reselling them. CSPs need to support a cultural and technological shift toward true co-creation, to create differentiated vertical stacks across B2B and B2C segments. This will help drive growth, provide new value, and serve the needs of enterprises.

Agility

A cloud-first strategy will be critical to every 5G architecture, and business platforms and ecosystem participants will need to embrace this to power the dynamic interoperability and orchestration of the ecosystem. Platforms need to be modular and adhere to common sets of standards and open APIs. Containerization will enable auto-scaling – microservice-like models to dynamically add new services without disrupting operations. Ultimately, agility will enable greater co-creation and value.

Trust

In a digital, cloud-first environment with open architectures involving an array of partners and capabilities, trust is vitally important. Security and governance across all layers of operations will be critical. At the technical level, this will lead to a shift, as DevOps transitions into DevSecOps. Automated governance will mean that CSPs can manage risks effectively within the ecosystem to ensure and deliver on business outcomes—not just for the CSP, but for the ecosystem’s participants and end customers.

The B2B/B2B2X opportunity in the era of 5G is enormous. To learn more, join me at DTW where I will be speaking on the topic on October 13

at 09:00 AM BST / 04:00 AM ET.

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