Building trust and advocacy from their customers is still a major challenge for Communication providers, resisting the desire to focus on short term profit rather than the life time value of a customer is a difficult habit to break, especially in a downturn. The rise and growth of online channels has meant "listening to the voice of the customer" as a vital ingredient to a successfull customer experience...
However, more consideration is being placed on the supporting Operating System (OS), for 18% of consumers in the UK market the OS is a vital component of the decision making process. Interestingly Android is leading the way outstripping Apple and other OS platforms and the majority of customer switching is also funnelling towards Android's platform.
]]>Rationalize is an oft used word in mathematical parlance. And what it means is that it removes radicals (remember square roots 3, 5, etc in the denominators), such as from denominator, without changing the value (of an expression).
Mapping this definition from mathematical to Business application system context, we can say that Rationalization of Applications is nothing but the removal of specific parts in the application ecosystem which will make the ecosystem leaner and efficient, nevertheless, will not have any impact on the functionality delivered by it.
For IT Systems/Applications, what to rationalize?
In Mathematics, when we see a fraction, with say square root 3 in denominator, we know to Rationalize, it we have to multiply the fraction by the same radical. Unfortunately, this is not very easy when we try to map the analogy to IT Applications. So the question of what to rationalize can be answered by the business application designers by identifying the radicals in the system.
The rule of thumb should be that, if removing an application from the stack, keeps the functionality intact, then it is prudent to remove the application from the stack.
Evaluating an application for Rationalization:
The problem which large organizations face is that over a period of time, the number of IT applications reaches a stage or are so huge in number, it becomes difficult to calculate the utility of all the applications and the result is inefficient use of IT Applications.
But, how to evaluate an application for Rationalization?
These are the general guidelines:
- The application is legacy.
- The application is tactical, that is historically, and it was perceived to fulfill the tactical requirements of business.
- The data elements in an application bear similarity with other applications, which covers more functionality. (This is an application which has more number of functionality compared to the application to be rationalized.)
- The functionality provided by this application can be fulfilled by any other application with little impact.
- The removal of this functionality from the stack, does not impact the business in anyway.
The success of rationalization will depend on this.
To create the differentiation, telcos are exploring to capture more of managed outsourcing deals and that too in the space of value address services. The example of these services would be launching and managing the contact center services or building and managing data center services for a big enterprise. Telcos have experience in dealing with these services for long time at small scale. The challenge they are facing is that launch of these services as a standard service takes very long time and needless to say, they lag behind their competitors. I was talking to head of the product and marketing of a big telco in South East Asia and he resonated with me and confirmed these challenges. It takes almost a year to launch these services which they cannot afford. The reason for such a long delay is the current product/service launch process practiced in the organization is not capable enough to take these new kinds of services. These processes were defined to launch network based services. Because of the market pressure, product managers would attempt to launch new services using the existing process or without any process. As a result of this, there would not only be huge delay in product launch but also the faulty product launch which impacts the customer experience. This is a visible trend in all telcos especially telcos who are new in launching value added services. There is a huge demand in this space. Telcos are looking towards business process consulting companies for the help in not only defining their product launch process but also establish the product/service launch center which will manage the roll out multiple parallel products in the market.
We are currently working on the solutions in this space which can be taken to multiple telcos to launch their value added services. Please share your views if you have also came across similar challenges with your client.
Telecom industry especially wireless is undergoing tremendous changes. Wireless operators not only have to compete with other wireless operators but also with new animal named OTP (over the top). Players like goggle, skype, and yahoo are eating their pie more and more every day. For the top players, customer acquisition is going up but ARPU is flat or marginally going down especially in India. CIOs are struggling to control the opex and squeeze time to market to launch new services. In this scenario, this debate of "Process based system" Vs "System based processes" takes the new meaning. It is no more the academic discussion. This has become very critical to the business. These days, most of the CIO wants low cost strategic IT solution. Cost is the number one priority with no compromise on extensibility and flexibility of the solution. They want solution which does not need customization and can be implemented with minimum configuration/customizations. They don't want to invest money in first designing the business process and then customize the system to realize the processes. Their wish is to use the process defined and implemented by the COTS vendor in their solution. I interacted with two senior executive from CIO office of two wireless operator last month and both resonated this approach. They believe that this is the best cost effective approach in the current frame of time. The key issue in this approach is the integration of different solutions from different vendors to achieve seamless operation. Without any defined process hierarchy, common information model, crisp interfaces, this integration will be nightmare. Luckily frameworks like TMFs frameworx (eTOM, SID and TAM) have rescued the situation. TMF has defined the process elements and business entities, which can be readily used by COTs vendor to define the solution. This way solution would be extensible, integratable and readily deployable. On top of this, TMF also provides the conformance framework, to evaluate the COTS package against the 7 level of conformance levels. Around 10 COTS vendors have published their conformance against the framework which makes it easy for operator to select the right COTs vendor. We will talk about challenges in the conformance some other time.
Networks will be replaced by the Internet, and TV will just be another connected screen.
Video will just be a spade of the offerings, with gaming, social interactions, T-commerce, interactive adverts and convergence being at the forefront. That is when the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Google will compete with the cable guys - Time Warner, Comcast and Cablevision.
The importance of connected TVs to has already been stamped by Korean TV maker Samsung spending $70m on marketing its Internet TV apps in 2010. The magic has already started - with remotes controlling TV, and consumers able to play and watch content seamlessly across TV, PC and their smartphones and tablets. These emerging trends point to the increasing user demand to access content, services and entertainment from any location, any device, on the user's terms.
A growing numbers of television viewers are simultaneously online while watching television, most of them using a laptop or an Internet enabled smartphone. With the advent of social networks, this multitasking means that people are discussing the TV shows at the same time as they are watching them. These real-time conversations enable consumers to socially engage with TV programming even more. This holds enormous significance for service providers, as viewers can discuss shows via the TV set and influence each other's viewing. This interaction also enhances the whole lean-back-on-the-couch TV experience for viewers, as they can actively converse with each other, around any programming and content.
How social networks affect broadcasters:
Interaction with TV through social networking has enormous significance for broadcasters.Facebook 'Like's & comments and Twitter 'trending's influence TV ratings. The likes of Facebook and Twitter know in real-time how viewers are reacting to TV programmes. These social networks own valuable, detailed information about people's behavior, such as discussing TV shows and sharing links to videos. This futuristic vision of social viewing is one in which all major partners in the television industry ecosystem - IPTV, cable operators, satellite operators, middleware technology firms, device manufacturers, advertisers, broadcasters and studios - must build new relationships, negotiate new terms and resolve the next set of challenges in order to seize revenue opportunities.
Essentially, lifestyles are unfolding, and they are unfolding fast.
So get ready to post your next status update, order a pizza, ask a Honda dealer to contact you, vote for your favorite character of that reality show and continue watching that favorite movie of yours on your mobile while you leave the couch to go out for a stroll in the park - all of these on your TV right there in the living room!
]]>'What if there was a solution that could help appize the wedding invitation to a mobile application'. The application download URL with customized text/audio/video message can then be readily distributed to friends and relatives over SMS/MMS.
The recipient upon opening the mobile wedding invitation sees the wedding invite or an audio invite by the would be bride/groom, interactive maps that provide direction and route guidance to the venue, save the date in the calendar, schedule congratulatory SMS to be sent on the D-day and subsequent anniversaries, guest book which allows the recipient to confirm their presence and itinerary for the wedding, etc. This is an illustrative feature list, I am sure the readers of this post will have many more creative inputs.
This solution is not entirely new. There are online portals (http://www.didmo.com) which help lay users create mobile applications without any knowledge of programming, however a free version is usually ad supported and we don't want ads in our wedding invitation! The fact that a free version is an ad supported model, the idea does not lend to consumer (B2C) model (however it does if you are willing to shell out $'s) as a pure play business, especially if the mobile application in question is a wedding invitation!
In Indian context I see it as a business to business (B2B) model, as a services business, wherein the card print shop provides an option of creating a mobile wedding invitation to the buyer. If the buyer wants, the card print shop logs on to the online terminal application provided by the appizer to create a mobile wedding invite. Appizer charges a fixed amount to the card print shop, which in turn charges monies to the buyer. Since the same card print shop is also associated with the creative design/layout/physical print, of the wedding invite, it helps the card print shop to extend its bouquet of services and the buyer gets both physical print and mobile solution under one roof.
In India and elsewhere in the world, match making also happens by volunteering aunts/uncles/friends/neighbors (social matrimony - check out http://www.youpid.in or the MatrimonyMaster facebook application). The Appizer can extend the B2B model to marriage bureaus/brick'n'mortar presence of online matrimonial portals, for the creation of mobile bio-data's for people who register with them. The parents of would be bride/groom can then share the mobile bio data's of their son/daughter to social acquaintances thus spreading the viral! Apart from text the mobile bio data's can have elements of graphics and video.
Print media power houses that have presence in the space of internet and mobile applications are ideally suited to offer the buyers of print matrimonial classified space an option to create mobile bio data's and put the download URL in the print classified ad.
Internet penetration and the fact that India has over 10 million marriages annually, has positively impacted the business of online matrimony portals, it's time to take it to the next frontier of mobile devices.
"America's Love Affair with TV," Retrevo's awesome blog on TV viewing habits reveals that there are "more TVs than viewers to watch them."
The TV phenomenon isn't confined to the US, of course - the world loves its television entertainment and loves the simplicity of the user interface. Don't like what's on? Switch from the ever-increasing array of channels. Up and down. Child's play.
So why hasn't the Internet happened to television yet? Why aren't most of us online on our TVs, tweeting or texting or chatting?
Well, for one, convergence has been slow in coming, despite rosy predictions of the past. Technically it's feasible now at price points we couldn't have imagined before, now that we have converged "pipes" running to most homes--communications networks that can carry video, voice, and data to our growing collection of shiny digital gizmos.
But perhaps more importantly, television is what's called a "lean-back experience," one where we can unabashedly cater to our likes and dislikes. Sit back. Relax. See what's on.
Recently we've been doing more. See what's next. Time-shift it. Get video on demand. See it on your mobile. Or favorite tablet.
There's more to come. Developers and innovators around the world are busy working on the next set of uber-cool applications and services that will work right on your TV set - or set top box. Giving you control - with the same ease of use - up, down, left and right buttons on the same remote control. These powerful new apps and services will bring the best of the Internet to your TV--but in a way that you don't have to re-learn your TV browsing experience completely. Not one or two but hundreds--(and soon thousands) of applications are being developed for every imaginable lifestyle need. And yes, they are on their way to your living room in Kentucky and even (en français) in Paris.
You won't have to get off that comfortable couch either :) Stay tuned!
]]>The penetration level in rural area is only 23% and huge opportunities of revenue from services like selling and procurement information and support for farm commodities, educating farmer community on best practices, delivery of healthcare and education to remote village using mobile connections - has made all the telecom operators join the bandwagon by investing millions of dollars for building required infrastructure and ecosystem. Government is also not behind - SBI, the country's largest public sector bank, with the complete back up of RBI, is currently piloting two initiatives for financial inclusion that are based on the mobile platform - targeted at rural and semi-urban areas to tackle with infrastructure issues at remote rural areas - to enable farmers and villagers to enjoy benefits of banking using their mobiles.
Now the question arises that what kind of services will be successful in rural areas - definitely not the gaming and social networking sites J. With competitive voice plans - operators can focus on services focused on agriculture and healthcare followed by education - as these are the priorities of a villager. Information about the latest prices of commodities like seeds, pesticides, fertilizers at nearest mandies, real time whether forecast along with soil requirements and best optimized technique of irrigation and benefits of crop rotation depending on the farmer location. By providing accurate demand forecasting of different commodities and by comparing the availability of such commodities at national and local level and suggesting cultivating such commodities for maximum profits, will attract farmers for using such services. Health Care is an issue in rural areas - by providing them doctor over the phone at reasonable cost will help farmers to avoid travelling to near cities for sickness which can be taken care at doctor advise over the phone and will also get expert advice on which nearby hospital for curing the disease hence helping the villagers to avoid travelling to different hospitals. Health Insurance can also play pivotal role in providing health benefits in rural areas. Consumers are also looking for diverse vernacular content at affordable prices -- this would enable proliferation of 3G services across the country especially in rural and semi urban areas.
These services can be offered as an applications or IVR methods. IVR will be more successful if offered in local language as compared to apps or SMS based services as the literacy level is less in rural and semi-urban areas.
Telecom Operator should concentrate on providing value added services as per the local requirements in local language to tap the huge market pie. Its matter of time that operator will be making theirs road maps based on the rural market.
]]>In one of the
community discussion forums at one of the prominent telecom focused sites,
there was an interesting discussion on whether the telcos/CSPs have missed the
Social Media bus? The discussion revolved around the fact that the growth
of social media will be dependent on Communications, increasingly mobile and
especially in the developing countries.
Successful serial
entrepreneur, Nick Ogden suggests that telcos may have 'missed the boat' when
compared to banking and payment verticals which are tapping the mobile market. Apart
from a few of scattered initiatives at national level there is yet to be seen
an industry-wide offering that includes the leading financial institutions and
the telecoms industry as a whole.
Ogden also suggested
that brands like Visa and MasterCard as international brands are instantly
recognizable but that the telecoms industry does not have a universal brand or
identity that matches them in terms of instant recognition as a payment method.
Any hope of success would rely on partnerships with the credit card processors
and their issuing banks, especially where NFC (Near Field Communications)
devices are concerned.
News that Google has
joined forces with Citi and MasterCard to embed NFC capability into the Android
powered Nexus S handset must be disturbing for mobile operators. So essentially,
the role of mobile operators is limited to providing backbone for
communications.
The second offshoot of
the discussion was the point of need for partnership with CSPs and that many
had been using social media as a marketing weapon to attract subscribers by
offering social media access free.
It make me wonder if
telcos have not 'missed the boat' in both scenarios. What the 'partnerships'
both the points suggest remains to be seen. CSPs wishing to promote their
services on social media as a customer of any social media site will certainly
be welcomed, but Social media company being willing to share its revenues with
network operators because they provide the communications is highly unlikely.
One example of
convergence which can be seen in Indian market which to an extent addresses
this problem is the recent launch of a popular social media application by a
software company headquartered in Bangalore by tying up with one of biggest CSP
in India. The application was not a smartphone application. The application
uses the same technology as sending SMS and hence the status updates on the
social media site happens using this technology. For using this application, the
subscriber doesn't need a smartphone (please note the smartphone penetration in
India is very less) and would be charged Rs X per day by the CSP. This is an
excellent model of tying up with Social media companies and leveraging the
viral nature of the medium for newer channels of revenues. This calls for deep
collaboration with system integrators, CSPs and Social Media companies.
The article says, the Indian telecom sector now has over 820 million subscribers. The Indian population, according to Census 2011, is 1.2 billion. If we take ino account the poverty statistics from the official data, the 400 million balance population survives on less than $ 1 a day and net net we are saying everyone who can afford a cellphone already has one. So the question is are the glory days over?
The article then goes on analyse a few of the Indian companies and how this entire game is turning out into a dog-eat-dog, a sign that the market is not big enough for all to prosper.
In my opinion, the market is witnessing a paradigm shift and the battle is now to get that coveted subscriber who is spending more data and is on roaming now and then. So, is falling revenue per minute a bad sign? One may say yes. But I believe, in the long run, it might well be zero. Yes, the voice calls will be free and subscribers will be charged for value added services. 3G in India will drive the next growth phase.
What it means for service providers is to come up with innovative means to capture this new shift. Applications: consumer and enterprise will decide the volume of subscribers. How does one take advantage of mobile advertising. In India the smartphone penetration is not high compared to west. How does one leverage technology to provide top of the art applications for people to connect? These are the indicative questions which the service providers will need to answer to grow!
The article ends with a paraphrased quote from Churchill and I couldn't agree more:
This is not the end. Or the beginning of the end. It is only the end of the beginning
]]>A FM station can establish a one-on-one connect with its listeners through the following four mediums:
1. Enabling the FM Broadcast: listener's action of tuning into the frequency of the radio station on their FM receiver enables them to establish a contact with the radio station. It is the primary and the most important connect, the raison d etre of the FM station. The maximum marketing dollars of the FM station are spent on enabling this transaction.
2. Social Media: To establish an online connect more and more service providers are joining the social media bandwagon with sign off lines as find us on...or follow us on...thus enabling the station to capture the voice of their listeners. Listening to conversations in the social media space can enable the FM stations to align the programming lineup to match the expectation of their listeners.
3. Website of the Radio Station: I have seldom come across a FM Station's website that is dynamic and vibrant. Most of the stations have websites that are more like digital diaries. When I say it's a digital diary, it means non interactive and static information like RJ profiles, broad overview of programming, film promos (this is something new these days) etc. There are very few stations that mention their website URL on-air.
4. On Ground Events: These are based on specific themes, festivals or are tied to a social cause. Such events not only reinforce the brand to the existing listeners but also bring in new listeners who may sample the station, post their positive experiences from the event.
Serial nos. 2, 3 and 4 can be classified as the secondary touch points or supplementary to the primary offering and are reinforcement to serial no.1.
Serial nos. 2, 3 and 4 are nimble and can be modified with minor changes to suit the preferences of a wider audience base. For such touch points the station has a better control on the conversations happening around its brand and is in a position to own or drive such conversations.
The broad components that make up a radio station and its distinct identity are:
1. Programming Line Up
2. RJ Chatter and the fact that over a period of time RJ's name becomes synonymous with the name of the FM station
3. Interstitials
4. Interactive interstitials that connect the listener to the RJ
5. Advertisements and brand integrations
Orchestrating listener's experience across the components with all the touch points that are exposed to the listener, will create a highly successful offering.
India has approx. 800 million mobile phone users as compared to 80 million online users, thus it is imperative for a radio station to own the user experience for the mobile device and make it pivotal to drive a synchronous user experience across other different touch points.
Some of the radio industry honchos believe that 50% of FM listenership happens over the mobile phone. Perhaps the experience should be taken beyond the mere act of listening to a particular FM station on mobile. To maintain listener loyalty and a high brand recall, a mobile application should provide:
1. Information about FM station.
2. Information on Radio Jockeys.
3. A means to connect with Radio Jockeys.
4. An archive of interstitials and other library content.
5. Celebrity videos, a day into the life of RJ, how does a radio station look like etc.
6. Traffic updates/utility information.
7. Information on the current programs/songs meta-data and programs/songs that are coming up next.
8. A contest zone.
9. Linkages to the social media. The application should allow the listener to give thumbs up or thumbs down, on their social media/station's social media page, to a specific program they are listening on the radio.
10. Interactivity. The listener should be able to respond to RJ cues in real time using the mobile application. E.g. responding to RJ's cue of what is listener's opinion about single parents? etc.
Please note that here I have not made any reference to providing streaming music. This involves an additional payout of royalties by the radio station to the music labels and therefore may hamper the commercial viability of providing such an application to listeners.
The above list is not exhaustive and can have additional elements to the above basic stack as subsequent upgrades or versions.
On first glance the stack appears as a thing similar to visual radio. However, in my opinion visual radio in India comes across as commerce based application that enables the users of visual radio to buy digital merchandise like song ringtones/wallpapers/song dedication to a friend etc. I see it more as a Value Added Services (VAS) offering by the telecom operator to boost their VAS revenue. How the existing visual radio application helps in driving user loyalty and experience, I am unable to comprehend. I still don't see it as a mobile application that helps build the listener community dedicated to the radio station it represents.
However the basic stack that I have outlined can be monetized by the radio station in the following manner:
1. Have sections/tabs of the mobile application sponsored by specific brands.
2. Song meta data can have additional information like "Catch this movie on Channel XYZ, coming Sunday at 12 Noon". The same property can be sold to the TV channel.
Well, the above are a couple of examples that can help the station gain currency with advertisers.
Since the mobile application outlined here is not tied to any commerce transactions based upon music merchandise, it can be made available on the cloud and the user can download the same by entering a URL on their phone browser irrespective of the telecom operator. This helps the station to keep a track of how many people have downloaded the application and from which regions. By transposing the application download/usage metrics data with Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) data, the station gets to know the number of active and engaged listeners versus passive listeners. This also helps the station in validating the RAM data to a certain extent.
I strongly believe that this is the way to go. Irrespective of the geographical footprint of the station, such a mobile application helps the station to own and orchestrate the listener experience. If the same can be made available in languages other than English, it will be a killer app!
Well that's the end of this bulletin. If you found this post interesting, and if you have time, please drop a line..!!!
- He was attracted to iPhone primarily because of the Appstore
- There is no reason for not downloading paid apps. He just doesn't feel like paying for apps. He might consider paying after use
- Hesitant about using credit cards on mobile
The word 'free' attracts more people in India, even if they have to pay it later. I believe free apps with ads is going to be the future of mobile apps industry in India. In one of the leading App stores in India, I have seen download rates for one of its top free apps drop around 95% percent overnight when the developer started charging INR 10 for it !
Mobile advertising has the potential to exceed internet advertising. I had attended the Mobile Camp organized by Mobile Monday in IIM, Bangalore on Feb 6th. The session conducted by the Google representatives on Admob indicated that they are well equipped to make the most out of this huge opportunity.
Ad supported free apps will work well, if relevant ads are placed in the least annoying way for the users.
]]>
Apple is definitely the leader owing to the innovation they bring to their devices and services. There is always a tremendous excitement and obsession around its product launches. In my opinion, it will definitely have a good share of the MOS market, but not the largest. The reason it being a closed environment and the OS limited to its own products.
With six major releases of the platform in a short span of time, and the fragmentation issue that is existent, I am still optimistic about Android and believe that it will dominate the Smartphone market in the next 4-5 years. The battle is between Open OS & Proprietary OS.
The results of a market survey by Distimo recently show that: "If all application stores maintain their current growth pace, approximately five months from now (July 2011) Google Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of applications followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store," the firm said in its findings. "The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace will also be larger than the Nokia Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World prior to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace being available for even a full year."
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20058080-248.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0
As a long-time satisfied user of Windows Smartphone, I cannot close eyes to the evergreen Windows OS. This is not a reference to any of the extremely significant features of Windows Mobile, but just the comfort of having the same OS for my laptop as well as my Smartphone. I could sync it flawlessly with my laptop to manage all the important files and contacts. If Windows can uphold its dominant desktop market share, Microsoft will be able to leverage that to grip a strong position in the mobile space.