For CSPs, Major Enterprises are Both Opportunity and Challenge

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

A new survey from Pegasystems (News - Alert), Inc. ran down some of the newest findings for communications service providers (CSPs) out there, and the survey had plenty to reveal. The big takeaway on this one, though, was that the large enterprise market represents a major opportunity for CSPs, but an opportunity that will come with some significant challenges in order to make the most of it.

The survey in question brought the issues of integrated communications services and technology (ICT) spending to fully 280 decision makers that, among said individuals, control fully $13 billion in potential spending. Having a better handle on what these individuals are looking for may well hold the key to individual CSPs getting a slice of that $13 billion, so there will likely be many paying attention to the details revealed by this report.

What the report itself revealed, meanwhile, was that for CSPs looking to get in on bigger businesses, perhaps one of the biggest keys to getting in the door is the offering of a fully integrated communications and technology package. The report showed that 71 percent of companies surveyed in the study had merged the budgets for communications and for information technology, which makes the integrated package a better fit for the newly-minted budgets. What's more, nearly half of respondents—46 percent—are inclined to work with a single vendor, though only 11 percent of respondents believe that a single vendor can actually have all the tools that the businesses in question are looking for.

There are some specific problems to avoid as well, so retooling the packages in light of these facts may prove helpful to CSPs looking to make sales at the major corporation level. For one, fully 70 percent of respondents called “too much complexity” a problem in terms of services, while 58 percent were having problems with quality of service. That's closely related to another point from the survey, as 71 percent of respondents called “reliability” one of the biggest factors involved in making vendor decisions, and those CSPs that can offer clear evidence of reliability—and make it clear in presentations—should have a clear path to bigger sales.

That wasn't all the survey had to say, of course, as further information came along with points like 64 percent of businesses had planned to increase mobile spending in terms of ICT, giving an edge to CSPs with a mobile background. Finally, there's perhaps what is the topper of the whole affair, as fully 89 percent of enterprises say that CSPs can offer ICT solutions, but don't particularly care what channel said solutions come from, be said channel a value-added reseller (VAR), a CSP (News - Alert) outright, or a straight IT provider. Thus, the business with a quality solution will have the necessary “in,” regardless of what channel that solution comes from.

So clearly, there are opportunities ahead for businesses. There are opportunities to get a foot in the door with major firms that are actively in the market for ICT solutions, but there will be challenges as well. Recasting marketing materials to point out the advantages in reliability and quality of service is a good start, along with the simplification of services offered. With these points in mind, CSPs are likely to have a much better time making sales, and taking advantage of new markets opening up as we speak.

Edited by Rory J. Thompson