PDF of this tutorialAs we review the evolution of the telecommunications industry, it is clear that many companies are aggressively moving (or have already moved) from a business model based on a product strategy to a business model based on a customer strategy. This environment is characterized by customer relationships, product customization, and profitability, and is in response to pressures transforming the business landscape throughout the telecommunications industry.
Growing Consumer Demand
Customers (or consumers) are expecting companies to understand and respect their needs and desires. In this world, the customer drives the relationship. It is the role of the business to hear what the customer has to say and respond by delivering relevant products and services (what they want) on their terms (how they want it). Companies can no longer expect to sell several products and services to the masses (mass marketing) but must tailor many products and services (i.e., mass customization) to the individual. This is generally referred to as mass customization.
Growing Competition
The ability to refocus a product mix in response to evolving competition is a critical success factor for any business. The key is to be able to anticipate the needs of the marketplace before one’s competitors. It is this ability to outpace competitors that most companies find difficult or impossible to do, given today’s amalgamation of technologies and architectures. Why is this important? Corporations today are facing more and more deregulation; mergers and acquisitions are blurring the relationships to customers; and globalization of the marketplace and consumer is opening up businesses to new avenues for expansion and, as a result, new competitors. Therefore, it is mandatory for a corporation to restructure itself quickly without losing the ability to compete.
Optimization
The ability to measure and predict return on investment (ROI) is something that corporations find difficult to perform rapidly. These measurements indicate the health of the corporation, and the ability to determine them rapidly allows a corporation to change its direction with minimal loss. Other examples of the need for optimization include the ability to determine the most efficient channels for contacting customers, target the appropriate customers for a corporation’s product mix, and identify new product opportunities before the competition.
The Challenge
The challenge is that most information systems are built around the product strategy business model. This has resulted in a variety of product-oriented systems that effectively run day-to-day operations. Moving forward, additional systems are needed to augment capabilities produced by these business operation systems with capabilities to deliver best-of-breed business intelligence and business management. These capabilities enable companies to accomplish the following:
- understand the needs of their business (business intelligence)
- manage actions based on those needs (business management)
- effectively run day-to-day operations (business operations)
Figure 1 illustrates how specific capabilities align to each of these areas.
Figure 1. Additional Information Systems Are Needed to Enable New Business Capabilities
These capabilities will enable companies to realize the opportunity of a business landscape characterized by customer relationships, customized product delivery, and opportunity-driven profit. One of the key enabling technologies to this evolution is the data warehouse. Figure 1 illustrates how the operational data store, as an enabling technology, delivers business management capabilities to complete the information solution.
Figure 2 illustrates how the data warehouse, as an enabling technology, delivers business intelligence capabilities to support business functions in the telecommunications industry.
Figure 2. A Data Warehouse Delivers Business Intelligence Capabilities to Support Intelligence Applications
