By Mae Kowalke

In the quest to maximize competitiveness, network providers typically put most of their efforts into deploying and maintaining infrastructures capable of delivering advanced communication services. In other words, most of the investment is in technology.

That’s starting to shift somewhat as providers expand their focus on creating high quality of experience (QoE) through new business processes, too—like self-care portals and more detailed billing.

This is a step in the right direction, but more is needed.

“To achieve business objectives, increase competitiveness, and improve end user QoE network providers need to achieve a level of operational excellence — a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization — in all functional areas,” advises Alcatel-Lucent in a recently published white paper.

Traditionally, network operations, IT and customer care have been separate silos. Yet, together, these three make up about 36 percent of a typical provider’s operating expenses. Consolidating them can, therefore, have a significantly positive impact.

“A proper integration strategy supported by ongoing measurement and management will create a streamlined operational environment that improves competitiveness by focusing all business operations to deliver the highest QoE to end users at all times,” notes Alcatel-Lucent in its white paper.

The justification for such a transformation is, of course, the end-user.

“In a changing environment and increasingly competitive landscape, network providers have struggled to find the key to success. Approaches are as varied from one network provider to the next as are their networks. But what all approaches have in common is that they all stem from one basic realization: Winning in this market is all about the end user.”

There may very well be more than one path to success, but whatever that path is it had better enable the provider to anticipate ender user needs and continuously improve quality of experience. And, the path had better take into account all aspects of operations.

“Addressing one area of the business alone will not lead to ultimate success,” Alcatel-Lucent cautions. “Providers need a better way to manage their business at the network and operations layers. They need to achieve operational excellence.”

Yet what is ‘operational excellence,’ really? There are many definitions, just as there are many operator approaches to competitiveness. And that’s as it should be.

“All network providers will take this concept and determine what operational excellence is in their own environment based on their priorities and those of their customers,” notes Alcatel-Lucent.  “Likewise, efforts to achieve operational excellence will vary from one network provider to the next.”

In other words, there is no one-size-fits all solution. Each provider must create its own operational excellence strategy by balancing bandwidth and capacity management, financial performance and high QoE.

“Achieving this balance requires effective integration of network transformation programs with efforts to consolidate the previous separate worlds of IT and network operations,” Alcatel-Lucent concludes.  “A strong integration strategy supported by ongoing measurement and management will create a streamlined operational environment that improves competitiveness by focusing all business operations on delivering the highest QoE to end users at all times.”