Acro Commerce Q&A — Automation & bundling for telecoms | Acro Commerce
Laura Meshen

Author

Laura Meshen

, Content Marketing Specialist

Acro Commerce Q&A — Automation & bundling for telecoms

Acro Commerce’s Director of Technology, Jesse Grunert, sits down with host Becky Parisotto, Director of Business Development & Marketing, to talk about what it takes to make automation and bundling happen for telecommunications.

WATCH THE SESSION

Timestamps of note:
00:40 — Why do telecommunications companies have a hard time with digital transformation?
03:08 — Why does talking about security requirements start at the beginning of the development process, not the end?
07:54 — How can telcos share development knowledge between departments or internal teams?
10:54 — What is Acro Commerce’s expertise when it comes to working with telecommunications?
17:00 — What doe resolving a complicated swivel chair process with automation really look like in telecom?
20:11 — Bundling services: What does it take from a tech perspective in telecommunications?
23:36 — Steps to get ready for bundling services across telco teams.
29:26 — What does it take in a telco leader to drive digital transformation? What does that level of leadership look like?

Key takeaways from the conversation

The biggest barriers to telecommunications digital transformation

Telecom companies are generally built on proprietary systems, with data being stored in physical data centres, using an older technology. The reality is that a lot of telecommunications IT departments and infrastructure haven't kept up with technology and find themselves hindered by it. Due to the limitations of ageing infrastructure, scalability is limited, whereas, with a cloud-based IT setup, operations can be infinitely scaled on demand.

Another barrier we often encounter is telecoms using outdated, locked software systems they don’t have access to edit or change. This means getting changes made to the proprietary system is very difficult and expensive. We can build newer solutions that make it more efficient to get data in and out of and allow for greater flexibility.

The last barrier is the use of older security protocols. While they are robust, having data live behind an impenetrable firewall is not an option if you want to deliver data to the internet to build the user experiences your organization wants. Using newer infrastructure can give the same level of security, with better adaptability.

Automation: Why an experienced agency makes all difference

With more than a decade of working with telecommunications organizations, Acro Commerce understands what it takes to work as a part, or an extension, of the internal telco teams. We are heavily integrated with telco teams, which can be a pretty complicated relationship. We have learned how to navigate it well. We understand the cycles of capital funding, the internet compliance needed for telcos, and the government regulations around telecommunications.

Our process for negotiating around the business impact of automation is our real expertise. We help the client actively choose where to automate and where not to. This includes making it very clear through our discovery process that automating absolutely everything may not be the best from a business objective. That by automating a large part of a process, you get better lift and results than if you were to spend the extra time, resources and money developing a completely automated process.

Acro Commerce truly understands the intricacies and impacts of what automation means in telecommunications.

Steps to get your data ready for bundling

  1. Find out where your data lives.
  2. Modernize your data architecture through a microservice setup or middleware.
  3. Create a bi-directional API so you can get data in and out to the internet-based solutions you want to build.

What does it take to drive digital transformation in a telco?

What does that leadership look like?

Digital transformation is a long game, not a short game.

Telecom leaders need to know that digital transformation is about setting the foundation properly so that you can make it a reality long term. The people driving digital transformation in a telco need to build internal teams that will see the vision through until the end. Creating that team environment and making sure you have the buy-in of the right stakeholders is the first real hurdle in creating digital transformation.

Telcos need specialized tech solutions, fast. Find out how we help.