We're excited to share The Network, Microsoft's first podcast series for the media, entertainment, and telecommunications (telco) industries. The world has changed a lot in the past year, but much of that change has been driven by trends that began as long as a decade ago. As Microsoft's global Director of Marketing for both M&E and Telco, my life revolves around industry transformation, cloud adoption, data, and AI, and the one word that describes how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected them all: acceleration. Organizations in both media and telco are changing at a mind-blowing speed. Customers and employees alike can seeand often applaudthe improvements technology has started to bring.

That's what makes The Network so relevant. I was excited to be able to connect with the experts who have been putting this rapid change into practice as they're doing it. Business leaders from around the world joined us to share their knowledge, and to help you along your own transformation journey. This, my friends, is The Network.

Episode 1: In the cloud: Content production reimagined

Stunning technological advances in CGI and animation haven't quite made it to the rest of the film production process. But that's begun to change. A 10-year horizon laid out in a report from MovieLabs provided a transformation roadmap for the industry with non-studio-specific tools like cloud-enabled workflows, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation. Covid-19 compressed that timeline, probably by years, and the industry has adjusted, adapted, and even begun to reopen.

Hanno Basse, Microsoft Azure's CTO for media and entertainment, and Neil Beckford, vice president of technology and security at Technicolor Production Services, join me to talk about how collaboration, the cloud, and a common infrastructure will enable the creative minds in the industry to put their imagination first.

Episode 2: Optimizing next-gen telco networks

The investment in the rollout of 5G, perhaps not surprisingly, is mind-boggling. For telecommunications companies to recoup that investment, business as usual won't cut it. They need to go beyond the idea of just connectivity and begin providing industry-specific solutions that leverage the power of low-latency, high-speed 5G networks.

Joining me in this episode are Ashwin Moranganti, Chief Product Officer at Affirmed Networks, Shriraj Gaglani, Chief Marketing Officer for telco solution provider Metaswitch, and Monte Hong, who oversees communications industry strategy in Microsoft's worldwide media and communications practice. Our wide-ranging discussion touches upon the power of data, the Internet of Things, and the massive potential for the industry as a whole.

Episode 3: How data personalizes the media experience

As most of us changed our entertainment and viewing habits over the past year due to the pandemic, the media and entertainment industry has rapidly pivoted to take advantage of first-party data to personalize the audience experience. Whether it's virtual movie-watching parties or taking one video experience and connecting viewers to similar music, gaming, and even live event content opportunities, entertainment has continued to move closer to a truly individual, personal activity.

My guests Jesse Redniss, co-founder of media incubation and investment firm Brave Ventures, and Jennifer Cooper, Microsoft's global head of media and entertainment industry strategy, talk data, personalization, and making the media experience both engaging and secure.

Given all of the data that media organizations can collect in these cloud-based experiences, both of my guests see a future that showcases innovations we can hardly envision today alongside a focus on keeping audiences' private data private.

Episode 4: Telco's customer experience goes digital

Providing a meaningful customer experience has long been a challenge in the telco industry, and many customer experience leaders inside these organizations will acknowledge they still have a way to go. However, improved services that leverage AI and cloud-based technologies such as chatbots are changing those impressions.

We feature a great mix of guests on this episode: Kevin Knowles and Paul Jacobs, who both lead customer care teams at Vodaphone, as well as Rick Lievano, Worldwide Director of Microsoft's Telco Solution Strategy, and technology strategist Luca Cassani, also of Microsoft, who talk about the new face of customer experience.

Episode 5: Transforming the audience experience

Media industry players both large and small have been coming up with innovative ways to engage audiences who participate in virtual experiencesand monetize not just the experience itself, but also related products and services. The past year has shown just how inventive and exciting these efforts can be, including a case study on how Microsoft helped to transform the world's largest consumer tech conference into an entirely interactive digital experience.

Joining me are my colleagues and industry veterans Virl Hill, Microsoft's business development lead for worldwide media and entertainment, Jennifer Cooper, global head of media and entertainment industry strategy, and Marc Perez, global solutions architect in Microsoft's CTO's Office for Modern Work. We explain how media entities are seeking to monetize their virtual experiencesand how some organizations have unexpectedly entered the media businesswhile making sure they continue to put their audiences first.

Episode 6: Empowering the telco workforce

If Covid-19 had hit a decade earlier, most organizations would not have had the infrastructure or third-party collaboration tools that have allowed so many to recover so quickly. Joining me in this episode are Mike Little, vice president of sales and commercial operations for Lumen Technologies' North American enterprise and public sector division, and a second appearance by my colleague here at Microsoft, Rick Lievano. These two industry heavyweights explain how telco has been a lifesaver in enabling employees to adapt to a work-from-home situationnot just for other organizations, but for their own as well.

Virtual workspaces and classrooms have meant a focus on increased bandwidth but also increased services to help organizations that had to compress five years' worth of transformation into the span of a few months.

Rick and Mike also discuss using cloud tools to measure productivity success, as well as the new security concerns organizations, need to think about when their walls become virtual.

With three episodes focused on media and entertainment, and three more on telecommunications, the voices you hear in this first season of The Network portray a wide range of experts who have experienced rapid transformation themselves. We're certain you'll find them entertaining, but we also know you'll learn a thing or two. Find The Network on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening.

The post The Network: Media, entertainment, and telecommunications transformed appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

As we approach one full year since the restrictions and disruptions in response to the pandemic took their full effect here in the U.S., I find myself reflecting on all that has occurred during that time, and how businessand perhaps life in generalhas been forever changed. As I'm sure is the case with all of you reading this, my deepest thoughts are of the people who have been lost to COVID-19, and of their families and loved ones who now must carry on as best they can in their absence.

As Microsoft's business leader for media and entertainment, and telecommunications, I am of course also reflective regarding the tremendous challenges faced by both of those industries over the last 12 months: the disruption to supply chains, the shuttering of traditional channels and venues for extended periods of time, and the dramatic shift to remote work for thousands of employees, just to name a few.

Telecommunications: a “hero” industry during the past year

Specific to telecommunications, the industryand the global cloud providerskept the economy moving forward and enabled numerous organizations to maintain business continuity with services essential for remote collaboration and productivity. Microsoft and our partners also responded to address the immediate priorities of telecommunications organizations themselves, with guidance and solutions for crisis communications, the rapid shift to remote work environments, enhanced privacy and security, and connectivity with customers and partners.

The pandemic of course also accelerated the digitization of the telecommunications industry in general over the last 12 months as the benefits of deploying corporate IT, OSS/BSS, and network applications into the cloud became even more compelling, if not essential, as the telecommunications industry retooled their organizations for the "new normal" defined by the COVID-19 crisis. Those benefits include an overall reduction in operating expenses; an accelerated time to market by speeding service design, testing, and deployment; streamlined operational workflows through intelligent processes and automation; and a reduction in the time it takes to perform network maintenance and upgrades.

An example of this accelerated transformation is Three UK, which scaled its operations into an intelligent cloud and leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to increase productivity, reduce the cost of OSS/BSS, and improve network efficiency and reliability. I had the pleasure of learning more about Three UK's journey and their perspective on the digitization of telecommunications in a conversation this past September with their Chief Operating Officer, Susan Buttsworth.

Regarding the media and entertainment industry, the disruption has been and continues to be significant, to say the least. Original content production abruptly stopped. Theme parks and other venues shut down. Sports leagues canceled or greatly reduced their seasons. Retail stores closed.

Even now, a year later, many of the traditional channels for shared, in-person entertainment experiences remain closed or in very limited operation. And yet, the industry has persevered. I'm proud of the way Microsoft and our partners responded with solutions and guidance to help content producers and creators work remotely and to address other immediate priorities of media and entertainment organizations in the first few weeks of disruption.

The industry also responded with new ways for audiences to experience the worlds of sports, media, and entertainment. Over-the-top streaming platforms and other direct-to-consumer channels of course became the essential content distribution platforms for media and entertainment organizations over the last 12 months, and there has been no shortage of new OTT/D2C entrants during that time.

Content production and post-production workflows across studios and broadcasters also resumed thanks in large part to cloud-enabled solutions for remote work and collaboration. The MovieLabs 2030 whitepaper continues to be the North Star for the future of media production, post-production, and creative technologiesalthough I've heard it said that the paper should be rebranded as a vision for 2025 given the rapid acceleration of many digital transformation initiatives over the last 12 months. Our own Hanno Basse also recently shared Microsoft's vision to put cloud, edge, and AI to work for content creators everywhere.

The last year has also seen tremendous innovation around fan and audience engagement for live experiences. One of our first such opportunities to reimagine a traditional entertainment event occurred last May when Microsoft, MediaKind, and several other partners created the platform for a four-day, interactive, virtual version of the Chattanooga Film Festival. During that same time, the NBA, the NFL, iHeartMedia, and many others also introduced new, immersive fan experiences to reconnect with audiences and bring back a needed sense of community for many people. The profound bandwidth and low latency of 5G wireless technologies will no doubt drive further innovation in virtual fan and audience experiences in the months to come.

And then just this past January, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)the largest and most influential technology event of its kindwent all-digital for the first time in its 54-year history. In doing so, it drove innovation in its own right, working with Microsoft and other partners to break new ground in digital media technology.

All told, the media and entertainment, and telco industries have overcome many of the challenges of the last 12 months through innovation, determination, and sheer force of will. I'm amazed by all that has been accomplished in such a (relatively) short amount of time, and I can only imagine how much more we will do together in the year to come.

Microsoft empowers media, entertainment, and telecommunications organizations to achieve more with our trusted and secure platform supported by a comprehensive partner ecosystem with industry-leading solutions to maximize collaboration and productivity, streamline operations, enable insights-driven decision-making, deliver engaging customer experiences, and accelerate innovation and business growth.

Learn more about intelligent media and entertainment to see how the capabilities of solutions from Microsoft and our partners have optimized workflows, streamlined content delivery, and deepened audience engagement for the likes of Mr. X, Dentsu Aegis Network, the Miami Heat, Real Madrid, LaLiga, and Thomson Reuters.

And, learn more about intelligent telecommunications to see how Microsoft and our partners have increased productivity, streamlined operations, optimized networks, and accelerated innovation for the likes of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telstra, NTT, Telia, and Vodafone.

The post Reflecting on a year of transformation for media and telco appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Recently I had the pleasure of hosting Microsoft's most recent Telecommunications digital forum. The focus of this 60-minute online event was empowering the telco journey to the cloud, with a focus on the migration of data and business support system (BSS) workloads to realize operational efficiencies, simplify organization-wide access to insights, and better inform new product and service innovation.

Joining me for the forum were George Glass, the Chief Technology Officer of TM Forum, and Ronen Fischler, the Head of the Data Intelligence Business Unit at Amdocs. Both George and Ronen brought a tremendous amount of Telco industry and technology experience to the conversation, and I sincerely thank them for sharing their insights and perspective with the group.

If you missed its initial broadcast on January 18,2021, you can watch the forum on-demand.

As the rollout of 5G continues, service providers must also continue to evolve their BSS workloadsincluding operations, network management, sales and marketing, customer care, and billingto quickly define, deploy, and optimize new offerings that will realize the full business potential of 5G-enabled services. Carriers can simplify these workloads, reduce costs, increase productivity, realize efficiencies, and increase organizational agility through intelligent processes and automation on a trusted and secure cloud.

As described by TM Forum's George Glass during the digital forum, "Operators will be moving their applications to the public cloud. I say that with confidence because I come from an operator background myself, and I know the amounts of money that we could invest in the data center, and it pales into insignificance compared to the amounts the hyper-cloud providers are investing in their capability for the virtualized infrastructure of the public cloud." George also commented, "What I heard 3 or 4 or 5 years ago when we talked about the movement to the cloud, there were all of the excuses of those who were reluctant to go there. They would cite concerns over data privacy or data security or not knowing where the data was going to be. Many of those concerns and worries have been allayed with the technology and the security that's offered by the public cloud."

The migration of BSS workloads to the cloud can also enable a data-driven culture by simplifying access to insights across all groups and teams to better monitor business performance, predict outcomes, and make more informed decisions. Automated processes and data-driven insights can accelerate innovation and reduce time-to-market by speeding new service design, testing, and deployment. And as data captured at the edge grows exponentially, it will be essential to unlock insights by automating the ingestion, unification, enrichment, segmentation, and activation of product, service, and customer data.

Carriers can further use predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and real-time insights to deliver highly-personalized messaging and experiences that rapidly connect customers with the most pertinent products and services, increasing satisfaction and building long-term loyalty. Data-enabled AI and chatbots can also augment traditional customer service channels to improve responsiveness and expedite issue resolution.

"The operators absolutely understand the necessity and the potential of AI," said Ronen Fischler of Amdocs. "They understand that AI and machine learning are what's going to create the difference in the way they can personalize the experience for the customer, the way they can promote new products and new tools, and the way they introduce new networks. 5G makes it a necessity to analyze things and do machine learning in real-time. It's become a must."

Again, you can now watch the Telecommunications digital forum on-demand. It's well worth an hour of your time, as I'm sure you will find George and Ronen's insights and perspective as compelling as I did.

Microsoft empowers telecommunications organizations to achieve more with our trusted and secure platform supported by a comprehensive partner ecosystem with industry-leading solutions for workplace modernization, OSS/BSS, network management, customer experiences, and the development of new products and services.

Learn more about intelligent telecommunications to see how Microsoft and our partners have increased productivity, streamlined operations, optimized networks, and accelerated innovation for the likes of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telstra, NTT, Telia, and Vodafone.

The post Empowering the telco journey to the cloud appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Microsoft is enabling telecom operators to rapidly develop, deploy, and monetize cross-industry edge, IoT, and other services with offerings like IoT Plug and Play, a technology that enables automated device configuration, and Microsoft Azure IoT Central, a hosted managed app platform. For critical-business applications that require low-latency, Microsoft offers Microsoft Azure Edge Zones and Azure Stack Edge. Finally, for connecting brownfield equipment operators can leverage Azure IoT Edge or Azure Sphere guardian modules.

Let's step through top IoT use cases and see how telecom operators are helping solution builders get to market faster.

Learn how Microsoft is enabling telecom operators to deliver IoT solutions with 5G.

Case 1: Asset tracking

Asset tracking with IoT is not new but using 5G for connectivity delivers unique benefits. Below is a short list of use cases, based on the general principle that an asset tracking solution sends small amounts of data periodically from a sensor to the cloud to be stored, analyzed, and acted upon to optimize the use of assets:

• Monitoring a water or gas meter to determine usage
• Tracking the status of a city streetlight or a parking space
• Tracking the temperature and location of a box of bananas as it travels around the world

The benefits of using 5G

5G offers many benefits for asset tracking:

• Forward compatibility: 4G LTE networks available today are forward compatible with 5G. For example, CAT-M1 and NB-IoTknown as Low Power Wide Area networks (LPWAN) are the forerunners to 5G Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC). Some 4G LTE hardware can be enabled for 5G capabilities with a firmware upgrade.
• Low-power, low-cost sensors: LPWA sensors have long battery lives and are available at low costs making business models work.
• Better coverage: 4G LTE Technologies like CAT-M1 and NB-IoT have better wireless coverage inside buildings, underground, and in rural areas. They can transmit data to more devices in a condensed area than other cellular technologies.

Ensuring safety and compliance of pharmaceuticals and food products

Cognizant designed a pre-configured, customizable cold chain and asset tracking application, to speed up access to valuable sensor data for timely decision making. They envisioned providing operations, logistics, and supply chain managers with a near real-time view to track perishable and temperature-sensitive goods such as medicines, food and beverages, and agro products. The goal is to track these assets as they move from factory (or field) to storefront, maintain logs, and alert temperature variations to ensure safety and compliance.

Cognizant understands the complexity of building an end-to-end IoT solution using LTE and 5G technology and Azure's reusable platform components. To simplify the project, they selected an IoT platform: the Verizon ThingSpace IoT platform with Verizon Critical Asset Sensor (CAS) devices that seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Azure's IoT Central. This choice enabled them to get to market at a record pace as compared to building the solution from scratch.

Cognizant started with Verizon CAS sensors. These Cat-M1, low-cost, long-life sensors were perfect for measuring temperatures within boxes or pallets and reporting location data. The sensors automatically connect directly to the Azure Cloud through Verizon 5G/LTE networks, simplifying configuration and avoiding the need for an external in-vehicle or in-vessel gateways. Cognizant used an Azure IoT Central pre-built application template to develop their cold chain management solution, including analytics and dashboards. For the end-user experience, the built-in visualization features and reporting functions, as well as standard APIs for security protection.

As 5G infrastructure comes online, the 4G/LTE sensors and hardware can be updated via firmware to take advantage of the latest network capabilities. As Verizon launches an upgraded version of sensors, from CAS to GAT (global asset tracker) with worldwide cellular coverage, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth support, Cognizant is working on advancing the development of its solution accelerator with inclusion of more personas, reports, and enterprise integrations.

Case 2: Business-critical applications

5G offers ultra-reliable low latency that enables precision business-critical use cases where safety is top priority. Low latency networks are ideal for command and control of automated guided vehicles (AGV) in a warehouse, real-time communication between robots in a smart factory, and live video with artificial intelligence for quality control.

The benefits of using 5G

5G connectivity is the best choice in this use case because, when combined with an Azure cloud connection, it offers more bandwidth, more stability, and very low latency compared to Wi-Fi options.

Reducing fulfillment warehouse space needs

A Canadian manufacturer of robotic supply chain solutions worked with a Canadian wireless network operator to build a 3D robotics fulfillment solution using a private cellular network optimized for low latency. The solution uses Microsoft’s edge computingAzure Stack Edgealong with Azure Edge Zones to create the IoT solution on a private LTE network.

The company's unique fulfillment automation technology condenses rows and aisles of warehouse shelves into single, vertical storage structures. Fleets of robotic shuttles move horizontally and vertically along the X, Y, and Z axes within these structures, retrieving goods and delivering them to the perimeter, where workers pick, pack, and ship them. The company asserts that its modular all-in-one supply chain product can reduce a retailer's required warehouse space needs by 85 percent.

Case 3: Connecting brownfield equipment

The third IoT use case is directly connecting an asset to the cloud with 5G. Enterprises can turn assets in restaurants, cafes, and buildings into smart devices to improve operations reliably and easily.

The benefits of using 5G

By starting with 4G LTE and then moving to 5G, organizations in over 200 countries and territories can now connect their various devices directly to their own cloud network to securely manage and monitor them remotely. Selecting a direct cellular connection to the cloud bypasses the need for Wi-Fi and enables device connection in remote areas without Wi-Fi access. Finally, this approach enables mobile devices to roam without the need to disconnect and re-pair to multiple Wi-Fi networks.

Predictive maintenance for coffeehouse assets

A large chain of coffeehouses implemented a predictive maintenance solution for its coffee machines, grinders, and blenders using IoT. Each store had more than a dozen pieces of equipment that needed to be operational 16 hours each day.

To reduce disruptions due to equipment downtime and to securely connect its devices in the cloud, the coffeehouse chain deployed an AT&T integrated IoT solution. An Azure Sphere guardian module was attached to each asset. From there data traveled through Azure Sphere via a cellular connection to Azure.

The solution securely aggregates data and proactively identifies problems with the machines. The overarching goal with Azure Sphere is to shift from reactive maintenance to a predictive approach that heads off issues proactively.

Wrap up

5G opens the doors for new enterprise IoT use cases. We are seeing telecom operators capitalize on new service opportunities enabled by 5G with market-ready IoT platforms. These platforms reduce the complexity of 5G for solution builders.

Learn how Microsoft is enabling telecom operators to deliver IoT solutions with 5G.

Learn more about Intelligent Telecommunications to see how Microsoft and our extensive ecosystem of industry-leading partners have enabled transformational business outcomes for the likes of Vodafone, Telstra, du, Telia, and Deutsche Telekom.

The post Top use cases for IoT-enabled by 5G appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

TM Forum's Catalyst program is always fertile ground for innovation and collaboration across the telecommunications solution and service provider ecosystem. The telco team at Microsoft is participating in four of the latest Catalyst projects that address a diverse set of compelling topics: an enhanced developer experience, gamified customer journeys through a dynamic partner ecosystem and marketplace, the acceleration of 5G site deployment and optimization during the rollout process, and municipal network 5G application requirements.

As described by TM Forum, Catalysts are rapid-fire proof-of-concept projects that bring together diverse groups of TM Forum members to innovate solutions to common challenges, leveraging key TM Forum best practices and standards to ensure scalability, reuse, and reduced costs and risk. Catalysts bring best practices and standards from collaboration programs to life in real-world scenarios to prove the value of these assets. The outputs of a Catalyst project include white papers, case studies, best practices, lessons learned, API specifications, models, frameworks, and reference code.

Organizations can have two distinct roles within a Catalyst:

• Champions, who define the problem statement to be solved
• Participants, who develop the solution in accordance with the Champions' specifications

Here are the four Catalysts that Microsoft is currently contributing to, with descriptions of each project drawn from the overview pages you can visit at the links below.

Developer is king!

Champions: Globe Telecom, KDDI Research

In this Catalyst project, the perspective is shifted to the developers, who operators depend on to provide compelling applications for their customers. By addressing the needs of the developer ecosystem, including APIs, infrastructure, and business models, operators will benefit from a tremendous reduction in time-to-market and cost to introduce new applications. Further, operators could also attract developers to co-create compelling applications that are easily portable. This is particularly beneficial for operators who are running business operations in multiple geographies.

Ready Telco One: Gamified customer journeys enabled by a dynamic partner ecosystem and marketplace

Champions: KDDI Research, Ncell, Orange (Poland)

This Catalyst project demonstrates how communications service providers (CSPs) can continuously adapt offers to match the ever-changing services that consumers use daily. It shows how CSPs can become an integral part of their customers' lifestyles, creating new revenue opportunities and benefiting from the rapid evolution of service verticals.

An Engagement Marketplace provides a platform to create dynamic, contextual service offers, enabling CSPs to combine 3rd party partner products and services with their own into versatile bundles that can be enriched with 5G network capabilities. Targeting and customer outreach is driven by AI-tools, giving CSPs and partners optimal and effective engagement with the customer base, taking into consideration audience profiles and contextual data including usage and channel interactions. A game-style user experience incites customers to unlock premium services and discounts, and improve their loyalty status, whilst experiencing an optimized AI-driven customer journey that continuously moves from phase to phase and from one outcome to the next.

Time crunching 5G RAN rollout with AI

Champion: Claro Columbia

5G presents new challenges for network executives (CTIOs, CTOs, engineering directors and managers) who will need to at least double capacity compared to 4G due to the cell densification required to reach coverage and market needs. Today's roll-out methodologies frequently rely on manual processes, email-based communication, and isolated office tools. Digital solutions are required to accelerate efficient deployment, reduce CapEx, and avoid issues such as time-consuming meetings, repeated site visits, and the lack of clear, real-time oversight.

This Catalyst addresses four key use cases to address these challenges:

1. Speed up site survey processes and automate network inventory resource reservation using mobile apps and images.
2. Deploy augmented reality, machine learning, and analytics for image interpretation to accelerate site verification during the installation process, thereby reducing costs and repeated work.
3. Implement robotic process automation (RPA), big data, and analytics to support closed-loop "over the air" processes, reducing manual work and time.
4. Combine self-organizing networks (SON), single-site verification tools, machine learning, big data, and analytics to speed up the initial cluster tuning phase.

Smart networks for smart cities

Champion: City of Dublin, Ohio, USA

Cities that want to transform their digital future can't justify the cost and disruption of replicating or modifying resources each time they deploy a new network solution. Existing networks typically don't support the new requirements for high-bandwidth, ultra-reliable, and latency-sensitive use cases. Smart cities need agile networks capable of rapidly integrating new services with minimal operational complexity.

The smart networks for smart cities Catalyst demonstrates true digital transformation through an open network architecture with TM Forum APIs and an ecosystem of partners to deliver autonomous networking in an end-to-end connectivity service. It showcases an open IoT framework, virtualized applications, automated operations and orchestration between multiple resource domains. By supporting new 5G use cases, cities will enable better citizen services and economic opportunities for cities and new revenue opportunities for CSPs.

You can also register to watch live and on-demand presentations and demos of these and all other current Catalysts at the Catalyst Digital Showcase. The Showcase is a great way to learn more about these projects and to engage directly with the teams who worked together to bring these innovative new solutions and capabilities to bear.

Most importantly, we are always seeking to improve and develop more impactful Catalysts. So, if you do visit the Showcase, be sure to submit your vote for the TM Forum Digital Showcase Award (a.k.a., The People's Choice). You can also provide feedback on the Surveys page at the Digital Showcase, and via the Survey links on the individual Catalyst pages.

Learn more about Intelligent Telecommunications to see how Microsoft and our extensive ecosystem of industry-leading partners have enabled transformational business outcomes for the likes of Vodafone, Telstra, du, Telia, and Deutsche Telekom.

The post 4 TM Forum Catalysts that are accelerating innovation appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Cloudonomics? What's that? Good questionIn the telecommunications world, the most obvious definition comes from the savings obtained by moving network and IT stacks to the cloud. As for the numbers involved, it really depends on who you talk to. But one thing they have in common is scale. A figure of 80 percent CapEx saving is often used and one telco CTO I spoke to said they would definitely save over 50 percent of CapEx by moving just their IT stack to the cloud. Either way, the savings are huge.

But Cloudonomics is more than CapEx savings. It’s the operational savings that are made by leaping off the continuous hardware and software upgrade roundabout. The time saved by having systems built with the principle of configuration over customization. The additional revenue that will be earned by having a faster time-to-market and getting new, more responsive offers out quicker than the competition. Cloudonomics defines the business case that is driving the emergence of the cloud-based telco.

This new approach is, without a shadow of a doubt, already shaking up the traditional telco business model. In reducing network and IT costs by running open cloud-based systems, new market entrants can undercut established competitors by passing a percentage of the savings onto customers. Some established players have already embarked on a total overhaul of their legacy systems, triggered by the arrival of a very distinct inflection pointthat of 5G. These telcos are step-changing their business support systems (BSS) to be able to compete with the new entrants and also put them in a strong partnership position with some of the internet companies whose content and services have driven internet usage.

As broadband and 4G accelerated the move towards the app-based digital economy, 5G is taking the transformation of telecoms to the next level. We are now in the era of the cloud-based telecoms operator where open, agile systems are the foundation on which all services are built and deployed.

As can be seen in figure 1 below, cloud-native IT is the central foundation to help enable the transformation from traditional service provider to becoming a digital service provider. The diagram was published by the TM Forum and was published in their white paper, "A future vision for the software market that the telecom industry needs to survive and thrive" from June 2020. This paper was supported by leading service providers such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Globe, Orange, and Telefonica. In other words, this is the view of the industry of how IT stacks must evolve.

Figure 1: Architectural transformation from CSP to DSP. Source TM Forum, May 2020

However, it's worth pointing out the results of a survey TM Forum carried out with service providers in late 2019 and early 2020, about the status of digital transformation projects. As can be seen in figure 2 below, nearly one-quarter of service provider respondents to TM Forum's Digital Transformation Tracker 4 survey said they are still in the planning stage of transformation, and 42 percent are just getting started. Ever since this survey series started in 2017, virtually all service providers have said that digital transformation is key to their business. There is clearly a large opportunity for service providers to accelerate digital transformation by running streamlined BSS in the cloud and move to the next level of digital transformation to become a cloud-based telco.

Figure 2: Status of Digital Transformation in service providers. Source TM Forum 2020

The streamlined BSS underpinning the successful cloud-based telco ensures management and monetization for all services, in as an efficient and easy manner as possible. The old approach of getting the software vendor to change code when an operator wanted to develop a new service isn't even up for consideration anymore. With 5G, operators need to be able to take the approach that they can 'monetize anything' and they need to be able to do it quickly and cost-efficiently. Any service that can be delivered over a 5G network can be monetized by the operator. This goes way beyond selling connectivity and charging for MBs of data.

With 5G, operators have a set of aces that were not available in previous generations. Operators can control the quality and segmentation (or 'slicing') of the network for delivery of different types of service. With 3G and 4G there was a, perhaps cynical, view that operators were dumb wireless pipes for the internet companies to sell and deliver their services over. With 5G, the tables could be set to turn. Operators have the potential to shift the business and technical structures from delivering dumb pipes to establishing '5G as a platform'. This positional change would permit the telco to establish the strongest position in the 5G value chain. With 5G network slicing operators can apply different Quality of Service (QoS) models for different services. This is a game-changer for operators, especially in the lucrative, highly-varied, and relatively untapped enterprise market. This is where operators see the main 5G opportunity.

A recent study by leading telecoms analyst firm, Omdia, showed that almost 73 percent of telecoms operators believe that most 5G revenues will be derived from B2B, B2B2C, and Government/smart cities opportunities. Fair enough, but what can operators sell these enterprises and, more importantly, what and how do the enterprises want to buy? In order to find this out, a leading consulting firm ran a survey of over 800 industrial companies in 2019. This survey showed what enterprises want from 5G is guaranteed QoS. Many enterprises are undergoing digital transformation themselves, and 67 percent believe that guaranteed 5G QoS is critical for the success of this process. The good news for the telecommunications industry is that the enterprises prepared to pay for it, with 79 percent saying that they would expect to pay a premium for guaranteed 5G QoS.

"Cloud-native, streamlined BSS from industry-leading partners like Openet enables operators to manage 5G QoS, provide enterprise service level agreements, and have different charging rules based on the QoS delivered," says Rick Lievano, Director, WW Media and Communications Industry at Microsoft. Indeed, operators can do this themselves, quickly and easily by changing configuration rules. In fact, the operators can let their partners change these configuration rules as part of a partner ecosystem. As 5G can deliver many, many different types of services, operators are looking to build up cloud-based partner ecosystems. The goal for the telco is to become highly 'magnetic' and simple to sign up partners whose services can be delivered with the required 'on-demand' 5G connectivity. Only in this way can 5G become an integral success factor within Enterprises on a massive scale.

The operators can then sell these highly configurable 5G-based service models from an app-store style enterprise marketplace. Advanced policy and charging rules can be used to manage QoS, network slicing, real-time usage, and pricing of services. Operators become capable of selling hugely valuable service level agreements to enterprise customers. The click, purchase, deploy approach to delivering a range of 5G enabled services, comprising of partners' offers and dynamic 5G connectivity on-demand places the service provider at the center of the 5G enterprise value chain. This is about as far from that dumb pipe model as you can get.

Selling enterprise 5G services with managed QoS and SLAs enabled by network slicing is just one example of how cloud-native, streamlined BSS will help operators take center stage in the 5G value chain and help define a new era of Cloudonomics in telecoms.

"5G and cloud is shaking up the telecoms industry and opening up many new opportunities for operators. However, in order to be able to capitalize on these opportunities, telecoms operators need a smooth, and efficient upgrade path from traditional telco systems and processes. Openet is proud to be enabling operators to upgrade for 5G by delivering streamlined BSS on Microsoft Azure", Niall Norton, CEO, Openet.

The post How Cloudonomics can streamline your business support systems appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Despite lingering CSP hesitancy over cloud migration of corporate IT, OSS/BSS, and network applications, the telecommunications industry decision-makers surveyed and interviewed for a recent TM Forum report were able to provide more reasons for deploying workloads in public clouds than against.

What's more, those surveyed cited a number of specific benefits for deploying these workloads into the cloud that are now even more compelling, if not essential, as telcos retool their organizations for a "new normal" that continues to be defined in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Benefits such as an overall reduction in operating expenses; an accelerated time to market by speeding service design, testing, and deployment; streamlined operational workflows through intelligent processes and automation; and a reduction in the time it takes to perform network maintenance and upgrades.

The bottom line is telecommunications organizations now have no choice but to more aggressively drive their digitization efforts forward. Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business reengineering services and solutions, is partnering with Microsoft to accelerate the digitization of telco to streamline business workflows, improve responsiveness, realize business efficiencies, and accelerate time-to-market of innovative new services through automated processes, agile solutions, and the scale of the cloud.

"Tech Mahindra excels in the design, development, and deployment of an operational-ready public and private cloud platform upon which telecommunications organizations can build their business processes and networks of the future," says Bob De Haven, General Manager, Media & Communications at Microsoft. Indeed, Tech Mahindra is laser-focused on helping telcos innovate across their entire business, including:

• New operating models to enable seamless remote/virtual collaboration and productivity across all lines of businessmost importantly for customer-facing teams such as contact centers and field service.
• An intelligent cloud-based infrastructure with the scale to extend the power of OSS/BSS, reduce operational costs, and speed new service design, testing, and deployment fueled by automated processes and data-driven insights.
• Network technologies to capitalize on new industry-specific service opportunities enabled by 5G such as smart factories, retail operations, digital health, connected vehicles, and gaming.

Microsoft empowers telecommunications companies to achieve more through a trusted and secure platform supported by a global partner ecosystem with industry-leading solutions for collaboration and productivity, streamlined business operations, network optimization, marketplace insights, personalized customer experiences, and service innovation. And as recently announced, carriers, operators, and networking providers can build 5G-optimized services and applications for their partners and customers with Azure Edge Zones, taking advantage of Azure compute, storage, networking, and AI capabilities. For organizations that want an on-premises, private mobile solution, partners and carriers can deploy, manage, and build offers with Azure Private Edge Zonesa private 5G/LTE network combined with Azure Stack Edge on-premises delivering an ultra-low latency, secure, and high bandwidth solution.

Nowhere is the Tech Mahindra and Microsoft partnership more evident than in our combined work with AT&T. In July of last year, AT&T and Microsoft embarked on an extensive, multi-year alliance where the two companies will apply technologies, including cloud, AI, and 5G, to improve how people live and work today and in the future. An update was shared in late November on the first wave of innovation since this alliance was announced.

On a similar timeline, Tech Mahindra expanded its strategic collaboration with AT&T to accelerate their IT network application, shared systems modernization, and movement to the cloud. Under this multi-year agreement, Tech Mahindra will assume management of many the applications which support AT&T's network and shared systems which will enable AT&T to focus on core objectives including having the most advanced software-defined 5G network, and the migration of the majority of its non-network workloads to the public cloud by 2024with Microsoft as AT&T's preferred cloud provider.

"Cloud has always been at the center of Tech Mahindra's business strategy," says Manish Vyas, President of Communication, Media & Entertainment Business and CEO of Network Business at Tech Mahindra. "Our focused strategy is to increase velocity to the digitization programs of telco operators while significantly reducing overall TCO in their journey towards 5G. We are in a unique position to leverage Tech Mahindra's strong IP's and vast experience of supporting CSP'scoupled with compelling products and Azure cloud from Microsoftto automate and transform the business processes and networks of our telco customers within the next few years. We have recently acquired Zen3 and are excited to take Zen3's offerings in Azure cloud and Azure Cognitive Services to CSP's to build great solutions and support their cloud digitization efforts."

Learn more about Intelligent Telecommunications to see how the capabilities of Microsoft and our partners have enabled transformational business outcomes for the likes of Vodafone, Telstra, du, Telia, and Deutsche Telekom.

The post Accelerating the digitization of telecommunications appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

We have heard from many of our Telecommunications customers around the world regarding the significant challenges of the momentin particular regarding the ongoing collaboration and productivity needs of your technical and business operations teams and maintaining the performance and security of your network infrastructure.

To that end, I wanted to share key resources, solutions, and best practices to address some of the immediate priorities and needs of Telecommunications organizations.

To help you focus on the health and well-being of your employees and access the most current data, situation reports, and analysis:

• You can leverage this CrisisCommunicationApp with steps to quickly build and implement an app for your organization to coordinate information-sharing and collaboration in response to evolving conditions.
• Use the Bing CoronavirusTracker to monitor and share the latest fact-based information, statistics, and news on the current state of the virus.

To enable remote collaboration and productivity, for the C-suite and all employees:

• Your network and business operations teams are no doubt geographically dispersed, and those resources are likely now even more separated due to work-from-home requirements. What's more, productivity and information-sharing within your field service organization has never been more important. Microsoft Teams allows your employees to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, across multiple devices, no matter where they are. We've made Microsoft Teams available for free through commercial offerswith Fast Track as a free enablement for configuration and adoption for eligible customers.It's also available through the freemium version.
• We are also working with service providers such as Rogers to accelerate the adoption of remote workplace services and solutions (including a Microsoft Teams offer) by their own customers.
• We have compiled expertise and guidance to optimize remote work environments from our first-hand experience over the last few weeks.
• We are also sharing the comprehensive work-from-home guide we created for our employees, which you can tailor for your own organization.
• Get connected with our Enabling Remote Work community to stay up-to-date on best practice sharing for all employees.
• Microsoft Stores are ready to train you and your employees. Leverage our global Store teams to virtually deliver tailored training across key Microsoft workloads. Reach out to your AE or Customer Success Manager to schedule a training.

For enhanced privacy and security due to the increase in remote workers:

• To support remote and mobile workers with enhanced security considerations, such as your network and field service teams, Windows Virtual Desktopprovides a comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service running in the cloud, with built-in security and compliance features.
• Threats to data and network security are elevated due to the increase in information sharing and remote access by at-home and mobile workers, and Azure Sentinel makes threat detection and response smarter and faster with AI.
• As Telecommunications teams of every type are adjusting to full-time remote collaboration, here is advice for CISOs on keeping organizations secure.

As we continue to work on additional solutions, services, and support for Media & Entertainment organizations, you can find the latest information, updates, and resources from Microsoft here: Responding to COVID-19 together.

Also, for an update directly from Microsoft's CEO,Satya Nadella, read the recent post on LinkedIn with his current perspective and more on how Microsoft is working to support employees, customers, partners, and communities.

The post Addressing the immediate priorities of telecommunications organizations appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

A recent report from TM Forum looked at Communications Service Providers' (CSP) strategies to move corporate IT, OSS/BSS, and network applications to the cloud.

Notably, and despite lingering CSP hesitancy over cloud migration of (in particular) operations software, those surveyed and interviewed for this report were able to cite more reasons for deploying workloads in public clouds than against. The report cites the acknowledged benefits of the public cloud for CSPs as:

• Scalabilityparticularly the ability to scale on demand, which lies at the heart of CSPs' eorts to automate operations and optimize networks for real-time response and reporting.
• Total cost of ownershipwith the amount of savings likely to depend on the level of managed services provided and the complexity and size of the network.
• Time to marketCSPs believe the cloud will help level the playing eld with internet-based companies by speeding service design, testing, and deployment.
• Automationthe top attribute CSPs are looking for in next-generation OSS and BSS solutions.
• Predictive maintenancecloud deployments, especially managed services, could allow CSP's to perform maintenance tasks without taking components out of service.
• Expertiselet the experts handle the unfamiliar language, components, technologies, and culture of cloud networking.

As also noted in the report, last summer's announcement of the AT&T and Microsoft alliance, which will move all of AT&T's non-network workloads to the Microsoft Azure public cloud, will no doubt accelerate other operators' cloud adoptionnot only for the benefit of their own operations but also at a time when investments in OSS and BSS should be on the rise to capitalize on enterprise service opportunities enabled by 5G.

Speculation regarding the likely influence of the AT&T/Microsoft alliance has indeed come to pass, as evidenced by announcements of additional partnerships between Microsoft and a number of other leading MSPs including Telefnica, SK Telecom, Reliance Jio, NTT, and Etisalat.

The report also examines the difference between cloud-native, public cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud. From the beginning of Microsoft's journey into cloud, we have been a leading voice in the importance of building cloud capabilities that span all clouds, including those on-premises or on any public cloud provider. Hybrid has always been part of our message, culminating most recently in our extensive suite of intelligent edge capabilities to enable Azure cloud services to run where they make the most sense. Finally, CSPs can dramatically simplify and centralize their IT control plane with Azure Arc, a set of technologies that unlocks new hybrid scenarios for customers by bringing Azure services and management to any infrastructure.

Most recently, Microsoft and Telefnica announced an expansion of our global strategic partnership. Joint capabilities, delivered from a Microsoft Azure datacenter region in Spain and leveraging Telefnica's infrastructure, will allow Telefnica and Microsoft's shared customers to deliver new services that require low latency, security, and assured bandwidthopening up new scenarios around 5G, edge computing, and Industry 4.0.

Also, as part of Telefnica's own digital transformation, the company will use the Microsoft cloud for its internal operations, pursuing efficiency, flexibility and scalability improvements, optimization of operations, and cost reductions. Telefnica has also deployed Microsoft 365 to its global employee base to enable more seamless communication and collaboration across the 14 countries in which it operates.

Microsoft empowers telecommunications organizations by providing a trusted and secure platform supported by a comprehensive partner ecosystem with industry-leading solutions for deeper insights, personalized experiences, agile operations, and accelerated business growth.

Learn more about Microsoft for Telecommunications to see how the capabilities of our solutions have enabled transformational business outcomes for the likes of Vodafone, Telstra, Telia, and Deutsche Telekom.

The post The state of Communications Service Providers and the cloud appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

The near-term priorities of most telecommunications business leaders often include:

• Improving customer service to address the ever-increasing expectations of the modern consumer
• Driving new business models to respond to both new competitive threats and the erosion of legacy revenue streams
• Reducing the cost and complexity of operations to improve network efficiency and support the rapid introduction of new services

Through an intelligent cloud built on a trusted and highly secure platform, telecommunications organizations can address these priorities and achieve better customer experiences that reduce churn and drive loyalty, streamline operations with improved network reliability and efficiency, and gain deeper insights to capitalize on emerging business opportunities and unlock new revenue streams.

Three ways to achieve more

Deliver personalized experiences

Give your employees a 360-degree, cross-channel view of the customer with real-time operational data. This will help them to make proactive decisions and deliver a consistent customer experience. By using predictive analytics, you can connect your customers with relevant products and services. Augmenting customer service with AI and chatbots will deliver better service, organization, responsiveness, and productivity and enable collaboration to flow more securely across multiple roles and teams including employees, suppliers, and partners.

Provide agile operations

Rapidly support new services while increasing network scalability, efficiency, and reliability on an intelligent digital platform. The cloud allows you to scale and leverage advanced analytics to drive down costs and avoid service disruptions while quickly replicating products and services. Democratizing technologies such as network edge compute (NEC), mobile edge computing (MEC), and the Internet of Things (IoT) allows you to deliver new service innovation and increase productivity while lowering operational costs and empowering field technicians with next-generation field services.

Accelerate innovation and growth

Know your customers, create new and exciting telecommunications services, and go to market faster with what your customers really want. By providing marketing services and product development with predictive and accurate real-time insights, you can better understand your customers and create new revenue lines to compete, cross-sell, and up-sell. Innovative ideas for monetization and over-the-top partnerships will also help to create an open platform offering rich, new services across your customer segments.

Microsoft empowers telecommunications organizations to achieve these transformational outcomes by providing a trusted and secure platform supported by a comprehensive partner ecosystem and industry-leading solutions that deliver deeper insights, personalized experiences, agile operations, and accelerated business growth.

Learn more about intelligent telecommunications and see how the capabilities of Microsoft solutions have enabled transformational business outcomes for Telefonica, Vodafone, Telstra, Telia, and Deutsche Telekom.

The post 3 ways to achieve more with Microsoft intelligent telecommunications appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.