Survey results: Telecoms can monetize Value-Added Services (VAS) for enterprises, but first they need to increase trust in this area

Large enterprises see cloud and unified communications services as a natural extension of telecom operators’ offerings, while infrastructure management, security and data storage are still seen as being too risky to outsource.

Comarch, a global software house and system integrator, today released the results of a survey conducted on large European enterprises that aimed to find out how large companies feel about their telecom operators providing more than just traditional connectivity. The research focused on 101 companies that employ over 500 people and was undertaken by a global communications and media analyst firm, Telesperience. Comarch initiated the survey to discover what enterprises identified as being the most valuable and important services that Communications Service Providers (CSPs) could offer them.  

- The main message to take from this research is that CSPs need to work hard to increase trust amongst the large enterprises that they can provide additional services to, – said Teresa Cottam, Research Director at Telesperience.

Key findings from the Comarch survey Understanding the Needs of Large Enterprises in Europe include:

• The average number of CSPs used by large enterprises is 3.8 – 74% of large enterprises have multiple suppliers so they can have the best quality of service for each service type and not depend on a single supplier.
• 71% would change their CSP to obtain better quality services (while 68% would churn if they found the same service cheaper elsewhere).
• 52% say that the biggest problem in managing multiple communication service providers is having to manage multiple contracts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Trust in a CSP managing an entire IT infrastructure and providing new value-added services is low.
• Around one-third of respondents said they were interested in having their CSP(s) manage their telecoms infrastructure
• but of this group, 96% were also interested in receiving cloud services from their CSPs.
• Most large enterprises identify unified communications services as of great interest to them, and something that is a logical extension of the capabilities of CSPs.

- We have recently been on the receiving end of increased interest in IT solutions that help transform the business and IT side of the enterprise customer segment. Clearly, telecom operators see this area as strategically important, which was one of the main reasons why we decided to commission the survey, – said Malgorzata Siwiec-Polikowska, Marketing Manager at Comarch.

Respondents who took part in the survey were senior staff directly responsible for telecoms and IT purchasing. Respondents’ job titles were variants of CIO, CTO, VP and director of IT. The represented industry verticals included manufacturing, retail, engineering, services and others, employing over 500 people, headquartered in almost 20 European countries.

This survey follows last year’s research conducted for Comarch by Telesperience that aimed at understanding the needs of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and showed little loyalty on the behalf of SMEs towards their CSPs; with 8 out of 10 European SMEs said they planned to change their telecom provider.

About Telesperience
Telesperience is a global communications and media analyst firm, headquartered in the UK, with a focus on how business models, technology and data impacts the operational and commercial performance of Communications Service Providers, as well as the experience they deliver to their customers. Telesperience provides research and consultancy services to a range of industry players including CSPs, VCs, vendors and SIs. In addition to advising on B2C customer solutions, experience in other vertical markets helps the company counsel service providers that are exploring existing and emerging opportunities (e.g. M2M, OTT, verticalization, and partnerships) for both enterprises and Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) in key verticals such as advertising, media, retail, healthcare, automotive, education, financial/banking/insurance, energy, food, government, consumer goods, real estate, pharmaceuticals and biological sciences, and transportation/travel.

More information can be found at: www.telesperience.com