There is also the issue of revenue projections. Convergys’ own projections put monthly revenues per unit at a tenth to a twentieth of conventional services. M2M systems will need to be supported by highly automated provisioning, billing, and support systems. These must be able to scale to millions, if not billions, of transactions monthly across a widely versatile customer base to ensure profitability.
Despite M2M still being in its infancy in Asia, two key drivers have emerged for its future. First, it is likely that M2M will not rely on short-term customers, as operators have experienced with their retail clients.
M2M requires long-term enterprise customers. If operators fail to negotiate contracts and partnerships now, they will miss out on profitability five years down to the line to those who were proactive in building relations across the complex value chain.
Second, whether in a mature or developing telco market, it is vital to keep M2M as a separate business model with a distinct support infrastructure and with a dedicated BSS and billing system. The number of partners and enterprise customers, not to mention the consumers at the front end, makes for a highly complicated, potentially regional ecosystem.
Aside from planning ahead, operators must have the knowledge and experience of relevant management systems by partnering with specialists in the M2M space who can provide technical and dedicated infrastructure and tools. They can ensure their venture into M2M drives revenues, but also maintains the customer experience for enterprises.
Tony Jackson is director for telecoms solutions at Convergys, For more information go to www.convergys.com/