Looking at operators' most important initiatives, this year's survey results showed a continued focus on service quality, which was No. 1 for the third straight year (see figure 2 to the right). No surprise there, as without quality, there is only one way for the customer experience to head.
'Support for new business models'- added for the first time this year - took the No. 2 position along with network upgrades/convergence (54%). Faster launch of new services was third, with 48% of respondents considering it a high priority.
Whitelock said service quality continues to be a top concern because there are more competitive alternatives and more complex service options available. If service isn's done right and doesn's stay right, customers will find another provider they perceive that does a better job.'
Support for cloud services and social networking oriented services are major drivers for an increased need to address both service quality and support for new business models, he said.
'In a related question, 27% said they were enhancing their OSS/BSS to support cross-industry business models and cloud services. Another 36% were evaluating how to best transform to this way of doing business while 30% were still watching how others were adapting (see figure 3).
Despite the strong momentum toward cloud-based services and storage, security remains a concern for many. A quarter of those polled said they weren's convinced that the data is secure. Another 6% believe that the data would be accessible by anyone who wants it bad enough. Almost 37% felt that cloud-based storage is security but were concerned about access, and 31% indicated data was well-protected and had no worries about unauthorized access.
Whitelock noted that security, reliability and access to any information placed in the cloud external to the customer's physical location would always be a concern. There are advantages and disadvantages to data storage at the physical site or online. For consumers it is a personal choice; for business we believe online storage will become the default standard approach in the future as cloud-based business becomes a significant reality.'
Nearly half (46%) of survey respondents stated they currently have a CEM program or will have one in place within six months, with another 36% investigating the best implementation options. Some 18% indicated they have no plan in place to implement a CEM strategy.