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Radwan Moussalli is Senior Vice President for Middle East , Central Asia and Africa at Tata Communications . challenge and help these digital explorers accelerate their journey towards greater digitisation . Only through becoming real partners for these organisations , can service providers ensure that they will not get relegated to the role of a traditional A-to-B connectivity provider in an increasingly commoditised market . They need to bridge the gap between their old priorities and what their local enterprise customers want and need .
In a global survey commissioned by Tata Communications , we found that African service providers and enterprises do not always see eye-to-eye in terms of priorities . Around 40 % of enterprises say that cloud is their major area of focus at present , while only 10 % of service providers rank developing their own cloud services at the top of their list of priorities . More than a quarter 29 %, of enterprises say that managing multiple service providers is a significant challenge , yet only 10 % of service providers recognise this .
On the other hand , 40 % of service providers are focusing on enhancing their offering through solutions such as software defined networking and network functions virtualisation . But , just a quarter 23 % of African enterprises see these technologies as a current priority .
To ensure that the solutions that service providers offer are better aligned with their customers ’ requirements , they need to look again at their strategy , and become more flexible and agile . For example , enterprises want to manage fewer service provider relationships . That means service providers need to extend their reach and expand their service portfolios .
Enterprises want cloud services spanning storage , compute , unified communication , and cloud connectivity . They need a service provider that can take a consultative approach to enable them to capitalise on the many opportunities that the cloud can bring .
Crucially , enterprises want transformation to happen quickly . But , the breakneck speed of technology innovation means that the latest technology advancements represent uncharted territory for not only many enterprises , but many service providers too .
That is why I believe that , in order for service providers to be able to shape the future of their enterprise customers through digital transformation , they should look for strategic partnerships . Partnering with other likeminded service providers enables them to bridge the gap between their current offering and emerging demands of enterprises .
The right partnerships will enable service providers in Africa and beyond to embrace the role of a guide for digital explorers , and drive their growth in today ’ s rapidly evolving telecoms market .
Service providers need to offer partner led solutions , Tata Communications survey
A global study commissioned by Tata Communications reveals that the solutions that network service providers offer do not always meet the expectations of enterprises , who rank security 52 %, cloud 43 % and mobility 32 % as their top technology priorities . Conducted by IDC amongst enterprises and service providers across 32 countries in Africa , Americas , Asia Pacific , Europe and Middle East and North Africa , the research also shows that enterprises see partnerships as key in their decision making process , indicating that by finding the right partners , service providers could win more business from this market segment .
The global study shows that enterprises consider service providers best equipped to increasing their network capacity or reach 73 %, or delivering hybrid networking 66 % services , while around half 48 % of enterprises feel that their network service provider is best suited to address their cloud needs . Approximately a third 31 % of enterprises feel that having access to cloud services developed by their service provider would help support them better on their cloud journey .
Around three-quarters 76 % of service providers think that supporting employee mobility is key for enterprise unified communication and collaboration strategy , yet only a quarter 26 % of enterprises rank this as a top priority . While more than a quarter 27 % of enterprises cite lack of employee readiness as a barrier for unified communication and collaboration adoption , the service providers surveyed do not see this as an issue for their customers .
The research suggests that close to a half 41 % of service providers do not have a definite stance on partnering . In contrast , more than half 57 % of enterprises say that when choosing a service provider , it is important that they find the right partners to fill gaps in their offering or extend their reach . Additionally , service providers overestimate the importance of reputation in enterprise decision making by a third 30 %.
Despite the rapid growth in enterprise demand for cloud based services and ecosystems globally , service providers are putting less priority on cloud and hybrid networking than enterprises are . 43 % of enterprises put cloud services in their top 3 technology initiatives but only 24 % of service providers put cloud services in their top 3 portfolio priorities .
Service providers are underestimating their role in the cloud ecosystem as well as demand from their customer base , especially when cloud demand is spread evenly around the world . The Americas , Europe , MENA , Africa and APAC all rank cloud as a top three priority .
There is an opportunity for service providers to pivot towards serving an increasing number of cloud needs of their enterprise customers and position themselves as key players in cloud enablement . The challenge for service providers is to find an efficient way to grow their presence in the market and deliver reliable services both locally and globally . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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