It is very easy to think that a well designed mobile app is all you need to create a digital telco. While it is certainly important, it is far from reality. I often get asked to demonstrate MATRIXX, and this generally takes the form of showing a consumer onboarding experience coupled with a number of use cases such as group sharing, asset exchange, gifting, application passes etc. This customer experience is loved by all. Who doesn’t want one-click purchasing and provisioning? This beautiful digital experience is based on a seamless interaction between a front-end app and a set of complex back-office processes that run in an automated manner with minimum human intervention.
I’ve seen several companies come (and go…), and they all have that look to capture the entire digital flow in the app layer without any direct network integration. Of course, this kind of overlay app is very appealing. Indeed, many operators are seduced by the promise of an instant digital makeover that costs virtually nothing, doesn’t impact current systems and can be live in a few weeks. Sounds impressive – where do I sign?
The issue though with this approach is that because the existing OSS/BSS systems are not touched or replaced, all the clever digital innovation gets pushed into the mobile app layer. It’s like painting racing stripes on an old car, but at the end of the day, it’s still an old car!
For example, to provide an application specific pass, rather than use a network traffic detection function (TDF) or the Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capabilities built into many GGSNs, overlay companies typically take one of two approaches. Either they create a VPN that tunnels all the operator traffic through a cloud detection and control layer, or they rely on logic within the handset to control and monetize the applications used. Scratching under the surface of these approaches quickly uncovers numerous operational challenges:
Amazon is often cited as a digital innovator and their growth has certainly been impressive. What makes them digital? It is the fact that entire end-to-end workflows are re-engineered. For example, their one-click purchase virtually eliminates human intervention except for the delivery driver, and soon even this human contact will probably be replaced as drone technology improves!
The clear point here is that you cannot engineer a digital experience as a veneer on top of existing systems/processes. Ultimately, the user experience will suffer as cracks appear when you increase scale or try to introduce new use cases.
At MATRIXX, we often talk about the importance of the digital path, i.e., what is the route from the source network data through to the end user, and is this path optimized for millions of interactions? Going back to the demo, the message I always try and get across is to think of the problem as an iceberg – the app is purely the visible bit above water. Below the surface, there needs to be a digital architecture capable of driving the clean, simple client experience that everyone expects. This architecture needs to include robust network grade integration that converges circuit and packet switched elements into a single user model that provides profiles, wallets and product offerings which can then be exposed to the user via a clean digital channel.