In the year 2023, the global IT spending in the field of telecommunications was expected to reach about 1.5 trillion US dollars. This increasingly commoditised investment is pouring significant resources in the tech solutions that enable the high end ability for business innovation and expansion. One of the major expenses in this field is the Business Support System or BSS.
The IT industry has embraced the digital transformation long ago. All the steps are taken to lower the operational cost, increase the operational efficiency and also bring new avenues for growth. In this post you will know more about digital BSS and what to consider before choosing one.
What Is Digital BSS And Why Is It Important?
The digital Business Support System is the software platform that is used by the telecommunications and digital service providers to manage different aspects of business. The digital BSS encompasses a wide range of functionalities that are designed to streamline the process, reduce the operational cost and also bring new revenues.
Though the traditional telecommunication service is becoming a commodity, the digital BSS solution is serving as one of the major vehicles for innovation. It helps the CSPs to bring about new revenue channels with high agility. It also plays an important role to empower the operators for delivering and monetising the digital services across various channels. It also helps in meeting users where they are. The most important is, the digital BSS telecom allows the operators to provide the users with what they expect.
Now, the question is, how will you choose the best provider for BSS. Choosing the right digital BSS provider is very crucial for the success of telecom operators, enterprises and for the providers. With so many options available, taking an informed decision can be too difficult. However, taking the right approach, you can navigate through the various choices and find out the perfect fit.
1. Defining The Requirements
Before you start the journey to choose the digital BSS provider, it is very crucial to define the requirements and outcome that you need. Assess your current business model, find out the pain points and also determine the specific functionalities. All these will indicate what type of digital BSS solution you want. Whether it is all about billing, customer management or order management or even the central data hub, you need to have a clear understanding of all your needs that will help to streamline the selection process.
2. Consider The BSS Vendor Track Record
When choosing the digital BSS platform, you need to check the credibility. You need to find out the vendors that have a proven track record of delivering the best outcome to the client. You need to check the customer testimonials, case studies and also the industry awards to measure the vendor’s reputation in the given market.
3. Consider The Scalability And Flexibility
In today’s modern world of technological change, scalability and flexibility are always non-negotiable. You need to choose the BSS provider that provides a scalable solution that is capable to accommodate the business growth and also bring about new trends in the long run. Apart from this, ensure that the platform is highly flexible to adapt to the dynamic market circumstances and technological advancements.
4. Optimal security and compliance
With the increasing prevalence in the field of cyber threat and data breaches, security is considered as the top priority when you choose the best digital BSS offerings. Choose the vendor that fulfils the industry best practices; comply with the regulations like GDPR, HIPAA and PCI DSS that has the relevant ISO certifications.
5. Choose between Cloud Native or Cloud Based
One of the important questions you can ask to the BSS provider is whether to find out the Cloud Native or the Cloud Based. Knowing the difference is also crucial before picking the best. The cloud based solutions are the applications that are designed to run on local servers or on the personal computers that are later moved to the cloud. On the other hand, the cloud-native BSS offering provides a lot more. They are made in the cloud and are designed for the public cloud environments.
6. Follow The Industry Trends
You have to stay ahead of the competition by choosing the best type of BSS provider that works on the latest innovation and follow industry trends. You need to find out the vendors that invest in research and development like AI, machine learning and block chain.
Choosing the right BSS solution needs to have careful consideration and depend upon lots of factors like functionality and scalability. You need to understand your needs and also check the experience level of the vendor to pick the best BSS platform.
Both B2B and B2C business owners experience the benefits of the BSS platform. A modern BSS solution allows the business providers to streamline the operation and improve efficiency. Next time, make sure to choose the best BSS offerings.
Image: DIW-Aigen