Cost Transformation Feature Editorial

How Can a Robust Partner Ecosystem Contribute to Revenue Generation?

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Any company that operates as an island, blocking off all potential partnerships with other players is likely experiencing stagnant sales and growth or is on the brink of going out of business. In today’s market, partnering with other key players that deliver value to an organization is the only way to drive competitive advantage. When a company leverages the potential of a partner ecosystem, strong revenues can be generated.   

To support this argument, consider the potential in moving from 3G to 4G technology platforms. As operators are making this change, they face uncertain economic conditions as well as necessary deployment costs – enough to make any CFO nervous. They must overcome the nerves, however, as operators need compelling new services that can be quickly deployed across networks, devices and regions as customers will pay for what they demand.   

The good news is that in addition to taking advantage of the growing demand among the consumer base, Long Term Evolution (LTE (News - Alert)) offers an all-IP core and self-optimized radio access network that will significantly reduce operating costs. To get to that point, the operator needs to collaborate across an entire ecosystem. Vendor partners and members of the mobile value chain can assist in developing new services as innovation will be key to growing revenue and increasing market share.   

An ecosystem model that covers multiple industries can provide an open community of members who work together to create a framework for the delivery of timely, ultra-high-bandwidth applications into the marketplace. Members of this ecosystem may include infrastructure vendors, device manufacturers, application developers and even content providers.   

With a diverse ecosystem, the operator can take advantage of expanded business opportunities, and the ability to deliver new revenue streams from disparate partners working together. Operators today can certainly capitalize on the benefits of a low-latency, high-speed wireless network and can also explore their value assets such as brands, networks and a wealth of customer data.   

Such details are important in the development of 4G services such as e-Health, machine-to-machine (M2M), digital signage, in-vehicle entertainment, widget-based applications and other services. Partnerships are already operating within an ecosystem to develop such 4G services and will be much quicker to market than competitors trying to go it alone.   

Successful integrated services that rely on a robust partner ecosystem will meet the needs of consumers today, while also building in capabilities to expand to the needs of the future. Traditional organizations are known to operate slowly, yet ecosystems can help to fund and expedite services development and deployment that are fundamental to success. And, when services are standardized, mass-market adoption is possible and revenues will exceed all expectations.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Harrison