TMForum|May2024

tmforum

knowledge

REPORT

?ndingskillsforthefuture:

insidethetelcotalentrevolution

Author:

DawnBushaus,ContributingAnalyst

Editor:

IanKemp,ManagingEditor

contents

03

thebigpicture

07

section1:whyisradicalculturaltransformationnecessary?

10

section2:whydoCSPsneedtoinsourceskills?

14

section3::whichskillsareCSPsinsourcing?

17

section4:whichskillsarehardesttofind?

21

section5:reskillingandcontinuous

learningarekey

24

section6:howare

telcosreskillingtheiremployees?

27

30

section7:helpingCSPsadditionalfeatures

manageculturalchange&resources

2

thebigpicture

Communicationsserviceproviders(CSPs)areembracingmodern,cloud-nativearchitecturesastheyaimto

becometechcoscapableofengagingeasilywithcustomersandpartnersviadigitalplatforms.It’sclearthatthistransitionrequiresrevolutionaryculturalchangeandtheinsourcingoftalenttofillrolesrangingfromsoftwareandDevOpsengineers,todataanalyticsandAIspecialists,tocybersecurityexperts.Buttheproblemis,everyothercompanyisdesperatefortheseskillstoo.

T

hemagnitudeofthecultural

transformationtelcosare

undergoingcannotbe

overstated.Theyareadopting

cloud-nativearchitecturesand

buildingplatformsnotonlyfor

operationalandbusinesssupportsystems(OSS/BSS)butalsofortheirnetworks.It’sacompletelydifferentwayofworking.

“Wearenotjustinfrontofthe

traditionalevolution…Here,wearedoingsomethingthatistotally

moreholistic,”saysPhilippe

Ensarguet,VPofSoftware

EngineeringatOrange.“It’sabouttheculture,theprocess,the

methodology,thepeopleandthetechnology.Itissomethingthatisabsolutelyglobal.Andbecause

it’sglobal,wecansaythatonly

thecompaniesthatdecidetodothisrevolutionwillhavethefull

benefitsregardingtheirstrategy...Weareinfrontofsomethingthatisvery,verydeep.”

Toaddressawideskillsgap,

CSPsareimplementingtalent

acquisitionprogramstorecruit

thousandsofnewsoftware

engineers,andtheyarepartneringwithuniversitiesandtradeschoolstohirerecentgraduates.But

telcossimplyaren’tasattractive

toyoungerworkerswhoprefertojoinstartupsandtechcosofferingmoreagileanddiverseworkplacesandhighersalaries.

ThismeansCSPsmustalso

acquireskillsbyreskillingandupskillingtheirexisting

employees,andviapartnerships

withsystemsintegratorsandsuppliers.Indeed,ourresearchforthisreportfindsthattheseapproachesareequallyifnotmoreimportantthanhiring.

Themagnitudeoftheculturaltransformationtelcosare

undergoingcannotbeoverstated.

3

thebigpicture

SizeofCSP

17%

25.5%

2%

17%

8.5%

30%

Fewerthan5million

5millionto25million

25millionto50million50millionto100million100millionto150millionMorethan150million

Wherearerespondentsfrom?

NorthAmerica

8%

Asia/AsiaPaci?c

6%

MiddleEastandAfrica

29%

SouthAmerica/Caribbean

6%

u

Global

13%

40

companies

48

respondents

from

57%

IT/Operations

15%

Network

Respondents’roles

17%

Other

(e.g.,projectmanagement,innovation

andstrategy,security)

7%

Enterpriselineofbusiness

4%

HR

TMForum,2024

Toughquestions

Inearly2024,weconducteda

globalsurveyofCSPstofindouthowtheyaresourcingnewskillsandapproachingcultural

transformation.Oneofthemostinterestingbutnotnecessarily

surprisingfindingsishowdifficultitwastogetpeopletotakethesurvey.Wereceivedlessthanhalfthenumberofresponseswe

usuallygettooursurveys,with48peopleparticipating(see

demographicdataabove).

Thetelcoemployeeswhodid

respondareworkinginsenior

rolesincludingCIO,CTOand

CTIO,plus“people-focused”jobslikeTalentAcquisitionSpecialist,DigitalLearningManagerand

PeopleLead.Mostothersare

4

thebigpicture

senior-levelarchitectsand

engineersworkinginITor

networkteams.Inadditiontothesurvey,weconducted

interviewswithadozentelecomsindustryexecutives,mostof

theminleadershiproleswithinCSPorganizations.

Thelikelyreasonforthelow

numberofresponses–aswell

asforsomeoftheexceedingly

positiveresponsestoquestions

aboutculture–isthepersonal

natureofthequestions.Whilewealwaysassuresurveyrespondentsthattheiranswerswillremain

anonymous,withresults

presentedonlyinaggregate,wedorequirethattheyidentify

themselvesandtheircompanies.Thiscanbeintimidatingwhen

questionsaskabouthowdiverseyourcompanyisorwhatyougotoutofareskillingprogram.Simplyput,peopleworryaboutgiving

answersthatcouldimpacttheirjobs–aconcernthatisbecomingevenmorepronouncedas

automationandgenerativeAI(GenAI)threatentoeliminatemanyroles.

Loomingretirementcliff

Anotherinterestingfindingtosetthestageistheageofsurvey

respondents.Wedidnotask

peopledirectlyhowoldtheyare,butwedidaskhowlongthey’vebeenworkingintheindustryandintheircurrentroles.Afull94%ofrespondentshavebeenworkingintelecomsformorethan10years,andaboutthree-quartersformorethan15years–thoughonly6%

havebeenintheircurrentroles

forthatlong(seegraphicsabove).

Aretirementcliffisloomingin

telecomsaspeoplewhohave

skillsinmanaginglegacyIT

systemsandnetworkfunctionsarepreparingtoleavethe

workforce,takingwiththemvastandvitalknowledgeabouthowtelcobusinessesoperate.

Lengthoftimerespondentshaveworkedintelecomsindustry2%2%

73%

21%

2%

Lessthan2years2-5years5-10years10-15yearsMorethan15years

TMForum,2024

Lengthoftimerespondentshavebeenincurrentrole

19%

6%

33%

15%

27%

Lessthan2years2-5years5-10years10-15yearsMorethan15years

TMForum,2024

“It’saliveissuecertainlyforus,”

saidCatherineLeaver,Chief

PeopleOfficeratColtTechnologyServices,speakingonaTMForumHardTalkpanelattheendof

2023.“We’redoingmoreand

moreworkaroundunderstandingourageingworkforce.”This

includesimplementingearly

retirementprogramsthatbenefitworkersandthecompany,sothat

Aretirementcliffisloomingas

peoplewhohaveskillsinmanaginglegacyITsystemsandnetwork

functionsare

preparingtoleavethe

workforce.

theprocessoftransferringskillsandknowledge“ceasestobe

acliffedgeandcanbemore

phasedovertime”,Leaversaid.Insection5ofthereport,we’lllookatsomerecommendationsshehasforhowtomanage

thistransition.

RegistertowatchtheHardTalkdiscussion:

Inwiththenew

Wealsoaskedsurveyrespondentstoestimatehowmanyroleswithintheirorganizationsdidnotexist

fiveyearsago.About30%saidthatatleastaquarterofroles

didnotexist(seegraphiconthenextpage).

Weexpectedevenmore

respondentstoindicatethatahighpercentageofrolesarenew,giventheincreasingfocusoncloud,

softwaredevelopment,DevOps,

5

thebigpicture

Percentageofroles

thatdidnotexist5yearsago

6%

29%

23%

42%

Lessthan10%10-25%

25-50%

Morethan50%

TMForum,2024

GitOpsandAI–allskillsthatare

relativelynewforCSPs.Perhaps

theresponsesreflectthefactthatmostCSPsstartedtheirITcloud

journeysaslongastenyearsago.Itwillbeinterestingtoaska

questionlikethisagaininfive

years’timetofindoutwhatstageweareatintermsofnewjob

creationwithintelcoorganizations.Readthisreporttounderstand:

Whytelcoculturerequiresa

cloud-nativerevolution,and

whyAgile,DevOpsandGitOpsaresoimportant

WhichskillsCSPsare

insourcingandwhy–andwhicharehardesttofind

Whatthedifferenceis

betweeninsourcingand

outsourcing(it’snotas

straightforwardasyoumightthink),andhowCSPs’

relationshipswithsuppliersarechangingbecauseofskills

ThepotentialimpactofAIandautomationonskillsandjobs

Thechangingrelationship

betweenITandnetworksandhowitimpactsskills

Whyreskillingandupskillingareessential

Howsomemajoroperators

areapproachingthetelco-to-techcotransformationfromtheperspectiveofskillsandculture

WhytalentisanimportantnewfocusforTMForum’sOpenDigitalArchitecture.

6

section1:

whyisradicalcultural

transformationnecessary?

Thetransitionfromtelcototechcorequiresreplacingmanualprocessesandsiloedsystemswithcloud-native,AI-basedarchitectures.Indeed,thegoalformostlargeCSPsistotransitiontofullyautonomous,

intent-based

operationsandnetworks

.Thisrequiresmassiveculturaltransformationtobreakdownorganizationalsilosandembracecontinuouschange.

E

nsarguetatOrangesays:“In

thistransformationjourney

fromtelcototechco,the

difficultieswon’tbeonthe

technicalthingsbecausewe

spendourlifeinourengineeringprocessesusingnewservices,newtechnology,newthings.So,fromthetechnologicalstandpointI’m

confident–wealreadymadeitonothertechwaves.

“Butweneedtohaveastrong

rebootaboutthepeoplethatareworkinginthisareabecauseit’sanewwayofthinking,”headds.“It’sanewwayofdesigning.It’sanewwayofdoingthearchitecture…ofdoingthebuild,thedeployment

andoperation.So,thefocusformeonthepeoplesideis

extremelyimportant.”

Specifically,Ensarguetislookingforpeoplewhounderstandthedifferencebetweenwhathe

calls“projectmode”versus“productmode”.

“Aprojectissomethingthathasanend,andaproductis

somethingthatisliving–your

productisgoingtoproduction,”heexplains.So,peopleneedto

understandthatmanaginga

productrequiresseeingitthroughfromdesigntoimplementationtoreceivingcustomerfeedback.

Orangeevencallsitsplatform

models“factories”–forexample,theTelcoCloudFactoryandtheNetworkIntegrationFactory

–becausefactoriesproduce

products.“OrangeTelcoCloudisdesignedlikeaproduct,deployedlikeaproductandoperatedlikeaproduct,”saysEnsarguet.

Dr.LesterThomas,HeadofNewTechnologiesandInnovationatVodafoneGroup,echoesthis.

Adopting

SiteReliability

Engineering

(SRE–seesidebaron

thenextpage)meansthat

previouslyseparaterolesareintegratedbecauseeverything

fromcapturingrequirementstoinstallationandmanagementarepartofthesameprocess.

“Basically,SREsays‘Youbuildit,yourunit’,”Thomasexplains.

“Inawaterfallmodel,someonecapturestherequirements,

someoneelsedoesthedesign,

someoneelsedoesthe

development,andsomeoneelsedoesthetesting.So,youhadthefull,functional[software]monolithbeinghandedovertolotsof

teams,”Thomasadds.“Todayif

yougointotheteamsresponsibleforourdigitalexperience–foracustomerjourney–therearenoseparatestakeholdersbecause

youhaveafullycross-functionalteam,allthewayfromdeliverytooperations…Andwearebuildingthingswhichrunbetterwhen

thereislesshumaninteraction.”

7

section1:Whyisradicalculturaltransformationnecessary?

Agile,DevOps,GitOps:Stepstoembracingacloud-nativeapproach

FormostCSPs,thefirststepsintransitioningtoacloud-nativeapproachareadopting

Agile

methodology,

then

DevOps

and

GitOps

.Eachofthesepracticesrequiresnewthinkingandskills.Oure-book

Mindthegap:

Bridgingtheskillsdivideonthe

journeytocloud-native

explainsthepracticesindetail.Here’sabriefsummary.

Traditional

waterfallproject

management

focusesonalinearprogression,whereonetaskor

processmustbecompleted

beforethenextcanstart.This

approachistime-consumingandcostly,anditstiflesinnovation.It’samajorreasonwhyittypically

takesaCSPmorethanayeartodevelopanewservice.

AdoptingAgilemethodologyfocusesonbuildingcross-

functionalteamstospeed

innovationandservicecreation.

Thisrequiresfindingpeoplewho

havethenewprojectmanagementskillsandareadaptableand

quick-thinking.Agileisn’t

appropriateineverypartofthe

businessorforeveryproject,butitiscriticalformovingtocloud-nativeenvironmentsinnetworksandIT.

DevOpsgoesfurtherby

introducinganend-to-end

softwarelifecyclethatestablishesacontinuousflowofdevelopment,

integration,testing,deliveryanddeployment(CI/CD).Google’s

approachtoDevOps,whichis

called

SiteReliabilityEngineering

(SRE)

,hasbeenwidelyadoptedintelecoms.Itprovidesthe

foundationfor

theOpenDigital

Architecture(ODA)Canvas

,

anditishowmanyCSPsare

implementingDevOps.TheODAisacomponent-basedapproachthatenablestelcostoevolvetoafullyautomated,cloud-nativeoperationsenvironmentthat

reliesonanalyticsandAItodeliverzero-touchservices(seesection7).

ButmostCSPsarenotdevelopingalltheirownsoftware,soit’shard

tocreateCI/CDpipelinesthat

cutacrosstheorganizational

boundariesbetweenCSPsandtheirsuppliers.ThisiswhereGitOps

comesin,allowingCSPstodeploythird-partyapplicationsontheir

ownplatforms.Essentially,GitOpsbecomestheoperationalmodelforarchitecturesbasedontheODA

andautonomousnetworks.

Inoursurveyforthisreport,we

askedrespondentsabouttheir

adoptionofAgile,DevOpsand

GitOpsandfoundstrongadoptionofallthree(seegraphic).Wearenotsurprisedthatafull96%of

respondentssaidtheircompaniesareeitheralreadyadoptingorwilladoptAgileandDevOpspracticesinIT.Wearesurprised,however,atthenumberwhosaytheirnetworkteamsarealreadydoingso.CSPshavebeenmuchslowerto

transformnetworksandOSSthanBSSbecauseofgreatercomplexity

andscale.We’lldiscussthe

changingrelationshipbetweenITandnetworkteamsinsection4.

Readthee-books:

AdoptionofAgile,DevOpsandGitOps

45%47%4%4%

30%51%15%4%

16%33%31%20%

WehaveadoptedwidelyincludinginthenetworkteamWehaveadoptedinITonly

Wehavenotintroducedbutplantodoso

Wehavenotintroducedanddonotplantodoso

TMForum,2024

Agile

DevOps

GitOps

8

section1:Whyisradicalculturaltransformationnecessary?

Howrespondentscharacterizetheircompany’sculture

Mycompanyhasastrongfocusondiversity,equityandinclusion

WeareadoptingAgileandDevOpspracticestosupportourbusinessstrategy

Wehaveprogramsinplacetoattractyoungtalent

Mycompanyrecognizesandnurturestalentabletoaccomplishdigitaltransformation

OurIT,networkandproductdevelopmentteamscommunicateefectivelyandworkwelltogether

Wearemakinggoodprogressinourabilitytomakedecisionsandactmorequickly

Wehavea‘safetofail’cultureacrossthebusiness

Ourcultureisstillbasedontraditionalmanagementhierarchies;attemptstobuilda?atterorganizationhavebeenlargelyunsuccessful

Wehavea‘safetofail’culturebutonlyinIT

83%17%

79%21%

77%

23%

69%31%

68%32%

65%35%

53%47%

50%50%

25%75%

Characterizingculture

Weaskedsurveyrespondentshowtheyviewthecultureoftheircompaniesandfound

reinforcementofthegrowingadoptionofAgileandDevOpspractices(seegraphicabove).Butweweresurprisedattheoverwhelminglypositive

responsesinotherareas,from

the83%whosaidtheircompanies

haveastrongfocusondiversity,equityandinclusion,tomorethanhalfsayingtheyhaveasafe-to-failcultureacrossthebusiness.Thesesentimentsdonotmatchfindingsfromothersurveyssuchas

thoseconductedforourannualDigitalTransformationTracker(DTT)reports.

Forexample,responsesto

questionsaskingaboutcultureinourDTT2andDTT6surveys(conductedin2018and2022,respectively)paintedapicturethatwasdecidedlylessrosy–andonethatwasnotchanging

AgreeDisagree

TMForum,2024

CSPs’pastcharacterizationofculture

Agileanddiverse

Resistanttochange

Hierarchical

21%

11%

32%

29%

53%

50%

20222018

TMForum,2024

quickly.Ineachofthosesurveys,

conductedfouryearsapart,

lessthanaquarterofCSP

respondentscalledtheir

companies“agileanddiverse”.

Andrespondents’

characterizationsoftheir

companiesas“hierarchical”

and“resistanttochange”

trendedupwardsfrom2018to2022.

We’lldiscussdiversitymoreinsection4.Next,welookmorecloselyatwhyCSPsneedtoinsourceskills.

9

section2:

In2021,VodafoneGroupreceivedsignificantpresscoveragewhenit

announced

thatitwasseekingtohire7,000newsoftwareengineers.

Sincethen,manyotherlargeoperatorshavesimilarlyhighlightedthe

needtoinsourceskillsinsoftwareengineeringanddevelopment,

cybersecurity,andAI–evenwhilethey

reduceheadcountsubstantially

inotherareas

(seesidebaronthenextpage).

Ourstrategytodayistomakeaconscious

decisionfor

everythingwedoasto:isthissomethingwherewethinkwecandifferentiateanddriveinnovation.”

Dr.LesterThomas,Vodafone

whydoCSPsneedtoinsourceskills?

T

enyearsago,Vodafonelike

mostotherCSPsoutsourced

allitsOSS/BSS.The

companyemployedprocurementandprojectmanagement

specialistswhoseresponsibilityitwastoimplementthesystemsitacquired.ButVodafonedidno

softwaredevelopmentin-houseuntilitbegantakingstepsto

developitsowndigitalengagementsystems.

“Thethingsthatactuallytouchacustomerarenowallbuiltin-

house–theVodafoneapp,the

Vodafonewebsiteandthe

chatbot,”saysThomas.“Andourstrategytodayistomakea

consciousdecisionforeverythingwedoasto:isthissomething

wherewethinkwecan

differentiateanddriveinnovation,orisitsomethingthatit’sbettertopartneron?”

10

section2:whydoCSPsneedtoinsourceskills?

Balancinginsourcingandemployeeheadcounts

Thedefinitionsofinsourcingandoutsourcingarenotasclear-cutastheymightseemintoday’s

telecomslandscape.

Goingintothisresearch,we

defined“insourcing”typicallyas

thehiringoftalentintoacompanyeitherbyrecruitingpeoplefrom

outsidetobecomefull-time

employeesorbyreskilling/

upskillingpeopletotakeonnewroles.Wedefined“outsourcing”asanycontractwithathirdpartytoacquiretheskillsneeded.

Usingthosedefinitions,the

arrangementsbetweenCSPsandsystemsintegratorswouldbe

consideredoutsourcing.ButCSPsoftenviewthisasaformof

insourcingbecausetheconsultantsbecomelikepartoftheCSPfamily,saysAshishYadav,SeniorDirector,Engineering,atCapgemini.

“Whenourexpertgoesandsits

withthecustomeraspartoftheirteam,thecustomerconsidersthismorelikeinsourcing”sheexplains.“Ouremployeedoesn’tbecome

theiremployee,but[theCSP]

givesthatemployeeabadgeandthatemployeeworkswiththemaspartoftheirteam.”

ManyoftheCSPexecutiveswespokewithagreethatthelinesbetweeninsourcingand

outsourcingareblurring,

especiallyastelcosforgetighterrelationshipswithsuppliers

includinghyperscalers.ConsidertherelationshipbetweenAT&T

andMicrosoft.Whenthe

companies

announcedin2021

thatAT&Twouldmoveits5G

mobilenetworktotheMicrosoftcloudandMicrosoftwould

acquireAT&T’sNetworkCloud

platformtechnology(onwhich

AT&T’s5Gcorenetworkruns),

partofthedealincluded

moving

AT&T’sdevelopmentteamsinto

theMicrosoftorganization

.

Thetablebelowshowsthe

changeinemployeeheadcountat

selectCSPs.Updatedfromour

DTT7report

,itwascompiled

usingdataintheoperators’

annualreports(andinsomecasesdatafromStatista).Whilesome

companieswithoperationsindevelopingcountrieshave

increasedthesizeoftheir

workforcessubstantially,mosttelcoshaveshedasignificantnumberofjobs,oftenquietly.AlthoughsomeCSPsarenow

addingjobsbecausetheyarehiringfornewroles(softwareengineers,forexample),we

expecttheoveralltrendof

job-cuttingtoaccelerateas

CSPsadoptAIandautomation.

NumberofemployeesatselectCSPs

2017

2022

2023

%change2017to2023

導(dǎo)AT&T

254,000

160,700

149,000

-41.3%▽

9airtel

15,000

18,000

21,575

43.8%▲

axlata

27,000

14,341

N/A

-46.9%*▽

106,400

98,400

97,100

-8.7%▽

216,000

211,000

199,652

-7.6%▽

中國(guó)移動(dòng)chinaMobile

464,656

450,698

451,830

-2.8%▽

284,206

280,683

N/A

-1.2%*▽

15,901

17,462

N/A

9.8%*▲

NTT

274,844

333,850

330,000

20.1%▲

152,000

136,000

137,000

-9.9%▽

teenr

31,000

14,000

11,000

-64.5%▽

Telefnica

122,718

101,227

103,638

-15.5%▽

Telstra

32,000

28,889

31,000

-3.1%***▽

59,429

50,392

47,180

-20.6%▽

TElus·

53,630

108,500

106,400

98.4%▲

155,400

117,100

105,400

-32.2%▽

vodafone

**

108,271

102,275

104,000

-3.9%▽

*%changeforAxiata,ChinaTelecomandMTNGroupisfrom2017to2022as2023datawasnotavailableattimeofpublication

**Vodafone’sfiguresincludefull-timeemployeesandcontractors

***Telstra’s2022datawasreportedincorrectlyintheDTT7reportbuthasbeencorrectedhere

TMForum,2024(source:companies’annualreportsandStatista)

11

section2:whydoCSPsneedtoinsourceskills?

Importanceofinsourcingasastrategicfocus

RespondentsfromlargeCSPsRespondentsfromsmallCSPsAllrespondents

78%22%

50%38%12%

58%31%10%

Itisanimportantstrategicfocus

Itisnotanimportantfocusnowbutislikelytobecomeone

Itisnotanimportantfocusnowandisnotlikelytobecomeone

TMForum,2024

Insourcingisapriority

Inoursurvey,weaskedrespondentswhetherinsourcingskillsisapriorityfortheircompanies,whytheyare

insourcingandwhichpartsofthetechstacktheyareseekingto

bringin-house.Theiranswers

demonstratethatinsourcingisbecominganimportantstrategyforCSPslargeandsmall.

Overthepastfewyears,only

thelargesttelcoshavebeen

insourcingskillsbecauseit’scostlytodoso.Forexample,theaveragesalaryofasoftwareengineerin

theUSis$105,459,

accordingto

jobwebsiteIndeed

.And

accordingtoCodeSubmit,aGermantechnicalskills

recruitmentfirm,itcoststypically

between$28,548and$35,685

tohireasoftwaredeveloper.

Oursurveyfoundthatnearly60%

ofrespondentsconsider

insourcinganimportantstrategicfocustoday,andnearlyathird

moresayitwillbecomeimportant.Whenwefilterthisdatabasedoncompanysize,wefindthatboth

largeoperators(morethan100

millionsubscribers)andsmall

operators(fewerthan25millionsubscribers)considerinsourcingtobestrategic(seegraphic

above).Indeed,everyrespondentfromlargeoperatorssaiditis

eitherimportantnoworwillbe.

Driversofinsourcing

Abouttwo-thirdsofrespondentsciteautomationandAI,platform

development,andtheneedto

integratemulti-vendorsolutions,askeyreasonsforinsourcingtalent

(seegraphicbelow).We’lldiscusstheimpactofAIandautomationonskillsinthenextsection;andourrecentBenchmarkreport

BuildinganAIstrategy:telcosput

thefoundationsinplace

looksatCSPs’increasinguseofAI,

includingGenAIandotherlargelanguagemodels(LLMs).

Nearly80%ofrespondentsfromlargeCSPssaidthatplatform

developmentisakeyreasontoinsourcetalent.Thisisnot

CSPs’reasonsforinsourcingtalent

WeneedtoautomateournetworksandITusingAI/ML

Weneedtodevelopplatformstoenable

APIaccesstoournetworkandITassetsWeneedtointegrateandmanagemulti-vendor

technologysolutionsWeneedtomoveapplicationstothecloudandneed

tobeabletointegrateandmanagethemWeneedtodevelopourownOSS/BSSandnetworkapplications

WeneedsoftwareskillsinourproductsandservicesorganizationtodelivernewB2BsolutionsWeneedtocreatecentralizeddataplatformssothatwecanmonetizenetworkandcustomerdataWewanttosellourplatformsolutionstoother

serviceproviders

69%

67%

64%

56%

53%

49%

42%

31%

TMForum,2024

12

section2:whydoCSPsneedtoinsourceskills?

surprising,giventhatmostofthecompaniesrepresentedinthe

surveyareTMForummembers.Forthepastdecade,CSPsandtheirsuppliershavebeen

collaboratingtodevelopOpenAPIsandtheODAtohelptransitiontoplatformbusinessmodels.

TheOpenAPIProgram

turned10

yearsoldinDecember,

andthe

ODAwasannouncedtwoanda

halfyearsafterthatprogramin

July2016.Vodafone’sThomaswasinstrumentalindevelopingboth,

andthisworkhasprovideda

foundationforVodafone’stechcotransformationandits

telco-as-a-

service(TaaS)platform

,whichitisnowexpanding

viaapartnership

withAccenture

.

Changingrelationships

ForVodafone,oneofthebiggestchallengesintransformingintoa

platform-basedcompanyhasbeentheculturalchangerequirednot

onlyinternally,butalsoexternallywithvendors.Thisrelatestothe

third-highestreasonforoursurveyrespondentsinsourcingtalent:

integratingmulti-vendorsolutions.

“Theculturalchangeweneedisthiscultureofexperimentation,”

saysThomas

.“We’vedoneworkonthisinTMForum–wecallit‘killtheRFP’.”

Adec