Amdocs: A safe pair of hands in a confined territory
I recently attended the Amdocs annual analyst relations event in Tel Aviv. Amdocs intends to live up to its paradigm “embrace challenge, experience success” by anticipating challenges and offering solutions to its client base. Some of these initiatives include:
- Amdocs achieved progress on its mission to enable communication service providers moving up the chain. Amdocs is probably the most outspoken vendor in its loyalty to carriers. This is a strong pitch to retain the trusted advisor status in the domains of customer care and billing services — i.e., domains which operators regard as their core competence. Such trust is vital for the ambition to go deeper into joined go-to-market and transaction-based revenue share models. But the journey towards using business-outcome-based SLAs to reflect the rising influence of business leaders has just begun.
- Amdocs is committing to improve customer experience. The vendor invests in its operations and solution capabilities to keep the portfolio aligned with the evolving needs of the carriers. Upgrades include the regional state of the art operations center for European carriers in Galilee and progress on packaging its tools as full B2B2C solutions. Additional enhancements come with the $120 million acquisition of Actix, allowing service providers to use geo location-based services.
- Digital services help carriers to respond to market changes. The new business unit launched a set of services supporting necessary innovation in the communications industry. In addition to activities in data analytics and Pay TV, reported on previously (see http://blogs.forrester.com/dan_bieler/13-07-01-amdocs_gains_momentum_as_a_leading_customer_experience_provider), initiatives include mobile payment and a set of SaaS-based support systems enabling carriers to launch sub brands with simpler service operations. These initiatives deepen a best-of-breed portfolio, go-to-market, and service approach that few can match. But not all initiatives lead to increased revenues for carriers. Mobile payment heralds promises with the ability to pay for applications through Google Play or the Apple App Store with the monthly phone bill. Pay TV is a different story. Most carriers struggle to cash in as consumer spending is tied to expensive premium content held by a few media companies that understand how to make profits through digital distribution. Launching sub brands is a vital but defensive move for carriers seeking to stem the erosion of customers and margins.
Amdocs exposure to a single sector that struggles to grow remains risky. The vendor needs to increase market share even as solutions become more cloud-based and standardized. To defend its position, the journey towards go-to-market partnerships and transaction-related revenue sharing with carriers must be accelerated. Leveraging its assets into industries with similar requirements, such as the utility sector, would broaden the appeal.