Monday, April 03, 2006
Turn-key solution vs. flexibility
The last month I have spent scanning the market for SIP-application server providers. The trend seems to be either, no flexibility but full turn-key solutions with broad spectra of available services or, full flexibility but fewer full feathered services.
This is not an easy choice to make, as a provider there is great need to meet market demands with rapid development of differentiating services. Few providers have understood this.
For example Netcentrex, Broadsoft and Ericsson have a large number of services both for residential and enterprise markets but non of them give customers enough flexibility to let the operator change or create services themselves. Teligent, Bea and Hotsip offer the opposite, there is great flexibility to let the operator develop server side services without being depending on the vendor.
Competition on VoIP services are getting more fierce, what is there to compete with when all operators are lowering the prices?... value added services. Markets are changing rapidly, no one knows what services that are going to become a bit hit and what are going to be a total failure. Therefore there is a need to be able to develop services with a short time to market, try the service and if it fails the investment has not been enormous. Hopefully vendors will come to realize this.
This is not an easy choice to make, as a provider there is great need to meet market demands with rapid development of differentiating services. Few providers have understood this.
For example Netcentrex, Broadsoft and Ericsson have a large number of services both for residential and enterprise markets but non of them give customers enough flexibility to let the operator change or create services themselves. Teligent, Bea and Hotsip offer the opposite, there is great flexibility to let the operator develop server side services without being depending on the vendor.
Competition on VoIP services are getting more fierce, what is there to compete with when all operators are lowering the prices?... value added services. Markets are changing rapidly, no one knows what services that are going to become a bit hit and what are going to be a total failure. Therefore there is a need to be able to develop services with a short time to market, try the service and if it fails the investment has not been enormous. Hopefully vendors will come to realize this.
