How Can Business Consulting Act as a Catalyst for the Creation and Deployment of IP Services?

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

A migration to an all-IP environment can be a logical move, but it is also one that can cause confusion and increased expense if not handled properly. Business consulting services can actually lend considerable value to the process in that it can act as a catalyst for the creation and deployment of IP services. Telstra (News - Alert) was one company that leveraged the power of consulting services. 

In 2005, the company was facing changing market realities and rapidly evolving developments throughout the global macroeconomic environment. Facing significant competition from traditional carriers in all markets and new non-traditional players entering the space intensified the demands for Telstra. As a result, the company launched a 5-year business and IP transformation strategy. 

To ensure the success of the strategy and the implementation of the IP platform, Telstra turned to business consulting services from Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert). Telstra wanted to remain the leading telecommunications provider in Australia, while also driving greater shareholder value. To accomplish this, the company needed to offer differentiated services that were new, innovative and inspired customers to be loyal. 

Customers also wanted more flexibility in their selection of product sets, which the company believed would ultimately lead to an improved customer experience. In partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, Telstra was able to build an entirely new high performance network platform that had the ability to address the most demanding multimedia workloads presented by today’s digital economy across wireless, wireline and backhaul environments. 

Alcatel-Lucent provided the right business consulting partnership to conduct a complete review of the business and drive IP transformation.In making the move to an all-IP platform, Telstra was able to reduce the number of actual networks and saved on software licensing costs, air conditioning and power. The company also required fewer people as they effectively eliminated silo networks in standalone mode to create a common network. The optimized environment drives savings and impacts how the business is run and provides customers with a better price point and a wider range of services. 

The business consulting partnership with Alcatel-Lucent enabled Telstra to transform from its position as a provider of traditional telecommunications services into one of the most modern and sophisticated media communications providers in the world today. As a result of this new environment, customers – and not networks – are now at the center of all key decisions. Telstra relied on leadership from Alcatel-Lucent to integrate the latest standards and common strategic architecture into all key lines of business to lay the foundation for remaining aligned with the demands of customers. By turning into an agile company, Telstra can now react to new competitive developments with new solutions consumers demand. As a result, the company is able to build and maintain loyalty to protect its leading position.

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

(source: http://next-generation-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/managing-transformation/articles/112605-how-business-consulting-act-as-catalyst-the-creation.htm)

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