The numbers alone say there is a huge opportunity for telecom billing providers to apply their expertise to cloud computing. IDC said in a report issued today that worldwide telecom cloud billing investments will grow from $15 million in 2008 to $350 million in 2013.
What’s behind this opportunity? IDC believes cloud providers can learn a thing or two from telecom service providers, namely: Rating does pay.
Cloud computing providers have a ways to go before they can begin to monetize services, said Elisabeth Rainge, director NGN Operations, IDC. But they can gain traction by leveraging the telecommunications industry's proven approach for effectively charging for such services.
She said that while other industries have sought to build comprehensive and flexible billing platforms, cloud computing players are finding it critical to evaluate these telecommunications billing solutions to find a way to put a value on the transaction, which is the function of a telecom rating engine.
Telecom billing vendors like Amdocs, Comverse, Convergys, CSG, Intec, LHS, Oracle, and others include rating as a core component of a holistic billing system, which also includes capabilities such as customer care, partner billing, promotions, and payments and collections, the report said. Other telecom billing vendors focus on specific pieces such as rating, mediation, settlement, or revenue assurance. The business and consumer experiences of complex bills for technology services is often tightly associated with voice and, increasingly, data services, thereby making the telecommunications example instructive. A new generation of business and consumer customers mean that cloud providers need to take a critical look at the options.
"The investment in billing systems for cloud computing is drawing upon the rigor, scale, and technology experience of the telecommunications industry,” Rainge said. "In examining the existing deals for cloud billing, we identify telecommunications industry expertise as highly relevant."
In addition to providing a key business operations platform, companies aiming at the cloud infrastructure opportunity are recognizing that the ability to develop and maintain a set of pricing plans requires the rating expertise of the telecommunications industry.
Additional findings from this study include the following:
- Two metrics fuel the cost of billing systems: the volume of subscribers and the number of transactions.
- The emerging telecom cloud billing platforms are increasingly smaller and lighter investments, particularly in comparison with legacy telecommunications billing platforms.
- For telecom billing platform vendors to offer compelling solutions to cloud players, they must demonstrate business process agility.
The IDC study, Worldwide Telecom Cloud Billing 2009-2013, presents the worldwide market size and forecast for telecom cloud billing, which is a segment of the telecom billing market. It assesses the suitability of telecom billing solutions for nascent cloud requirements as well as customer and vendor interest in addressing cloud billing requirements from the telecom billing context.
