Leaders Wanted Experts at Change at a Moment of Truth Communications Industry - Technology Vision 2021
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#techvision2021
Technology Vision 2021
Leaders
Wanted
Experts at Change at a Moment of Truth
Communications Industry
From insights to action, the path to extraordinary value starts here.
COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY AT PRESENT #techvision2021
There is no industry leadership without technology leadership,
something the communications industry knows better than most.
The comms industry is completely enabled by technology The communications industry faces unprecedented
and communications service providers (CSPs) are challenges and opportunities in 2021. Disruptive forces,
expected to keep in-step with the latest technological such as hyperconnected lifestyles, democratized
advances. technology, and multiparty systems, have redefined the
industry. This has only been exacerbated by the events
Those that fail to innovate are likely to become irrelevant. of 2020 and has left the business to consumer (B2C)
Customers expect CSPs to both leverage the latest telecommunications market with stagnating revenue
tech for services and implement new technologies in traditional connectivity services. The B2B market
for customers to use themselves. has high growth potential but CSPs must rethink their
offerings if they are to capture it. 5G, edge computing
As whole industries accelerate their digital transformations, and cloud in general are seismic breakthroughs that will
the role played by communications service providers fundamentally change CSPs’ assets and their ability to
(CSPs) has never been more vital. CSPs are key enablers provide information and communications technology (ICT)
of technology for other industries but they too face new and network services to the entire ecosystem.
business and operational challenges. By focusing on the
five technology trends identified in Accenture’s Tech CSPs now can reimagine the value chain, where
Vision 2021 report, CSPs can overcome the challenges the network becomes the extension of the cloud,
they face and establish a solid business foundation to and edge becomes the new control point for the
create future value. These technologies will enable CSPs telecommunications (telco) business. These industry
to drive new opportunities and will also be enabled by forces have elevated B2B as the biggest growth
CSPs for their clients to use in their own businesses. opportunity for CSPs, specifically to the large enterprise Figure 1: Technology Leaders and Laggards, based on
Accenture Research 2021 Make the leap, take the lead.
industry verticals like health and manufacturing.
Technology Vision 2021 2
COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY AT PRESENT #techvision2021
At the same time, small and medium-sized The CSP-enabled technologies of 5G, edge
businesses (SMBs) need to carry out digital and cloud are all core communications industry
transformation across business functions. To do technologies as well. With the convergence of
so, they must tap into large and diversified partner network and IT to capitalize on these opportunities,
ecosystems that include hyperscalers and public CSPs must first begin by building their technology
cloud providers. The worldwide IT spending of SMBs use cases from within.
is expected to be $1136B in 2021 and 97% of global
enterprises are willing to purchase their ICT services
from CSPs.1
Technology Vision 2021 3
CURRENT CHALLENGES #techvision2021
CSPs are facing parallel pressures from their organizations
and external forces to adopt new technologies and adapt to
evolving demands. A key challenge here is how to find the
right technologies for the needs of both the organization and
its customers.
This can be done by leveraging partner ecosystems • CSPs’ Opex also continues to grow, driven
to stay ahead of the technology curve, remain by content, devices and IT: Total Opex
relevant and meet changing expectations of increased by 0.8% between 2019 and 2020.2
services and products. As the market continues to
field new digital-first entrants, established CSPs are • 5G preparations and buildout will necessitate
under pressure from their own legacy systems. The further Capex and debt intake: 5G adds to
biggest challenges the communications industry Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) pressure
faces include: as demand continues to be unproven.
• CSPs’ capital investments are higher than • Low levels of R&D investment across
those for most other high-tech players: the communications industry is stymying
Communications continues to be a innovation and new product development.
capital-intensive business with significant
investment required to future-proof networks.
Technology Vision 2021 4
CURRENT CHALLENGES #techvision2021
Some CSPs are starting to expand into digital and IT services—the Compound Annual
Growth Rate (CAGR) for such services in the comms industry is expected to be 5.8%
Beyond the core
between 2020 and 2024.
CSPs future growth lies beyond the traditional
But more must be done to ensure future success. To succeed in capturing the connectivity connectivity business.
segment of IT services (at least), CSPs must start by solving their own technology
challenges, then take these learnings and solutions to market as new growth opportunities.
$3.4 Billion
Digital & IT Services market represents the largest
opportunity with 5.8% CAGR in the next 4 years.
Cloud, IOT, Security
Key B2B opportunities in which CSP addressable market
is set for double-digit growth.
Growth opportunities exist across B2C and B2B
Figure 2: Analysts forecasts (incl. Gartner, Omdia, IDC, Analysis Mason)
Technology Vision 2021 5
#techvision2021
LET THERE
BE CHANGE
Technology Vision 2021 6
ACCENTURE’S TECHNOLOGY VISION #techvision2021
More than ever before, technology is at the core of the communications
industry. Every year, our top technologists study the market for emerging
technology and trends that hold the greatest potential to disrupt
businesses and industries over the next several years.
This year’s Tech Vision explores how technology was a without technology leadership. They’re the ones who
lifeline during the global pandemic—enabling new ways of aren’t waiting for the new or next normal to appear—they’re
working and doing business and creating new interactions building it. And they’re broadening how they measure value,
and experiences. The report shares how leaders need to expanding the definition to include how well people thrive,
address change—shifting from reacting to the crisis to the environment, inclusivity, and more. Each of our five
reinventing what comes next. The world is hungry for technology trends is about how CSPs are starting to lead
a new kind of leadership. change and embrace this new kind of leadership.
Amid the challenges of 2020, two truths became evident. The communications industry is a perfect example of a
More CSPs than ever have embraced the idea that market that is already feeling the impact of these trends.
every telco business is destined to be a technology CSPs are key enablers of connected technologies and are
business, and they’ve ignited a new era of exponential relied on by many industries for technology implementation
transformation as technology continuously reshapes and instruction. By specializing in the trends described
industries and the human experience. Now, as we begin below, they can leverage emerging technologies to power
creating our post-pandemic reality, CSPs must learn to new services, implement these technologies for clients, and
lead change. use their experience to guide clients on how to maximize
potential. CSPs are well-suited to lead in the execution of
The communications leaders of the future will be the ones these trends and can encourage other industries to follow
who understand that industry leadership is impossible suit while actively guiding the change.
Technology Vision 2021 7
#techvision2021
Our five technology
trends for 2021
Stack I, Technologist Anywhere, Mirrored From Me to We
Strategically The Democratization Everywhere World A Multiparty System’s
Architecting a of Technology Bring Your Own The Power of Massive, Path Through Chaos
Better Future Environment Intelligent, Digital Twins
Natural language The global disruption of
processing, low-code Covid-19 ignited a scramble
A new era of industry It’s time for enterprises Growing investments
platforms, robotic process for enterprises to reimagine
competition is to transform remote work in data, AI and digital twin
automation and more are their partnerships—and
dawning—one where from an accommodation technologies are giving rise
democratizing technology, multiparty systems gained
companies compete to an advantage. to a new generation of
putting powerful capabilities newfound attention.
on their architecture. business and intelligence:
into the hands of people all
the Mirrored World.
across the business.
Note: Source for all the numbers and data points in this document: Technology Vision
2021 Business and IT Executive Survey. Global N=6,241; Communications Industry N=555)
Technology Vision 2021 8
#techvision2021
Stack Strategically Operators can achieve greater customer
engagement with hyper-personalized experiences.
These solutions leverage digital channels, AI,
77%
Architecting a Better Future
machine learning (ML) and automation and use
of communications executives state that their
modern cloud-native and decoupling architecture
technology architecture is becoming critical to the
to enable innovation at speed.
overall success of their organization.
Companies across all industries now have
greater technology choices available to For example, Verizon teamed with Accenture to
89%
them, and none more so than CSPs. From the create an AI-powered customer service solution
distribution of cloud deployments, to types of AI that proactively steers customers to a digital
models, to the design of core global connectivity assistant. It uses interpretive AI to provide an
infrastructure, there are more technology enhanced, consistent and personalized customer-
choices CSPs can make at every layer of the service experience. Through machine learning, the of communications executives believe their
stack. Some CSPs are using their technology digital assistant was designed to become smarter organization’s ability to generate business value
stacks to drive increased customer engagement. over time.3 will increasingly be based on the limitations and
Others are enabling better business agility and opportunities of their technology architecture.
more innovation. Redefining the stack with Similarly, CSPs are transforming their telco
new technologies both enables new business operations through System of Records (SoR)
83%
opportunities and improves internal operations simplification, standardization and modernization
for CSPs. and leveraging software as a service (SaaS) and
CloudOps opportunities to evolve towards a more
CSPs are starting to make different technology flexible and lean architecture that modernizes
choices, and are starting to build different, the core telco value chain from “lead to order” of communications executives agree their organization’s
competing visions for what the future of the to “trouble ticket to resolve” while removing business and technology strategies are becoming
communications industry will be. innovation constraints. inseparable—even indistinguishable.
Technology Vision 2021 9
#techvision2021
There is also a great opportunity for CSPs to execute specialized SMB information and communications
digital transformation through cloud and become technologies (ICT) to value-add services.5
more central to society. Cloud will be the linchpin
of achieving a new economic sustainability and A new era of industry competition is dawning—one
completely new processes, operating models, where companies compete on their architecture.
organizations, and products and services. With cloud, CSPs must embrace the competitive technology
CSPs will accelerate the adoption and automation stack to thrive in this new era. They must make
of digital channels. They will also be positioned to strategic choices about the technology they adopt
build business around intelligent enterprise and SMB and build innovative services and products that
channels and act as the data-point orchestrator for help them stand out from the crowd. The decisions
the home solutions market. they make today will shape the future of the
communications industry.
In the future home market, CSPs can leverage
control points to own the customer relationship at
home and enable multisided platform plays and new
revenue streams.4 For other market solutions, this
will help CSPs move from commoditized services like
Technology Vision 2021 10#techvision2021
I, Technologist bringing the innovative power of machines to
human hands. 86%
The Democratization of Technology
Now every CSP employee can be an innovator,
of communications executives agree their organization
optimizing their work, fixing pain points, and
must train their people to think like technologists—
keeping the business in lockstep with new and
to use and customize technology solutions at the
An undeniable shift toward democratized changing needs. Digital transformation isn’t just
individual level, but without highly technical skills.
technology is underway. Powerful technology about macro technology solutions. It’s also about
54%
capabilities are being put into people’s hands, empowering employees by giving them new
usable without highly specialized skills. tools and the license to proactively change how
Democratized technology enables all CSP technology solutions work.
employees to learn new skills to simplify tasks,
enrich their own work experience and get As we saw with T-Mobile Czech Republic of communications executives report accelerating
involved with the development of technological and Slovak Telekom’s intelligent technology solution implementation and interconnectivity as a
solutions. It provides a reliable innovation implementation of 12 customer journey processes benefit of technology democratization.
advantage for CSPs to leverage now and in to achieve a 60-90 percent reduction of manual
the future. steps for automated processes, there are great
opportunities to make work more fulfilling for
88%
It’s not about a single tool or service, but the employees and realize Opex savings.6
culmination of an array of technologies. Natural
language processing, low-code platforms and Of course, giving people access to these tools
robotic process automation (RPA) are just a is only part of the equation. CSPs that want to
few of the capabilities and services making empower their people to build technology-driven of communications executives believe technology
technology more accessible. They each have solutions will also need to train them to think like democratization is becoming critical to their ability to
different and unique applications, but all are technologists. ignite innovation across the organization.
Technology Vision 2021 11#techvision2021
This doesn’t mean turning everyone into an expert The goal is to elevate employees’ employees’
coder—but it does mean increasing technology enthusiasm, expertise and value seen across
literacy, teaching people about the benefits and technologies, so they can feel confident in their
risks of different decisions, and potentially setting up ability to leverage digital technologies. CSPs must
guardrails to help avoid accidental security risks. also redefine their approach to making technology
and organizational structures indivisible. They can
CSPs must move quickly and develop the skills start by integrating technology across business
and systems needed to become tech-inclusive. units, investing in opportunities for workers to
Upskilling employees will prevent churn. Additionally, upskill, aligning business priorities like security
the competition to acquire employees that fill skills with technology priorities, and adopting agile
gaps is fierce. By becoming tech-inclusive, CSPs can methodologies like DevOps.
reaffirm their reputations as technology-focused
employers. This will ultimately help them attract and
retain the best talent for their needs.
Technology Vision 2021 12#techvision2021
Anywhere, Everywhere policies and tech solutions, enabling flexibility while
mitigating the risk of devices that weren’t entirely
within their control. But it also gave employees a
46%
Bring Your Own Environment
chance for a better work experience and ultimately
of communications executives selected cloud–enabled
saved companies money. Now we’ve moved
tools and technologies specifically to support their
beyond BYOD and into BYOE—employees are
remote workforce during Covid-19.
There are two aspects of the future workforce for bringing entire environments to work.
CSPs to consider. The first is that CSPs and their
55%
employees are moving into a new future, one The right technologies are needed to support
where work can be done anywhere. Bring your BYOE. For example, Accenture helped Vodafone
own environment (BYOE) technologies will give migrate to the powerful SAP S/4HANA enterprise
employees greater flexibility in when and where resources planning system and transform the
they work, which will in turn boost productivity. employee experience. Employees can now make of B2B-focused communications executives surveyed
The second is the role of CSPs as enablers better decisions, faster, with higher productivity invested in remote monitoring technologies (15% higher
of BYOE for clients and other industries— and employee satisfaction. Through the than avg. global respondents).
connectivity products and services are key to consolidated launchpad, tasks that once required
the establishment of the Future Home and the multiple logins and applications now take just a
Future Office. couple of clicks. With real-time data and analytics
at their fingertips, employees can self-serve to
So, what does this shift to BYOE mean in find the information they need. And being able to
practical terms for CSPs? Think back to the use SAP Fiori applications on their smartphone
early days of the bring your own device (BYOD) means employees can approve purchase orders
movement when companies allowed employees and invoices on the go. All of this powers BOYE for
to bring their own laptops or smartphones into employees so they have greater flexibility when
the office. Employers had to implement new and where to work.
Technology Vision 2021 13#techvision2021
87%
Remote work is utterly reliant on connectivity. The Future Office integrates technologies focused
Transforming the environment requires rethinking on people and how they work such as sensors,
what the organization looks like and what it can cameras, scheduling and reservation systems,
achieve with a virtualized workforce model. digital signage, connected lighting, and audio and
video conferencing systems, all of which can be of communications executives believe the remote
Leaders must also address the security enabled by CSPs. The Future Office has the power workforce opens up the market for difficult-to-find
ramifications of remote work, necessary cultural to improve multiple measures of performance, talent and expands the competition for talent among
shifts and the underlying technologies. The from tangible benefits like productivity or real organizations.
strategies CSPs employed during the crisis will estate utilization to intangible ones such as
empower them to apply their learnings to their employee satisfaction and engagement.8
customers. Their products and services will power
the BYOE movement across other industries as CSPs need to revamp their approach to SMB 47.4%
they are integral to the development of the Future customers by reinventing their technology
Home and the Future Office. portfolios and leveraging ecosystem partnerships
of B2C-focused communications executives surveyed
to expand their SMB offerings. This will enable
invested in remote workforce home networking
The Future Home—enabled by 5G, cloud, security, CSPs to emerge as the key orchestrator for SMB
improvement (8% higher than avg. global respondents).
AI, edge computing, eSIM and more—can provide solutions and the top partner for businesses as
consumers with personalized services for remote they grow.9
work, distance learning, healthcare, immersive
entertainment and more. The demand for these The next generation workforce will be physically
services will yield economic success for the CSPs distributed, creatively connected, empowered by
that enable them.7 technology and more innovative than ever. CSPs
will have a chief role in creating that future.
Technology Vision 2021 14#techvision2021
Mirrored World When built on comprehensive, compatible
and trusted data, intelligent twins and mirrored
environments will help CSPs optimize operations,
24%
The Power of Massive, Intelligent,
detect and predict anomalies, pivot to prevent
Digital Twins of communications executives report their organizations
unplanned downtime, enable greater autonomy,
are experimenting with digital twins this year.
and dynamically adjust their designs and strategies
Digital twins are proliferating across many with every new piece of data they collect. For
enterprises and industries and driving an example, by using digital twins and predictive
65%
irreversible inflection point—the birth of the maintenance, CSPs can analyze the status of
Mirrored World. Digital twins leverage data to network hardware in real time and complete
simulate objects, processes and environments. necessary maintenance before hardware breaks
They help CSPs improve operations, down, saving time, money and effort.
enable greater autonomy and dynamically of communications executives expect their
adjust strategies. However, this is not simply an ambition: with organization’s investment in digital twins to increase
network operations becoming ever more complex over the next three years.
Recently, the scale of the models, layering in of and fast-paced with real-time responsiveness
AI, and increase in adoption has transformed demands—a rotating cycle as the network services
the equation. Leaders are starting to connect become virtualized—automation through AI and
massive networks of digital twins, linking many modeling through digital twins are becoming
twins together to create living models of whole necessities.
factories, product lifecycles, supply chains,
ports and cities. They are creating unbroken
threads of data—fabrics that will soon be
essential to every enterprise’s digital strategy.
Technology Vision 2021 15#techvision2021
Bringing together data and intelligence to represent the physical world in a digital
space will unlock new opportunities to operate, collaborate and innovate. CSPs
are nearly fully aligned with the global survey in the opportunities to grow from the
87%
investment. Organizations that start building digital twins of their assets and piece
of communications executives agree digital twins are
together their first mirrored environments will be the ones that push industries, and
becoming essential to their organization’s ability to
the world, toward a more agile and intelligent future.
collaborate in strategic ecosystem partnerships.
46%
of B2B-focused communications executives who
are currently using digital twins are using them for
innovation (13% higher than avg. global respondents).
Technology Vision 2021 16#techvision2021
From Me to We is shared and managed by CSPs who oversee
the exchange between parties while maintaining
privacy. MPSs can, for example, support the supply
64%
A Multiparty System’s Path
chain management of physical infrastructure CSPs
Through Chaos of communications executives agree that they can
install in the home, such as routers, modems and
operate in the short term without MPS, but will need to
fixed wire customer premise equipment (CPE).
build these connections in the long term.
Companies are increasingly relying on They offer CSPs complete visibility of the entire
multiparty systems (MPSs), like distributed supply chain, enabling quicker decision-making
49%
ledgers technology (DLT), distributed and more efficient operations.
databases and tokenization to provide a more
resilient, adaptable and trusted foundation for MPSs can also be used to boost customer
partnerships. MPSs help CSPs unlock new ways satisfaction. For example, Accenture designed
to approach the market and set new, ecosystem- and developed the Loyalty Program for a digital of B2C-focused communications executives strongly
forward standards for their clients. As the CSP content platform of a large communications and agree that blockchain provides an unparalleled
ecosystem grows larger, with more articulated media company using blockchain technology. resilience to supply chains and the corresponding MPS
capabilities and connections, the level of trust The solution allows the collection and syncing of (10% higher than avg. global respondents).
decreases. Ecosystem partnerships not only transactional data across the partner ecosystem
need to be managed, but also fostered and in real time. It enables data to be tied to specific
nurtured for success, which is why MPSs and consumers and provides insight into their
distributed ledger technologies are so valuable. willingness to engage with the platform based on
rewards. This increases customer engagement and
MPSs enable the sharing of data between creates a unique omnichannel experience.
individuals and organizations in a way that drives
efficiency and builds new business and revenue
models. It creates trust in an ecosystem—data
Technology Vision 2021 17#techvision2021
MPSs enable CSPs to build ecosystems with
consortiums of collaborators and drive partnerships
instead of ownership. In a lot of ways, it’s a departure
This allows for univocal real-time traceability of
equipment across multiple countries and numerous
suppliers. And it drives correct cost allocation and
20%
from what most companies are used to and prevents multimillion-dollar fraud.
of communications executives report their organizations
comfortable with—but the potential for value is
are experimenting with multiparty systems this year.
huge. The ability to share data and exchange value To deliver new solutions, communications industry
with trust becomes a stronger and more adaptable leaders need to embrace this innovation mindset
foundation for partnerships. It positions enterprises before they can position themselves as the
90%
to address current and future disruptions, and ideal platform. This type of approach also helps
partnerships built on this foundation will create new companies overcome today’s disruptions and be
opportunities. For example, new ways to approach better prepared to weather future disruption. It will
markets or blurring industry boundaries to solve new enable CSPs to create new interactions, discover
problems. innovative approaches to the market, and even of communications executives state that multiparty
define a systems will enable their ecosystems to forge a more
For one large teleco company, blockchain enabled a new industry. resilient and adaptable foundation to create new value
track and trace solution to optimize the supply chain. with their organization’s partners.
Technology Vision 2021 18#techvision2021
The Road Ahead
Technology is transforming whole industries and the world
at large for the better. Communications service providers are
enablers of emerging technologies for other industries, but
they must first become skilled in these technologies themselves.
Technology leadership in the five trend areas will open new
opportunities for both CSPs and the businesses and customers
they serve.
Prioritizing technology innovation in response to a rapidly
changing world has never been more important. Now is the
time to rethink offerings, apply new technologies and expand
into digital and IT services. CSPs that fail to do so will struggle
to keep up with competition and the current pace of change.
However, CSPs that embrace technology leadership will have
the opportunity to shape the future of communications and
other industries, reimagine their own value chains, and build
new realities using radically different models.
Technology Vision 2021 19#techvision2021
References
1
Analysys Mason, SMB Technology Forecaster, March 2021 and https://www.information-age.com/csps-
must-radically-change-approach-and-become-more-open-123483680/
2
Analysis Mason,Telecoms opex: worldwide trends and forecast 2017–2026
3 https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-and-verizon-win-global-telecoms-award-for-
intelligent-customer-engagement-solution.htm
4 ttps://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/events/future-home-5g-era
h
5 https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-149/Accenture-SMB-Future-Office-Market.pdf#zoom=40
6 https://www.accenture.com/us-en/case-studies/communications-media/t-mobile-czech-republic-and-
slovak-telekom
7
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/events/future-home-5g-era
8
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/cloud/creating-intelligent-workplace
9 COVID-19: CSPs Regaining Eminence | Accenture
Technology Vision 2021 20About Accenture Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services—all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 537,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com. This content is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be used in place of consultation with our professional advisors. This document refers to marks owned by third parties. All such third- party marks are the property of their respective owners. No sponsorship, endorsement or approval of this content by the owners of such marks is intended, expressed or implied. Copyright © 2021, Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are registered trademarks of Accenture.
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