Page 44 - Mobile World Daily - Day 3

FEATURED INTERVIEW | TEKTRONIX COMMUNICATIONS
Richard Kenedi
President
Tektronix Communications
Tektronix
Communications:
Harnessing the power of big data
Operators are implementing big data and analytics strategies to save money
and generate additional revenue. Richard Kenedi, president of Tektronix
Communications, spoke to Mobile World Daily about how operators can
monetise their data in the context of flatlining ARPU and commercial pressures.
MOBILE WORLD DAILY (MWD): BIG
DATA AND ANALYTICS WERE
ALREADY MAJOR THEMES AT MWC
LAST YEAR. HOW HAVE THEY
EVOLVED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS?
Richard Kenedi (RK): Operators have
always had access to a vast pool of
performance and usage data, customer
profiles and other information. Up until now,
that data was primarily used to identify and fix MWD: DO YOU THINK THAT THE
problems, to troubleshoot issues and ensure
service delivery and quality of experience.
We are now seeing a move towards the
mobile sector recognising the monetary value
of this data, especially in its value to the
enterprise space where numerous business
cases exist.
However, a shift in thinking and approach
to data and analytics is needed. Effectively,
carriers need to become more data-centric
businesses, leveraging the data asset that
already exists. Stakeholders, beyond network
engineering, performance and customer care
need to be exposed to the opportunities that
are presented by a cohesive big data strategy.
“Effectively, carriers need to become
more data-centric businesses,
leveraging the data asset that already
exists”
PAGE 44 Wednesday 4th March
These include marketing, business
development and other commercial
functions, as well as fraud and security teams.
We have seen most service providers adopt
or have plans to adopt a big data strategy for
their company as they realise the value of
having trusted sources of data for business
and technology decisions.
INDUSTRY NOW UNDERSTANDS AND
ACCEPTS THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED
TO IMPLEMENT ANALYTICS TOOLS
FOR THE ANALYSIS OF BIG DATA?
RK: In an environment where more
aspects of the network infrastructure are
becoming software-based, previously
disparate data sources have the potential to
be brought together.
This approach lets operators create one
central resource where data can be stored,
analysed and utilised for internal use. In this
new environment operators are likely to deploy
‘data lakes’ to store all of this information in
one place. This is much more efficient than
having silos of data which results in multiple
‘sources of truth’. By having one solid, reliable service providers to have are around
data source, a ‘single version of the truth made
accessible to relevant stakeholders, Carriers are need it to make a decision. Some use cases
far more likely to see a tangible return on
investment for their big data strategies.
Of course, this will take time but is
ultimately worthwhile given the immense
commercial value of the potential data
goldmine that all mobile carriers preside over.
MWD: AS YOU SPEAK TO OPERATORS
ON THE SHOW FLOOR, WHAT ARE
SOME OF THE KEY CONCERNS YOU
EXPECT THEM TO HAVE ABOUT BIG
DATA AND ANALYTICS?
RK: Opex and capex pressure rate among
the most common challenges we hear about,
combined with being able to guarantee a
return on investment for big data strategies.
An integrated, cross organisation approach
to carrier data can provide exactly that. Once
additional stakeholders are given access to the
data that exists, especially those in
commercial functions, a multitude of business
cases and revenue-generating opportunities
will become available and evident.
There are also organisational issues to be
solved here. Silos of information become a
major impediment to analysing the data and
deriving actionable intelligence from it. A
CMO for example should not need to employ
expensive consultants to analyse the data.
Furthermore, there’s no need for all
stakeholders to know the technicalities of
how the data is collected. They simply need
the insight that they can act upon to make
powerful business decisions, to hit and
exceed their KPIs, especially in the area of
monetisation and revenue generation.
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DAILY 2015 | www.mobileworldcongress.com
Some of the key concerns we expect
accessibility to relevant data whenever they
may require real-time information and others
need to evaluate long-term trends but ease of
access would be a key concern and
differentiation for those who can provide it.
Furthermore, virtualisation potentially
offers advantages in terms of data
centralisation. Although the volume of data
will increase, software-based networks offer
the opportunity to manage all of the data in
one place creating an all-encompassing view.
MWD: DO YOU THINK THAT TELCOS
ARE MOVING QUICKLY ENOUGH
TOWARDS THE ADOPTION OF
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS?
RK: It’s not necessarily about speed. Some
operators are naturally able to move faster
than others. The key to success is to focus on
the business decisions you want to make first
and then invest in the right use cases for the
data. Starting the other way round – by
looking at the huge data mountain itself – and
trying to figure out what nuggets of gold, if
any, it can provide, is a costly, overwhelming
and potentially futile exercise. It’s like trying
to find a needle in a haystack.
Once you know what business decisions you
want the data to support, the job of actually
identifying, collecting and analysing it will be
far more effective and efficient. And that’s the
job of the data scientist – not the CMO!
With the trillions of data points that exist in
every network, operators should have the
confidence that the data exists to inform
pretty much any and every business case
they could possibly imagine.