Telecom Product Design_by_Thameem

Syed Thameem1

Product Design & Development ProcessProduct Design & Development Process

Presented By Syed Thameem

IIR’s 4th AnnualAfrican Telecom Billing & Revenue Management Forum

Incorporating RA Functions Into The Product Design & Development Process

3rd 3rd –– 7th Sep 20077th Sep 2007Cape Town International Convention CentreCape Town International Convention Centre

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Agenda:-

Risk Assessment for Products & Services

How RA is going to assist identify any potential areas of revenue loss

Examining all Payment options for current & future products

Why the products are failing?

Challenges in the third party and billing

How can we make successful product launch and maximising revenuerevenue

End of the presentation

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Risk Assessment for Products & Services

Telco’s are losing millions of $ lost in the launching of new products and services due to inadequate risk assessment.

Most of Telco’s give importance to the risk assessment done by RA

RA is playing pivotal role in the risk assessment for new services and products

There’s no industry best practices available. Risk assessment methodology differs from product to product and operations also.

There are 4 phases in the Product/services launch process.

RA should be in a position to advice different departments about the risks involved in the new product/service in advance

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Market dynamics key

You need a deep understanding of how the market works if you want to stand out from the crowd

The marketsThe marketsThe regionsThe regionsThe consumersThe consumersThe enterprisesThe enterprisesThe offersThe offersThe functionalitiesThe functionalitiesThe futureThe future

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Product/market Matrix

Product

MarketPresent

New

Present Market Penetration

ProductDevelopment

New

MarketDevelopment Diversification

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Opportunity AssessmentConcept Phase Opportunities – a sample screening

matrix

A typical phase-gate process for new product development can be used to evaluate and filter ideas.

This approach has been shown to improve theprobability of achieving marketplace success with a product or service.

The Process flow (next slide) shows the flow of ideas into the first phase called the

Concept phase. During this phase, the idea is surfaced and rapidly evaluated based on some of some specified criteria. These criteria can include:

1) Fit with corporate strategy2) Market size3) Revenue potential4) Fulfilled customer needs5) Technical or operational capability

2007-Sep-e

2007-Sep-d

2007-Sep-c

2007-Sep-b

2007-Sep-a

Time to Revenue

Technology

Available?

Y or N

Size of

Investment Need

ed

Value

Proposition

Identified

?

Revenue Potential

> $xxx

M

Market Size

> $xxx

M

Fit

with Strategy?

Opportunity Nam

e

Number

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Identifying areas for Risks• Is the idea suggested/drawn by Marketing is workable?• Is the event billable by existing billing system?• Are do we require more investment needed to bill?• Is the pricing included the taxes, interconnect cost and etc?• Is the cost benefit analysis done? Whether we make profit or loss?• Is all the resources available?• Is the product/service properly configured in the billing system?• Is the Universal Acceptance Test done? For different service/packages?• Is the soft launch successful?• Are the monitoring tools/reports are available?• Is the End to End process document agreed and signed off?• Have we communicated to the stake holders about the launch?• Product launch kit

RA has to conduct independent testing of the new service/product end to end. And certify to the Management that there’s no leakage for revenue.

Then finally Marketing should take off!

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Customer segmentation is a fundamental part of the Marketing Strategy

Overall company strategy and objectives

Customers

Competitors

Suppliers

Technology

Macro-economics

MARKETING STRATEGY

SEGMENTATION

Segment analysis

Example:• Demographics• Geographic• Behaviour

Target selection

Example:• Youngsters• Achievers• SME

MARKETING MIXExample:• Voice• Messaging• Mobile Internet

Services PricingExample:• Per session• Per transaction• Buckets

Sales & Distribution

Example:• Own shops• On-line sales• Retailers

Marcom Example:• Direct mail• Newspaper• TV

IMP

LEM

EN

TATIO

N

Matchingtarget customers

with attractiveservice offering

+

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The mobile operator business-modelTraffic, Activation, MonthlyTraffic, Activation, Monthly

Application ServicesApplication Services

OtherOther

RevenuesRevenues

EBITDAEBITDA

EBITAEBITA

NetIncome

NetIncome

OperatingExpenses (OPEX)

OperatingExpenses (OPEX)

Interconnection CostsInterconnection Costs

Line Rents & Site RentsLine Rents & Site Rents

Fuel/MaintenanceFuel/Maintenance

Management FeesManagement Fees

MarketingMarketing

BillingBilling

Distribution commissionDistribution commission

Eng. & OperationEng. & Operation

Admin & SalaryAdmin & Salary

General ExpensesGeneral Expenses

DepreciationDepreciation

Financials & AmortizationFinancials & Amortization

Income TaxIncome Tax

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3 Year Technology Roadmap

Tools

Products

Platform

2007 2008 2009

Product 1Product 2

Product 3

Product 4

Release 1 Release 2 Release 3

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PRODUCT LAUNCH TOOL KIT

1. Product launch plan2. Competitive product comparison 3. Product Naming guidelines4. Product over review 5. Marketing Budget6. Collateral & Sales Tool kit7. SWOT analysis8. Product features and benefits9. ROI10. Press release11. Customer presentation

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RA Assisting in identifying and arresting revenue leakages

Revenue Assurance can assist in identifying and arresting revenue leakages in different ways

– To attend the product development team for discussion, design, pricing and implementation– Product/ service mechanics are fine and should be easily understandable by the layman– Accessing the Proposal to find any loopholes for revenue leakages– Access the marketing strategy regarding the launch of new service/product– Information cascade to down level– Testing the service before launching whether we are billing correctly or not– Helping the management by continuous monitoring and reporting– All complaints logs received immediately escalated for further improvement– Feedback received from the market should be discussed– Continuous testing of the product/service– Continuous improvement of the product/service to maximise revenue– Road map for the Product/service offered

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Why Products are failing?

Companies invest millions of $ each year developing new products and trying to increasetheir revenues and profitability. Some of these are good and some aren’t. Nonetheless,they all have 1 thing in common: without appropriate marketing activities they will most likely to FAIL.

75% of new product development programs fail commercially.

Below are Top 10 reasons for failure

1. Not planning early enough2. No sustaining marketing plan 3. Poor quality or design of the product4. Inadequate funding5. Overestimating results6. Driving customers to buy your competition7. Announcing too early8. No dedicated review program9. Not communicating early enough10. Spending lot of time in the product design / launch

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Examples: If you don’t configure properly, you will loose revenue!

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

333 count

TOPUP COUNT

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Challenges in the 3rd Party Billing

If we go for the 3rd Party billing and we will face the following challenges;

☻ Billing not properly - leads to revenue loss☻ Improper configuration, what to bill and how to bill☻ Source code/design defects☻ Lack of monitoring tools☻ No Customer care and support☻ No agreed process for sending and receiving data☻ No backup procedures☻ No disaster recovery and BCP

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Challenges in the 3rd Party Billing

In order to over come challenges in the 3rd Party billing we need to have the below things:-

√ Proper singed agreement by both parties√ Service level agreement and responsibilities and rights level√ Process flow and procedures (End to End)√ Proper configuration of the systems√ UAT√ Agreed Disaster and BCP√ Pre launch sign off√ Continuous monitoring and testing the services√ Reconciliation of the services√ Month end settlement

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How can we make successful launch & maximise revenue

First and foremost thing is Planning Planning Planning

Planning is very important thing for any successful launch of product and service.

If we don’t plan proper either we kill the product or even the whole company’s brand. We need to Plan early enough & involving different departments. Project plan and leader has to be…

If the product is not satisfying the market, we loose the confidence and loose the market share.We need to launch the product which will sustain and customers has to satisfy it.

Projections should be accurate, if don’t we can blow up in big. The projections are very important either under/over project, that will affect seriously. We need analyse the past data and consider.

Creating excitement in the market, before launch of the product. Never do this, we need to sure and product has to be certified by the Assurance department. When everything is fine, Launch it. If you are ill preparedit will back fire!

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Each year, millions of dollars are wasted when products enter the market ill prepared tomeet customer expectations and requirements. Insufficient customer feedback and lack ofcustomer involvement during the development process are the key reasons forunsuccessful launches.

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Thank you for your attentionContact DetailsSyed Thameem

[email protected]@yahoo.com

Telecom Product Design_by_Thameem

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