MARKET REPORT Analytics
“As their customer’s trusted advisor they can guide them towards implementing a single source of
truth for ‘customer’ data, the CRM.” Adam Wilson, Regional Channel Manager (EMEA), Vonage
How will 5G impact the ‘big data deluge’?
Hilary King, Head of Marketing at Akixi commented “Whilst the
roll out of 5G will enable a considerable increase in the number of
network-connected devices, SMEs should not be daunted by some
anticipated ‘big data deluge’.
The principles around data management, data analytics and
insight should remain the same irrespective of the quantity of data
that a customer has access to. That is, identifying data which is
relevant to the business, measuring that data, then analysing it
in order to gain genuinely benefi cial business insight and drive
business improvement.
Not all data available is relevant to all organisations, and
business leaders must resist the urge to assess everything.
Identifying the appropriate and relevant data sets to measure –
those which will form the basis of business KPIs and targets – will
be key if businesses are to take big data as a benefi t rather than a
burden.
The bigger challenge for SMEs, I think, is in selecting the best
data analytics tools for their business in a market which has
opened up before them.
Just as collaboration solutions with their expensive and
hefty on-premise hardware were once reserved solely for large
enterprises, so the shift of technology solutions to the cloud means
that SMEs can now reap the benefi ts of enterprise-grade analytics
solutions but at a fraction of the cost – with minimal fi nancial outlay
and no long-term commitment.
Being a small or medium sized business is no longer a
limitation to obtaining business insight, when readily available
and affordable cloud-based analytics tools make is easy for all
businesses to make better strategic decisions and improve the
customer experience.”
approach mentioned.”
Iain Chidgey, Vice President
EMEA, Sumo Logic “ ere will
be a mix based on how customers
will want to buy in these
solutions - some will want to run
their own products, either in the
cloud or not. Some will want an
‘as a service’ option, but still run
separately. And others will want
this built into the applications
that they buy in. Having the
exibility here to o er what a
customer really wants around
their data will help.
For companies that are cloudnative
– i.e. they run based on
cloud-based applications already
- using cloud-based continuous
intelligence will be a great t for
analytics tasks across software,
security and business operations.”
Tony Martino, CEO of
Tollring, commented “ e
channel has been monetising
telecoms analytics for many
years, and a cloud- rst,
standards-based approach means
that it’s very accessible across
all levels of the supply chain.
Deep integration at platform
level for the likes of BroadSoft,
Mitel and many more means
that the technical overheads of
deployment are near-zero for the
average channel partner, shifting
the value-add towards results
and actionability.”
Martino continued, “Analytics
is one of the few value-adds
that can be promoted even in
tough times like COVID-19.
Businesses that use analytics
to monitor individuals and
teams can clearly see the impact
of performance on customer
experience and focus on KPIs
that matter right now. Ongoing
measurement makes it easy to
implement the right business
changes at the right time, to
ramp resources up and down,
change the focus of internal
teams and manage call ows
into the business during periods
of remote working.
Cloud-based analytics
solutions are built for scale so it’s
not about coping, but about how
e ectively the solution can make
the data not only manageable,
but actionable. It’s important
that businesses buy into analytics
solutions that are exible enough
to give them what they need.”
ED SAYS…
The recent upsurge in remote working will drive an increasing demand for analytics
solutions to integrate with popular services like Microsoft Teams and Webex Calling.
Services that are based in the cloud, and so can work from any device and location,
will thrive; provided they employ the appropriate security measures to protect
consumer data. While data is a vital source of business insight, businesses need to
ensure that any solution that extracts data must remain compliant with regulations
such as GDPR.
more likely to land in the laps of
MSPs.
Adam Wilson commented
“I believe that public cloud
delivered solutions are driving
more of a trusted advisor
channel approach, where
vendors incentivise partners by
way of a referral commission in
exchange for registering quali ed
new business opportunities.
In addition, there’s also an
opportunity for specialist
system integrators such as those
skilled in the art of delivering a
CRM tailored to the businesses
requirements. is can lead
channel partners towards new
sources of income if they are
interested in adding new skills.
However, not all services require
heavy software development
prowess nor the ability to host
one-o applications. Channel
partners can work within
their peer network to engage
appropriate systems integrators
and still derive value themselves
from the trusted advisor
26 | Comms Business Magazine | June 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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