The landscape of enterprise communications has evolved and at the centre of it, cloud-based communications service providers (CSPs) are driving innovation in the industry by empowering developers to take control of their communications. This has led to an increase in communications platform as a service (CPaaS) offerings and made XaaS more accessible.
Customer expectations also continue to change and are highly focused on quality and speed of service and support. In response, CSPs are at a crossroads, deciding where to partner with other cloud-based communications providers by consolidating services and where to compete by offering innovative features that deliver improved transparency and control to customers.
As a result of network virtualization from the increased adoption of cloud-based communications services, CSPs have automated their internal infrastructures and created software-defined networks that can collaborate with other communication applications and be offered to customers. This cloud-based movement is also changing the industry standard from CSPs specializing in vertical stand-alone services to more industry-specific offerings that facilitate collaboration and access for customers. For example, CSPs operating in this model provide customers with comprehensive industry-tailored service offerings, such as secure cloud-based reporting tools for medical and financial applications, as well as cloud-based communication capabilities for transportation and hospitality sectors. As a result, we'll continue to see cloud-based CSPs that enable CPaaS players to deliver tailored cloud voice and messaging capabilities.
The industry trend toward horizontal offerings will also positively impact CSPs by creating increased demand for their existing expertise (e.g. access to networks, local presence, billing, etc.), as well as the opportunity to partner with cloud-based providers that can help maximize expansion into a new variety of segments. In this case, CSPs with a more collaborative structure for working with partners will be able to take the next step in evolving their go-to-market approach through leveraging APIs and bundling services specific to each business customer.
The future of CSPs is full of possibilities. The migration to cloud-based models offers enterprises and their customers a host of benefits, including more enhanced user experiences, lower costs, greater scalability, and flexibility of services. As CSPs determine which route of digital transformation to choose, cloud-based trends will put added pressures on CSPs to integrate offerings or select cloud partners that will best meet customers' expectations. Lastly, CSPs and their current partners need to face the impact of becoming competitors through CPaaS-focused business solutions.
We present to you the “Top 10 Cloud Communications Consulting/Service Providers - 2019”
