In trying to reduce operational costs, they are consolidating and searching for ways of streamlining operations. One way of doing this is by getting one company to handle all contacts not involving end-user activities with the vendors.
Ericsson's Multivendor Support services offer customers both hardware and software support not only covering Ericsson equipment, but for products developed by other vendors as well. This means that Ericsson can deliver reactive and proactive support - deliver a spare part, provide a restoration within hours and take continuous preventive actions, regardless of manufacturer or network equipment owner.
"Their contact with vendors is an enormous operational burden for our customers," says Lex van Oerle, who heads up a taskforce for Multivendor Support. "Now we can remove that burden and allow them to concentrate on the core of their operations - the end-user."
There are two Multivendor Support offerings, the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and Prime Support Contractor. Through the SPOC, Ericsson handles all support requests for all vendors, and operators contact Ericsson directly. The requests are validated, registered and dispatched to the correct service organization - that is, to Ericsson or any other vendor.
Ericsson will also monitor service levels and handle any deviations that may occur in the process, as well as provide customers with regular performance and benchmarking reports from the different vendors. However, in this model, the operator maintains its support contract with the vendor - with Ericsson responsible for the flow of information between the two.
As Prime Support Contractor, Ericsson is not only the SPOC, but also takes ownership of the support contract. The contract is between Ericsson and the operator, and Ericsson will be responsible for service delivery and accountable for the support performance of each vendor.
Lars Ullmar and Johan Jylltorp, strategic product managers at Ericsson, explain what advantages Ericsson offers within Multivendor Support: "Ericsson has a long history of global relationships with different vendors and service providers," Ullmar says. "And we have synergies all over the world in areas such as logistics."
Jylltorp adds: "Ericsson also has the extensive, local presence needed to set up and customize this kind of service for a specific customer's needs. We offer customers one single point of contact, and with our long-reaching combination of equipment and expertise, we will be able to reduce cost for our customers."
Ullmar says that Ericsson has a head start in this area. Through the Managed Services offerings and contracts, Ericsson already manages customers' multivendor networks.
One example of Multivendor Support is Ericsson's Spare Part Management Services (SPMS). Instead of having to stockpile spare parts and maintain distribution agreements with the vendor, the operators can rely on Ericsson to deliver them within hours.
"Through this service, operators don't need to spend money on storing spare parts that just collect dust," van Oerle says. "It makes sense to leave it to someone else and this service has been popular with our customers. Now we are taking another big step forward in this area."
The telecom industry is in agreement that the customer support area is in a steady state of change, and Ericsson is committed to taking responsibility and providing customers with a service that meets their growing demands.
Van Oerle says: "In the IT-industry, multivendor support has been standard for years. Support is available on the open market through non-vendor branded support providers. In the converging telecom industry, we can probably expect that things will move in the same direction in the coming years.
"There is no longer any reason for operators to accept that cost is revved up by agreements and processes with several different vendors."
