Why a front-end agnostic CPQ solution is the best choice for CSPs

Selling telecom products and services can be a long and complex process. A thorough understanding of the products and tools is often needed, and this becomes more complicated with B2B2X models, where partner products from the wider ecosystem are involved.

Sales and ordering experience is changing with the introduction of AI and Gen-AI

The influence of AI and Generative AI in our daily lives is becoming increasingly noticeable. This gradually increases the expectations of end-users and CSPs’ sales agents for buying and selling services, respectively. CSPs should explore ways to effectively influence customers’ buying decisions, understand their intent and interests to meet new demands, and monetize the value of delivering a superior experience.

A CPQ system covers the configuration, price, and quote phases of the sales cycle. CPQs are usually deployed as standalone systems that need to be integrated into the surrounding business support system (BSS). The CPQ checks and verifies that resources are available for each quote to ensure that service requests can be delivered according to specified service level agreements (SLAs). This process might lead to slow response times in providing quotes to customers, potentially resulting in customer dropout, or inaccurate quotes due to the manual nature of the process.

Ericsson’s Gen-AI guided selling, also referred to as the CPQ assistant, transforms the buying and selling of complex products and services. A Gen-AI-powered CPQ assistant guides E-commerce customers and customer service representatives (CSRs) to:

• Select the right products to suit specific customer needs and ensure that the pricing is accurate.
• Create bespoke offers right at the ordering time and based on customer intent to make them available in the catalog for other similar customers.
• Learn to suggest suitable and relevant up-sell/cross-sell propositions run time.
• Interact with E-commerce customers or CSRs in a human-like manner by asking relevant questions, guiding them through the buying process, and helping them select suitable products and services.
• Create a business case that includes profit/margin calculations, along with insights from previous offers to assist the pricing manager in approving a customer quote.

Ericsson Gen-AI guided selling

A telco-grade CPQ and BSS is needed to manage the complexity

As customers and users seek more automation and simplicity, the complexity in CSPs’ offerings is increasing due to advanced underlying technologies, many ecosystem players, and new innovations and use cases, especially for B2B. By using a telco-specific, front-end-agnostic CPQ that leverages AI and Gen-AI-powered guided selling that are pre-integrated with other operations support systems/ business support systems (OSS/BSS) components, CSPs can take advantage of several benefits, including reduced time-to-market and increased automation. 

Using a customer relationship management (CRM) system and CPQ solutions from a single vendor is an option, but it can lead to vendor lock-in and, due to the required customizations, result in a non-standard and inflexible architecture. This poses a risk of reduced operational efficiency and increased costs for CSPs. Additionally, the user and customer experience might be unsatisfactory because the “CRMs-in-a-box BSS stacks” are often not comparable to leading CRM products. For this reason, it is not a recommended option for CSPs.

CSPs should aim for a completely seamless and modular integration to benefit from having the best CRM combined with the best telco-grade CPQ. By adopting open standards or application programming interfaces (APIs), CSPs can implement a platform approach in a modular manner. This eliminates the need to create proprietary integrations, which have hindered innovation in the past.

Digital natives expect seamless omnichannel experiences

To meet the requirements of digital natives, customer interaction channels must enable comprehensive and guided self-service. It should be user-friendly and allow for quick completion of tasks. For CSR agents, the expectations are similar;  salespeople require support at every step. It must be quick, intelligent, and agile to meet the expectations for a superior customer experience. While the system’s speed and ease of use are critical for customers and sales agents, it must also be able to prevent any mistakes that could lead to a suboptimal business case and potential revenue loss for the CSP. In short, the front-ends should simplify shopping and selling by seamlessly integrating into the telco CPQ and OSS/BSS. This involves enabling advanced capabilities while effectively concealing the complexity of the underlying technology, new services, and complex cross-industry business models.

Collaborating with IBM to provide a unique proposition for CRM-agnostic CPQ 

Ericsson and IBM have joined forces to offer a CRM-agnostic CPQ solution for CSPs looking to modernize and thrive. This solution addresses key industry challenges by offering a roadmap to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, increase agility, and promote optimal customer experiences, all while maximizing existing investments.

To capitalize on the 5G evolution and Gen-AI, while addressing market challenges and opportunities, the combined Ericsson-IBM solution proposes to:

1. Streamline business processes and secure enhanced business outcomes 
   The integrated solution streamlines and modernizes B2B selling and order management processes, providing CSPs with a competitive edge.
2. Enhance customer and partner satisfaction 
   The approach significantly improves customer satisfaction by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and streamlining processes.
3. Increase operational efficiency 
   The joint solution will guide sales agents, customers, and partners to swiftly capture and track orders, as well as make add-on sales at any time with Ericsson Core Commerce, which leverages  the AI capabilities of Ericsson and IBM Watsonx.
4. Capitalize on 5G monetization opportunities 
   Gain insights into the strategies that empower CSPs to capitalize on the huge monetization potential presented by Gen-AI and 5G technologies.

Benefits of the Ericsson – IBM collaboration

1. Increase revenue
   Our joint solution enhances operational efficiency, enabling CSPs to adapt to market changes swiftly and effectively. It allows CSPs to increase customer acquisition and retention by offering personalized services, flexible billing options, and real-time customer insights.
2. Reduce costs
   The key benefits of our solution include cost-saving mechanisms driven by pre-integration, improved efficiency in handling customer service requests (CSR), and digitalized self-service across multiple channels. This enables CSPs to optimize resources while maintaining high performance.
3. Enhance agility
   The collaboration between Ericsson and IBM enhances agility for communication service providers (CSPs), enabling them to swiftly adjust to new technologies and evolving customer demands. It also supports the launch of new services, such as IoT, 5G, and cloud-based offerings, which can generate additional revenue streams for telcos.

Cloud-native and modern architecture is a hygiene factor

Modern solutions require modern architecture. The cloud meets the increasing demand for flexible, scalable, and cost-effective IT solutions. Being cloud-native with microservices-based architecture, agile and flexible to work in hybrid multi-vendor, multi-cloud environments is no longer a differentiator, but a hygiene factor. With increasing complexities, the technology that supports high agility should be modular and open, which can only be achieved by adhering to industry standards. For CSPs to successfully execute their BSS-to-cloud journey, they must consider the following:

• Accelerate the adoption of TM Forum Open APIs and adopt the entire IT ecosystem continuously and accept pre-integrations only if they adhere to the interoperability principles.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and DevOps frameworks.
• Rationalize and simplify OSS/BSS processes, products.
• Prepare for the major shifts, where emerging technologies such as 5G and cross-industry trends such as Gen-AI will require increased agility, standardization, and a faster time to market to stay competitive with diverse revenue streams.

Integrated OSS/BSS requires an extensive set of services

Ultimately, the transformations that are intended for modernization of front-ends for a seamless, integrated sales and ordering process are not about the tools themselves - it's about the outcomes they enable. Whether it's enhancing operational efficiency, boosting customer satisfaction, or driving revenue growth, the Ericsson-IBM collaboration aims to build this end-to-end solution to deliver results. Every customer's journey is unique, which requires a broad set of tools, assets, experience, and credibility. 

Success requires a focus on the entire customer transformation lifecycle. Our services portfolio is designed to address challenges and seize opportunities at every stage. We offer guidance, development, and operational support to ensure a seamless end-to-end experience. From developing the initial strategy and achieving the desired business outcomes to providing precise planning and execution, our expertise covers every aspect. This includes implementation and cloud migration, as well as continuous support and management of your IT network.

Effective transformation drives better business outcomes

In summary, our solution is not just a collection of products - it's a commitment to a comprehensive, end-to-end transformation. We support the CSP transformation journey by ensuring that business objectives are achieved, and customers have an exceptional experience. With operations in over 180 countries, our global presence is complemented by  highly skilled local and regional competencies.

We partner with our customers at every step of their journey, delivering business outcomes and exceptional experiences for an end-to-end business transformation.

Download this solution brief to learn more about Ericsson’s and IBM’s collaboration

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