Its not about the bike

July is one of my favorite months – not just because of the long days of summer but because I get to kick back at the end of the day and catch the Tour de France highlights on Versus. This year all of France and the cycling world are buzzing about the return of Lancelot. Seven time winner, cancer survivor, and just back on the bike from a broken collarbone in March during the Vuelta of Castilla. What is amazing is 37 year old Armstrong is still in contention for the maillot jaune after 9 stages against teammate and favorite to win Alberto Contador. I’m happy to look beyond the last three years of doping scandals and watch the 96th tour unfold and decide who the best man is on July 26 in Paris.

The tour in all its glory cannot be won without the support of the team. In cycling the term “Domestiques” is applied to the 7 other riders that provide tactical support for its lead rider against opposing teams. A similar sort of relationship is unfolding in the telecommunications market. Competition brings increased focus on the customer. Operations, IT, customer care, and product marketing must work together to support the demands of the customer.

The focus of the past 20 years was on technology and how to build the most reliable, fault tolerant network to provide voice and data services. The next 20 years will focus on the customer. This will take the form of personalization, lifestyle, and seamless integration with voice, video, and data. Just like the domestiques in cycling, each group within the CSP must look beyond their own walls to win mindshare and marketshare.

The Nextgen Telecom Software Strategies blog will look at future software architecture, CSP approaches, emerging technologies, new services, and the systems in the global marketplace. Look for a rotating schedule of weekly blogs from our analyst team that addresses the issues facing business, operations, and IT groups and the strategies that we see gaining success in the telecommunication market.