Fresh Perspectives on Monetization in Programmable Service Provider Networks

Written By Wayne Cullen, Senior Manager, Service Provider Architectures

Agility. Scalability. Automation. Orchestration. Programmability. Service providers are exploring such an array of new and exciting capabilities these days! You hear a lot about lowering costs by increasing efficiency and decreasing complexity.

But what about monetization? More specifically, do programmable networks help make you money while also saving it? What are the competitive benefits that lead to higher revenues from service agility and faster time-to-market? According to a 2013 Heavy Reading study, that’s a top expectation of service providers when asked about the potential benefits of software-defined networking (SDN). The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) has also promoted monetization opportunities based on SDN through new service creation and the enhancement of existing ones due to faster service creation, easier scalability, and mass customization.

Enhanced Revenue Generation with SDN-enabled Applications and Services

Here are other opportunities for greater monetization in programmable networks.

Open innovation enables service providers, third party companies, and even individual developers to create marketplaces of applications (e.g., Apple’s App Store) for financial gain.

Moving at Web speed, with faster certification of new apps and services enhances monetization. Using SDN and network functions virtualization (NFV), service providers can decide to speed decision making and the on-ramping of new applications and services to take advantage of opportunities.

Changing business models (e.g., from customers paying directly for services to advertisers and content providers offering services free in exchange for page views) supported by an intelligent, programmable network is another source of new revenue sources.

Using analytics to inform the creation of lucrative, better services and to support business models is another great opportunity within the programmable network. Ideally it’s an environment with a continual feedback loop of data, insights, and beneficial actions.

User friendliness of applications and content—supported by intelligent SDN technology and continually assessed through analytics—should be an important goal. Looking at customer usage patterns, profile information, and other data (instead of just tracking voice minutes or bandwidth consumed) is a window into the services and applications that customers will want most. This is another way to enhance monetization.

So while we embrace SDN, NFV, open APIs, and other technologies, let’s not forget to take advantage of the new ways of looking at business strategy, new business models, organizational transformation, novel approaches to partnering, and most of all, the end customers’ experiences. They can all impact the bottom line in exciting and lucrative ways using the new technologies to facilitate them.

For more on the topic, read and share this new brief whitepaper.