IBM has opened telecommunications development centres to help communication service providers (CSPs) create new business models while improving the customer experience and operational efficiencies.
Located in China, South Africa and Malaysia, the centres provide advanced technical skills and specialised offerings. In addition, the company also opened a centre in France for offerings based on products and services from Comverse, a supplier of software and systems for the telecom industry.
The company said that the centres offer a range of new telecommunications software offerings based on its Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) 3.0 framework, hardware, services and business partner applications.
The company said that the new Comverse centre of excellence (CoE) has been established within its Telecom Solutions Lab in France, with goal to reduce risk and speed time to value of telecom offering. The CoE creates a BSS/OSS (Business Support System/Operational Support System) and service-delivery environment using software components from IBM and Comverse that allow clients to test proofs of concept. IBM server and storage hardware, including power systems and bladecenter, provide the dynamic infrastructure foundation for the CoE.
According to IBM, Telecom Solutions Lab (TSL) in Sub-Sahara Africa located in Johannesburg features a proof of concept offering called ‘The Enterprise Applications for IMS + SDP for Mobile Healthcare’ which is aimed at improving doctor’s productivity and delivery of healthcare services using a wireless infrastructure. It allows onsite medical resources (general practitioners, clinic staff) to have immediate access to remote specialists.
The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Telecom CoE in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is set up with a goal to help CSPs improve customer life cycle management through business intelligence, analytics and service delivery platforms, the company said.
Scott Stainken, general manager for telecommunications industry at IBM, said: To sustain growth in today’s economy, service providers are seeking ways to offer subscribers a more positive and differentiated user experience while reducing complexity and cost. IBM’s specialised global centres and labs offer the telco industry an unparalleled level of expertise and support to speed implementation and facilitate more effective use of applications and technologies.