OTT Digital Services Offer SDP Vendors New Opportunities, Heavy Reading Says

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Service delivery platforms (SDPs) are evolving to provide network operators with a strong foundation for building successful digital services ecosystems that include participation of a wide range of third-party partners, but new technology competitors pose serious challenges to SDP vendors, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading Service Provider IT Insider (www.heavyreading.com/servsoftware), a paid research service of Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).

SDPs Get Retooled for Digital Services Ecosystems identifies and analyzes the changes that SDP vendors are making to their products to accommodate a stronger role in digital services ecosystem creation, and explores network operator strategies for building digital services ecosystems. The report evaluates the new positioning of established and new entrant vendors in the evolving SDP market and the opportunities and threats in front of them as digital services ecosystems develop. The report analyzes SDP offerings from 13 leading suppliers, including the world's largest telecom vendors.

For a list of companies analyzed in this report, http://img.lightreading.com/ssi/pdf/spiti0912_companies.pdf

"SDP vendors are raising their game to help operators find digital services ecosystem success," says Caroline Chappell, Senior Analyst at Heavy Reading and author of the report. "But as telcos try to shed their traditional images and blend into the Web 2.0 landscape, telco SDP vendors face the threat of new entrants to the market with 'universal,' non-telco specific API management, service creation platforms, and app store products."

The success of over-the-top (OTT) digital services and the threat they pose to telcos can no longer be ignored, Chappell says. "Operators increasingly realize that implementing enabling technology – an SDP that allows them to expose a handful of core communication service and enabler assets – is no longer enough to counter the inroads OTT services are making on their business," she continues. "Telcos can't halt the tide of OTT digital services, but they can use SDPs to be in a better position to work on new business opportunities with OTT companies and gain a stake in the digital services market that may otherwise pass them by."

Key findings of SDPs Get Retooled for Digital Services Ecosystems include:

• Telcos can succeed as "centers of gravity" for digital services ecosystems but they need the right positioning within the "whole tail," significant investment in building a developer community and strong SDP vendor partnerships.
• Apigee, Layer 7 Tech and AppDirect are among the startups with "universal" SDP components that threaten traditional SDP vendors while WebRTC is waiting in the wings.
• Operators are rediscovering their inner developer but need to ensure that internal service creation is API-enabled.
• Telefonica's TU Me service highlights the value of a hybrid approach to "short tail" digital services creation that keeps the operator relevant to OTT customers while exploiting telco protocol-specific development advantages.

SDPs Get Retooled for Digital Services Ecosystems is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (six issues) to Heavy Reading Service Provider IT Insider, priced at $1,595. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/servsoftware. For more information on all of Heavy Reading's Insider services, please visit www.heavyreading.com/research.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Geddes
Account Manager
Heavy Reading
303-997-9135
geddes@lightreading.com

Press/analyst contact:
Jennifer Baker
Marketing Director, Light Reading Communications Network
617-871-1910
jbaker@lightreading.com

About Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com)
Heavy Reading is an independent research organization offering deep analysis of emerging telecom trends to network operators, technology suppliers, and investors. Its product portfolio includes in-depth reports that address critical next-generation technology and service issues, market trackers that focus on the telecom industry's most critical technology sectors, exclusive worldwide surveys of network operator decision-makers that identify future purchasing and deployment plans, and a rich array of custom and consulting services that give clients the market intelligence needed to compete successfully in the global telecom industry. As a telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lrcn.com), Heavy Reading contributes to the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.

About Light Reading Communications Network (www.lrcn.com)
The Light Reading Communications Network combines the most trusted telecom research brands with award-winning online communities and a rich events portfolio to deliver the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.   With the power of this platform, leaders who build, deploy, finance, and regulate next-generation telecom networks are able to make more informed decisions on emerging market and service opportunities.  Light Reading Communications Network is a division of UBM TechWeb (www.ubmtechweb.com), the global leader in technology media and business information. 

SOURCE Heavy Reading