Ideally, an MVNO wants its underlying platform to support the operation of mobile services today, while providing the flexibility to introduce new propositions and capabilities over time.
For an MNO supporting multiple MVNOs, there is also clearly a need to provide a scalable foundation that can accommodate multiple MVNO partners, ideally flexing to change and opportunity, services and operational requirements.
100%, it is possible to assemble that platform from individual systems and components. But doing so creates an ongoing responsibility for integration, testing, assurance and technology evolution: all that implementation is only the start.
A platform that’s never really finished
A mobile service platform – like an MVNE solution – is made up of multiple technologies, interfaces and dependencies. Even where each individual component performs its intended function, you still need to ensure that the complete environment works together as a service.
And that is not a one-off exercise. Technology vendors have different development and release cycles. New versions introduce new capabilities, architectures change, interfaces evolve and underlying technologies are updated. And of course, each and every change potentially has implications beyond the individual component.
That means ongoing validation, regression testing and assurance across the wider platform. Over time, the organisation responsible for the platform effectively takes on a continuous systems integration role: coordinating changes, checking dependencies, resolving issues and ensuring that the service remains operational as the underlying technology evolves.
Quality assurance isn’t a one-off; it’s an ongoing discipline.
That work is necessary whether it is the core focus of your business or not.
Integration as standard
There is a legitimate argument for selecting individual components according to their specific capabilities. In some environments, a best-of-breed approach can make sense.
But the value of an individual component is only part of the equation. The platform as a whole has to:
a) work, and,
b) be easy to maintain, and,
c), future-proof.
That means considering not just what each system does, but how it integrates with everything around it, how changes will be managed, how new releases will be tested and how the complete environment will be assured over its operational lifetime.
For an MVNO, those are technology responsibilities sitting alongside the work of developing propositions, serving customers and growing the business. And, again, for an MNO supporting multiple MVNOs, the requirement is broader again: the platform needs to provide a consistent, scalable foundation for multiple MVNO operations without turning every new service into another integration exercise.
A proven, pre-integrated platform
This is where the Digitalk Mobile Cloud may be a very useful alternative. Why: because we have specifically architected it to offer players a proven, scalable and pre-integrated mobile service platform designed from blueprint stage to support MVNO operations, while also enabling MNOs to support multiple MVNOs.
The significance of being pre-integrated is not simply that implementation can be easier. Much more significantly, it means the integration of the platform's underlying capabilities is already part of the solution.
Digitalk manages the evolution of the platform, rather than leaving you as the customer to coordinate the evolution of multiple independent technologies. That includes the ongoing work required to introduce new capabilities, maintain integrations and ensure changes across the service.
We also handle the ongoing quality assurance, with processes optimised to ensure that all the moving parts perform as expected, throughout release cycles. Quality assurance is built in.
In other words, the platform is designed to evolve, as standard. Because mobile services do not stand still, neither does the technology that supports them — enabling you to always keep ahead of the game without the serious drain on budget and headspace in-house development demands.
More evolution than Charles Darwin’s notebook
The requirement for a mobile service platform does not end when it goes live.
MVNOs may need to introduce new propositions, expand their services or respond to changing customer and market requirements. MNOs supporting multiple MVNOs need a platform that can scale as those operations develop, while maintaining the consistency and reliability of the underlying service.
A platform that must be repeatedly reassembled or re-integrated to accommodate those changes creates unnecessary complexity. (And expense.)
In addition, Digitalk Mobile Cloud is designed to provide the technology foundation without requiring the operator to manage that complexity as a series of separate technology projects.
So, this SaaS service is continuously developed and maintained, with integration and quality assurance treated as part of the service rather than as an additional responsibility for the customer.
Focus on the mobile business, not the machinery underneath it
The choice, then, is therefore not simply between building a platform yourself and buying one from a third party; it’s about deciding where responsibility for the underlying technology platform should sit, and whether the platform can provide the integration, scalability, assurance and continuous evolution that the mobile business requires.
It is also about an ongoing commitment to your technology investments and how you can provide the resources you would need to maintain and evolve the platform, not just for future major upgrades, but for all those minor release updates and iterations, from every component provider.
That’s an open question – because you can’t know what those ongoing costs might be as you strive to maintain the platform while also building your mobile service business.
Digitalk Mobile Cloud provides that foundation as an integrated service. For MVNOs, that means a platform designed to support their mobile operations and evolve with the business. For MNOs, it provides a scalable platform for supporting multiple MVNOs without requiring the underlying technology environment to be built and maintained separately for each one.
Finally, security is part of our platform responsibility, too. Digitalk is fully ISO 27001 certified, providing an internationally recognised framework for information security management and the protection of customer, partner and business data.
The objective is straightforward: provide a mobile service platform that is ready to operate today, scalable enough to support tomorrow's requirements, and continuously maintained as technology evolves.
You need to remove future uncertainties and focus your budgets where they will give you the biggest returns – your mobile service propositions, customer care and innovation to retain competitive advantage.
That’s what Digitalk Mobile Cloud is built to do. If that sounds like an approach that would let you ‘stick to your knitting’ and just focus on building compelling market propositions that attract and retain customers, why not open the doors to partnership today?
