TM FORUM Digital Transformation World 2019 Post-show report
1. What is the TM FORUM and the Digital Transformation World event?
TM Forum Digital Transformation World (DTW) is the international event taking place in Europe every year. For many years it has been in Nice (including 2019). DTW will move to Copenhagen in 2020.
TM Forum is a global industry association. They drive collaboration and collective problem-solving to help communications service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers digitally transform and thrive in the digital era. As a neutral, non-profit member organization, TM Forum represents over 850 member companies. They generate US$2 trillion in revenue and serve five billion customers across 180 countries.
2. What are the key demographics of the TM FORUM Digital Transformation World 2019?
At the time of writing, the official figures for 2019 are still to be released. However, we know that in 2018, TMF Digital Transformation World had about 3000 attendees. 620 companies, from 110+ countries, 55% of which were buyers.
This event gathered about 800 Communication Service Provider (CSP) delegates representing 250 unique CSP companies.
3. What were the main topics and news discussed at the TM FORUM Digital Transformation World 2019?
Digital Transformation World 2019 explored various opportunities and challenges and across 6 dedicated tracks:
2025 Digital Operator
Capturing Value in the 5G Era. With the countdown to 5G already underway, 5G really is the next big thing in the journey of digital transformation. As a result, it was an essential topic during DTW.
5G is about so much more than just speed, the whole ecosystem will change. Innovative use cases are being suggested. Operators must go forward with a clear understanding of what business model they will use & how they are going to monetise 5G successfully.
Cloud Native IT
Cutting the Complexity to Deliver Business Agility. Cloud native can be taken to mean the approach to building & running applications whilst exploiting the cloud computing delivery model and all its advantages.
The entire lifecycle of the application must exist solely on the cloud platform. The fact that operators work with legacy systems and processes is well recognised as a barrier to growth in the future. To make the shift to become a true digital operator requires massive changes to virtually every area of their business. There were significant discussions how these Telco dinosaurs can deliver the digital transformation successfully. Case studies were presented, and experiences shared by operators from around the world.
Network Transformation
Building and operating an agile and dynamic virtual network. Business and technology leaders came together to discuss how they could build a flexible and scalable network. First, they looked at how they could manage the transition from legacy systems to the new service. Second, how to monetise parts of the service and leverage new revenue streams.
There were also discussions around MANO (Management & Orchestration) regarding the particular merits and drawbacks of the two main management and open source initiatives, ONAP (Open Network Automation Platform) and OSM (Open Source MANO Community).
AI and Data Strategy
Making Intelligent Decisions. Data volumes have gone through the roof in recent years & as a result operators must find the best way to leverage this data. Companies who use AI effectively must first extract the value from the data. Secondly, they must understand how it will well in the forthcoming 5G world. To get there, companies must first overcome many hurdles:
- how to deliver clean data
- work out which areas will be the most worthwhile to use AI in
- find out how to leverage AI to enhance operations
- how to find the right people to work with AI (or how to retrain existing staff in this area)
- how to overcome security concerns and ethical challenges.
Digital Customer Experience
Accelerating the Digital Customer. Service providers grappling with legacy systems and processes are struggling to deliver the seamless digital experience that today’s consumers expect. Looking at the digital customer experience as a whole, providers must look at ways to retain customers, reduce churn, and innovate to bring an experience that will ultimately attract and keep the customer.
Global Architecture Summit
The very first global architecture summit took place at this year’s Digital Transformation World. Discussions were concentrated on the topic of data lakes and how they can be built and used to drive digital transformation. A number of sessions looked at why they matter, what challenges face providers when they gather and distribute the data, how they can drive digital transformation, why a standardised approach matters, and how to make it happen.
Digital Transformation World 2020 will take place next year in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 16 – 18. DEVEO will provide appointment setting services to arrange meetings with pre-qualified decision makers and provide leads for your sales team. We’ll also send a team onsite to meet with our clients, prospects and be available to discuss your lead generation strategy for 2020 and beyond.
