Trend Analysis Report

REDEFINING THE CTIO

CT
ESSENTIALS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE
Author: Catherine Haslam, Senior Analyst
Editor: Dawn Bushaus, Managing Editor
November 2018

CTIO
R E D E
F I N I

IO
N G T H E
C T I O
inform.tmforum.org
03 04 07
Contents
Section 1
e respondents speak
Where are CSPs on their journeys?

13
The big picture Section 1: When two Section 2: Technology

17 19
worlds collide trends that demand CTIO
convergence

21
Section 3: Skills are the Section 4: Make it happen– TM Forum toolkit for

25
greatest challenge Strategies for merging IT digital transformation
and networks

TM Forum Frameworx Research & Media Team

inform.tmforum.org 2
e big picture
Most communications service providers (CSPs) have infrastructure-based businesses that have
been built on a foundation of technical capabilities. Developing, operating, enhancing and
upgrading these capabilities is the responsibility of the CTO and increasingly the CIO.

The network and services, primarily
voice, were once one and the same,
with services engineered into the
network. But as operators separate
services and transport and as flexible
personalization of services replaces
ubiquity, the roles of leading
technology teams change and so do
the people leading.
CTO and CIO functions are becoming
inextricably linked as CSPs transform
digitally. While there has long been an
clear. Furthermore, what is right for
one CSP may not be right for another,
even if goals are similar.
Facing the challenges
Attendees of the 2018 TM Forum
CTIO Summit at Digital
Transformation World identified
culture, complexity (of product
portfolios, processes, etc.) and lack of
skills as the top barriers to digital
transformation progress (see graphic
n Significant cultural issues that
provide the biggest barrier to
integration
n Technologies that are driving
change and emerging as priorities
The changing relationship with
n
vendors and how CTIOs are
juggling the demands of so many
technology changes at once
How ‘softwarization’ is changing the
n

below). demand for skill sets and how CSPs

interface between them, the
are attempting to address the
relationship between the roles is
In this report we leverage information shortage of skills
changing significantly in breadth and
from the CTIO Summit and in-depth
depth. The challenge of legacy systems,
interviews with executives leading the n

convergence of CTO and CIO including they ways in which

TM Forum’s first Digital Transformation
functions to explore the challenges, services can be maintained as
Tracker recommended the integration
specifically: customers are moved to new
of CIO and CTO functions because
systems, and the different
the agility CSPs require is only
The motivations and different ways approaches to the financial
possible with the right IT systems to
n
CSPs are changing their implications of replacing legacy
deliver automation and real-time
organizational structures to systems
customer experience. For example, IT
integrate CIO and CTO functions,
is becoming a central feature of
and how they are merging teams
network planning, operation and
management, and conversely,
information from networks is required Top 5 barriers to digital transformaon
to inform business support systems
and customer-facing IT systems.

The logic is obvious, but behind this

simple recommendation lies complex
convergence of two remits. Getting
the evolution right is integral to CSPs’
long-term success. However, what
right looks like, what justifies change,
when to initiate change and how to
1. Culture 2. Complexity 3. Availability 4. Lack of clear, 5. Aversion
(product por olio, of skills aligned vision to risk

implement convergence are far from

processes, etc.) and goals

TM Forum, 2018

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Section 1
When two worlds collide

A decade ago, the demarcation between the CTO and CIO roles was clear and obvious: The
CTO was responsible for the technical delivery and operation of the network including all the
support systems, while the CIO’s domain was to provide the IT systems used by staff and
customer-facing systems, such as call centers and retail support systems. The CTO oversaw
communications-specific hardware and highly bespoke software integration. The CIO toolkit
more often comprised off-the-shelf hardware and ubiquitous IT skills. For most communications
service providers (CSPs), this is changing.

The overriding reality for the network
side of CSPs’ businesses is that
demand for capacity and data usage
are growing far more quickly than
revenue is rising. Therefore, costs
must decrease. Yet efficiency gains
alone, even if dramatic, are not
enough, so networks must also
environment, and software the key
enabler. All this means that CSPs are
building and operating the traditional
domains of the CTO using the
skillsets of the CIO office.
How to merge roles?
The benefits of bringing CTO and CIO
mobile only or triple-/quad-play)
n Requirements of the local market
n Skills and background of the CIO
and CTO
Both Souche and Telefônica Brasil
CIO André Kriger agree that there is a

“
support new services and capabilities. difference between the approaches
teams together are no longer in
Agility, flexibility and dynamism are necessary, and indeed possible, at
question, but when and how they
the key attributes of future network group and operating company levels.
should converge and who should lead
design and management, and these Says Kriger:
are. Thierry Souche, CIO, Orange
capabilities are best enabled by IT.
Group, states that there is no single
More flexible hardware, even answer to these questions as the
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) decisions depend on:
hardware, and platforms are
n Stage of IT integration
becoming the operational building
blocks of choice. Cloud is the favored n Size and type of CSP (for example,

How can IT help?

Deploying [an overall]
Network virtualiza on
Network challenges

strategy at country level

Moderniza on of radio network
is more complex. e
Poten al IT solu ons

Moderniza on of core network Moving to cloud

complexity of the
Agile OSS/BSS Open source architecture
soware platforms and
DevOps prac ces the specific position of
Agile opera ons the business can create a
two-to-three-year delay.”
TM Forum, 2018

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Section 1 - When two worlds collide

Despite this, it’s important not to get How do CSP leaders see themselves?
hung up on the specifics, Souche
argues, but instead focus on the
100%

benefits of bringing IT and network

89% 89%
84%

skills together. All the technology 80% 74% 74% 74%

leaders we interviewed agree on the

need for a unified strategy that
encompasses all elements of
60% 53%

technology and that this is best

47%

delivered through a single leader. 40%

CSPs must consider technology

26% 26% 26%

holistically and as something that is

20% 16%

essential to avoid the creation of

11% 11%

‘fiedoms’. Also vital is a plan for how 0%

to go about integrating teams.

Resilient Strong Decisive Humble Adaptable Visionary Engaged
communicator

Although few executives are ready to I am reasonably confident of my own abili es This is an a!ribute I need to develop

acknowledge it, there is resentment

on both sides. Network staff feel that
TM Forum, 2018

their value is being threatened or replaced, but they must be

undermined, while IT staff are fed up
with being depicted as inferior when
their work is equally important. This
division does not exist everywhere,
but where it does, it can be tied to
risk aversion, which differs between
engineering and IT teams based on
potential repercussions from taking
risks.
Weighing the risks
Networks
Demands of the job
It is the job of the CTIO to bring
networks and IT together, and the
profile of that leader also must
change over time. Leading technology
teams was once about technical
acumen, structure and organization.
Those characteristics have not been
augmented. The CTIO’s challenge is
dealing with, responding to and
inspiring the people around them
through a period of unprecedented
change while staying on top of
technological developments.
At the CTIO Summit held at Digital
Transformation World, 19 CXOs, most
of them from CSPs, were asked about
their leadership skills. The skills they
rated as their strongest – being
adaptable and decisive – reflect how
demanding the role has become (see

High aversion to risk Low aversion to risk

graphic above). Leaders realize they

• Failure of systems brings core • Failure of systems takes down retail

must be able to quickly understand,

services to a halt and call centers

• Developing and introducing new • Willingness to develop and introduce

access and react to changing or new
requirements.
technology and systems that are new technology and systems and to
o en reliant on standards and require test and refine in short !meframes
long lead !mes for tes!ng
• Willingness to decommission legacy
• Difficulty in decommissioning and systems
re!ring legacy systems
IT

TM Forum, 2018

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Section 1 - When two worlds collide

With previous technology Becoming a business leader is a pre-

What it takes to lead
Modern CSP technology leaders,
especially CTIOs, are a rare breed.
They must continue to be
conscientious, but to overcome the
transformations, such as the
introduction of fiber, 3G or even 4G,
a leader’s success was not judged by
Net Promoter Scores (NPS) or
customer value, but in terms of
requisite. Furthermore, business
capabilities must be embedded
throughout technology divisions.
Building business cases is becoming
as important as building networks. For

challenges of digital transformation
they must also embrace
characteristics more traditionally
associated with their counterparts in
marketing or strategy.
Not only must technology leaders
embrace new personal skills, they also
require a far greater level of business
acumen.
throughput speeds, capacity gains
and coverage. Now the links to
business objectives are cemented in
technology strategy, with CTIOs often
rewarded based on business-focused
key performance indicators (KPIs), not
technical ones. One leader we
interviewed stated that at his
company 100% of the CTO’s bonus is
based on improvements in customer
value.
“
example, Canadian CSP Telus
provides business case training to
technology teams.
Telefônica Brasil’s Kriger highlights
the importance of changing the
perception of IT among other
departments. He says:

CTIO challenges and aributes

Success is when
Thinking counterparts in other
outside
the box departments recognize
that IT is working better
Retraining and not seen as causing
staff
delays.”

With all the changes in structure and

Move
CTIO Becoming Challenge
decisively Managing

personal and professional

challenges business conven!onal
towards ‘so#wariza!on’
and a ributes leaders wisdom

characteristics required for successful

objec!ves

digital transformation, it would be

easy to lose sight of the technological
changes that must remain at the heart
Innova!ng
at speed

of transformation. We’ll discuss these

in the next section.
Flexibility

TM Forum, 2018

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Section 2
Technology trends that demand
CTIO convergence

“
Digital transformation demands significant changes in the processes, skills and working
practices of technology departments within communications service providers (CSPs), and
therefore of CTOs and CIOs. The changes are so numerous that perhaps it would be easier to
list what doesn’t need to change.

Four major technology trends are Market saturation and constant

defining the speed and direction of
convergence within roles and teams:
Network evolution and
virtualization
Moving operational and
business support systems
(OSS/BSS) to the cloud
Demand for service
innovation (for example, in the
internet of things – IoT)
Creation, collection and
utilization of massive amounts
Networks were viewed in
traditional OSI layers,
but now Layers 1 to 3 are
transport and we have to
treat them as a single
entity – OSS needs to do
that too.”
This requires fundamentally different
pressure on price means that this will
not be the case forever. Fixed
services orientated towards
businesses provide some indications
of the necessity and value of
integrating networks and IT. For
mobile, that inflection point begins
with IoT, but 5G will initiate the kind
of developments seen in the fixed
world.
Soware is king
It is obvious that as network
functions virtualization (NFV) and

of data
Prioritization of the trends and their
importance in the overall strategic
direction of specific CSPs varies.
However, their impact on the
operational structure and model is
undeniable.
engineering. At the same time, the
ways in which customers use newer
networks has changed and continues
to do so. Customers’ interaction with
operators and the way they consume
services demand that OSS/BSS and
networks be far more flexible and
operate in real time. This must
happen through software.
“
software-defined networking (SDN)
become more prevalent, the
importance of software increases and
the requirement to integrate
networks and IT grows. However, the
development of the base
technologies, and therefore the
integration that will necessarily follow,
is slower than desired. Says Gedeon:

CSPs will reach inflection points at

Network evolution
The evolution to fiber in fixed
networks and generational
improvements in mobile equipment
are driving transformation from
bottom up and top down. From
bottom up, a complete change in
thinking and architecture is required.
Says Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO, Telus:
different times, and the role of mobile
in their businesses is perhaps the
single greatest influencer on when
this will happen. The mobile industry
in general has been able to continue
NFV is nowhere near
using legacy networks and elements
where we want it to be.”
as the imperative to change has been
slower than in fixed networks. New
customers and data growth have
been able to sustain the investment in
network evolution.

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Section 2: Technology trends that demand CTIO convergence
Virtualization is complicated and
involves not only changes in behavior
from CSPs but also the vendor
community. Suppliers must change
the way they develop, deliver and
charge for products and services. Just
as CSPs are conscious of cannibalizing
the service-based revenue streams
that have previously served them
well, so too are vendors aware that
virtualization represents a challenge
to their traditional revenue streams.
However, just as CSPs have found,
Measuring digital maturity
‘Digital transformation’ may be the
most often-used phrase in business
today, but it is vague – there are
many possible definitions and
interpretations. It covers various
functional areas which will
transform in different ways and at
different rates. This makes it
difficult for CSPs to implement
benchmarking. Any measurement
model needs to be all-inclusive,
transparent, objective, specific and
meaningful. It also needs to be
available to all CSPs.
TM Forum has developed a Digital
Maturity Model that meets all these
requirements. CSPs, technology
companies and global advisory firms
have pooled their knowledge and
experience to create a model that
the migration will happen with or
without them, and being part of the
change is better than resisting from
the sidelines.
Vendors could do more
In our interviews CTIOs said they
understand the challenges vendors
are facing and they were unwilling to
be too critical of them. However, they
did express some frustration. Says
Gedeon:
can be used to identify possible
investment priorities and manage
the journey itself, step by step. The
DMM works across five dimensions,
each of which is sub-divided and
measured via unique objective
descriptions to specific questions,
rather than non-specific Likert
scales.
Watch this video to learn more
about the Digital Maturity Model:
inform.tmforum.org
“Vendors are brilliant when they are
not the incumbent.”
Others suggest that sales teams have
not been incentivized to sell longer-
“
term solutions and that traditional
product sales are more likely to put
bonuses in the pockets of vendors’
sales staff. Network maintenance is
an area of concern. Says KPN CIO
Bouke Hoving:
It’s difficult to take a
DevOps approach
without change, and
vendors are not yet
delivering what we need.”
Telefônica Brasil CIO André Kriger
believes that the partnership model
needs to be upended. Ideally, he says,
CSPs would reward technology
partners with bonuses based on
successful and timely delivery of an
entire project, rather than just the
specific element they supply. This
would increase their commitment and
responsiveness.
Overall the inability of vendors to
keep up with CSPs’ demands is
leading operators to take a ‘do-it-
yourself’ approach, particularly
around deploying DevOps in core
networks and in limiting the number
of vendor partners. Hoving explains
that KPN wanted to take a multi-
vendor or vendor-agnostic approach
to its network transformation strategy
but was forced to backtrack
somewhat due to the level of
complexity and limitations of vendor
modularity. “It’s been a necessity but
is not our preference,” he says.
8
Section 2: Technology trends that demand CTIO convergence

Operating in the clouds Ranking the challenges of network transformaon

Perhaps the single biggest challenge
for technology leaders is not the
The need to implement a 62%

network itself but the systems that

new genera on of agile 65%

support it. As Hoving notes:

OSS/BSS 55%

Concerns about security 59%

“The OSS domain is particularly

56%
vulnerabili es

difficult to transform – it takes years

47%

and involves migrating elements on a

Need for sophis cated 57%

weekly basis.”
orchestra on capabili es 67%
52%

Other CSPs are facing similar Immaturity of current 56%

challenges with OSS transformation

59%
products
50%

as is evidenced by the three Digital

Transformation Trackers TM Forum has
52%
Time it will take for
47%

published during the past 18 months

standards to mature
45%

(see graphic opposite).

Concerns about how we will do 48%
end-to-end provisioning and 59%

Other recent TM Forum research

management across hybrid networks 46%

shows that up to 72% of revenue is

that may involve partners’ networks

dependent on 5G’s new capabilities DTT 3 DTT 2 DTT 1

and requires IT transformation,
demonstrating how vital it is. Central
TM Forum, 2018

to this is making OSS more flexible

and efficient, which inevitably
includes not just implementing
software solutions but also moving
some OSS systems to the cloud.

What is the Digital Transformation Tracker?

As its name implies, the DTT tracks
the status of digital transformation
in the telecommunications industry
and CSPs’ perceptions about
progress. TM Forum launched the
tracker in May 2017 to provide a
more complete and accurate picture
of the state of global CSP
transformation.
Since then, we have conducted the
survey every six months, with many
of the questions remaining
unchanged from one survey to the
next. This allows us to monitor
progress and changes in perception
around key drivers and success
factors. We also add new questions
to each survey so that we can focus
on a specific aspect of
transformation.
DTT 1, which surveyed 185 CSP and
175 supplier respondents,
established the status of digital
transformation in the telecoms
market. DTT 2, which was published
in May 2018 surveying 178 CSP and
91 supplier respondents, focused on
the cultural divide within CSPs. DTT
3 published in September 2018 with
160 CSP and 76 supplier
respondents, focused on network
transformation. You can access the
trackers by clicking on the images
above.

inform.tmforum.org 9
Section 2: Technology trends that demand CTIO convergence

Why cloud? Benefits of migrang OSS to the cloud

When participants in the Forum’s
2018 CTIO Summit were asked to
rate the biggest benefits of OSS
migration to the cloud they cited the
ability to scale dynamically on
Elascity to scale Flexibility in CapEx/OpEx allocaon Agility for faster

demand as No. 1.
dynamically on (including new cloud/SaaS launch of new services
demand subscripon models), parcularly
for risky/uncertain new services

Half of the executives attending the

summit reported that 5% or less of
TM Forum, 2018

their company’s OSS is currently in

the cloud, but they expect
deployment to increase to 50% in
three years (see graphic below). This is
a major turnaround that can only be
achieved if heavily prioritized, and
prioritization requires that operators
overcome concerns about cloud
security and reliability, particularly
around public clouds.
Public or private?
Generally, there are three approaches
to cloud: public, private and hybrid. In
public clouds, services and
infrastructure are provided off-site
over the internet, making them the
most cost-effective solution because
they share resources. But public
clouds are more vulnerable to security
risks, which leads some companies to
choose clouds hosted on a private
network. The hybrid approach offers a
mixture of the two.
The expectation is that CSPs’ real-time
operations, particularly those areas
most closely related to the network,
will remain on premise. However, that
does not exclude the use of public
cloud providers. The CTIOs we
open to on-premise clouds from
public providers. As an executive from
a North American CSP explains, “The
internal clouds can be theirs as well,
just hosted on your premises.” Some
are even considering ‘public-first’
policies.
It is important to understand that this
attitude is not simply driven by
economics or dictated by balance
sheets. Yes, there are potential
Percentage of OSS in the cloud
11%
50%
22%
Now
6%
50%
11%
financial savings – a virtual machine in
a public cloud is cheaper than one in a
private cloud – but the case for public
cloud is made by the agility,
innovation, availability of application
program interfaces (APIs), and
software development capabilities
offered. The best software developers
want to work on public clouds, and
that makes them attractive to CTIOs
who want to innovate and develop
capabilities quickly.
5.5%
16.5%
5.5%
In 3 years
22%

interviewed accept that cloud models

make sense and that public clouds are
0-5% 5-10% 10-20% 20-50% more than 50%

valuable tools – and some are indeed TM Forum, 2018

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Section 2: Technology trends that demand CTIO convergence
Service innovation
Another driver of transformation is
the demand for and proliferation of
innovative services. Despite the
massive range of end-user activities,
the services that CSPs offer have
been limited. Particularly in the mobile
environment, voice, messaging and
data have been the sum of service
innovation. However, in a triple- or
quad-play environment with IoT
added, managing multiple services on
top of network transport, is a major
undertaking, one that puts IT
(platforms and software), not the
network, front and center.
Orange Group CIO Thierry Souche
describes how his challenge is to
create a full-stack delivery platform at
scale for all countries which includes
IoT, TV, device management,
payments, smart home, etc. The aim is
“
to provide tools and structures
centrally, and the flexibility to adapt
service propositions to the local
market. It is not about dictating
service portfolios across the group.
Souche notes:
We are accompanying
country operations in
their soware journeys,
creating toolsets,
platforms. Some countries
are pushing on and others
need to follow.”
Similarly, Telefônica Brasil’s Kriger,
identified the implementation of a full-
stack platform as an important tool in
meeting requirements from the rest of
the organization to develop services
and solutions more quickly.
Data, data everywhere
One of the most significant
differences between network and IT
environments lies in how data is
created, collected and utilized. Data is
the core resource of the CIO but not
of the CTO. As networks evolve, the
amount of data generated is
increasing substantially and includes
usage and performance data,
instructions to the network,
monitoring and fault alarms, new
service settings, customer provisioning
data and so on.
Data will be everywhere and that is
good – but only if it can be utilized
effectively. As Souche explains, “Big
data analytics are not yet used
enough but the capabilities are there.”
AI’s potential
An important use of ‘good’ analyzed
data is to automate processes and
implement decision-making artificial
intelligence (AI). KPN's Hoving notes
that AI’s role is currently more relevant
to IT than networks. He rates the
technology as priority No. 3 behind
virtualization and DevOps. This makes
absolute sense because implementing
AI for network operations requires the
agility of software and the continuous
development and improvement that
results from implementing DevOps.
inform.tmforum.org
“
However, creating a structure that
enables AI experiences, technologies
and developers to be shared across an
organization top to bottom is not
simple. As Gedeon notes, it’s not a
one-person job but one that requires
an architectural solution. He says:
We don’t want IT to be a
bottleneck for AI. Anyone
should be able to use AI; it
can’t be siloed.”
Data infrastructure must enable data
to flow or be accessed end to end. It
also must be able to identify ‘good’
and ‘bad’ data, and eliminate the latter
without bringing down the systems
that rely on the data, whether they be
BSS, OSS or the network itself. An
architecture that underpins effective
creation, delivery and management of
services is as important to CSP’s
future businesses as the network
itself.
This is the element of technology
evolution that equalizes the imbalance
between networks and IT. Once a
credible data architecture is in place,
failures will have similar impact on
core services as any that occur in the
network. Therefore, in creating the
data architecture, a networks-like
culture of thinking through every
possibility and of being risk aware if
not risk averse will be essential.
11
Section 2: Technology trends that demand CTIO convergence
Building the Open Digital Architecture
CSP technology leaders are
collaborating to address OSS/BSS
challenges in standards-
development organizations and
open source communities. At TM
Forum they are working on the
Open Digital Architecture (ODA),
which is envisioned as a
replacement for traditional
OSS/BSS. ODA offers a
standardized blueprint enabling
vendors to participate in a
marketplace for reusable solutions
to common business challenges.
ODA is a collection of several
artifacts or assets (architecture
processes, best practices, standards
and tools) designed to help CSPs
and their suppliers reimagine and
evolve OSS/BSS.
Key ODA principles
Exploit the Lower Support
flexibility of operaonal flexible
cloud costs through business
automaon models
TM Forum, 2018
e legacy challenge
Most of our discussions with
technology leaders have focused on
the new elements of transformation.
However, we cannot ignore the
elephant in the room: CSPs have
invested billions of dollars over the
years on the technologies and
systems they have in place. To put this
The key is that ODA is an
evolution, not a revolution. It is
founded on TM Forum Frameworx
and offers a simplified view of
Frameworx to facilitate
implementation of components.
ODA draws on a suite of more than
50 Open APIs and includes key
concepts from the Forum’s work on
platform architectures and
OSS/BSS of the future. It also
incorporates concepts such as
model-driven orchestration and
automated onboarding from TM
Forum’s Zero-touch Orchestration,
Operations and Management
(ZOOM) project.
Check out this
white paper to
learn more:
Support Improve me Support
mulple to market with digital
suppliers new services ecosystems
into context, Telefônica Brasil’s Kriger
explains that he must manage more
than 600 systems as part of the
central IT function plus 500 more
sitting within other departments.
Like many other CIOs, Kriger is tasked
with developing a common
architecture, but as he explains legacy
systems include “a lot of
inform.tmforum.org
customization that is very hard to
replicate.” They won’t disappear
overnight. Furthermore, each and
“
every migration needs to be achieved
while ‘keeping the lights on’.
As noted in Section 1, cultural
differences between networks and IT
have prevailed because of the
different levels of risk associated with
failures in each domain. Kriger is clear
that this is no longer the case:
If our systems fail, the
business stops.”
The most optimistic technology
leaders we interviewed believe they
can replace legacy IT within five years,
while others believe it will take a
decade or more. However, it’s
becoming clear that decommissioning
systems or services that no longer fit
with the technology or business
transformation is strategic. Therefore,
case-by-case justification for de-
commissioning or replacing systems is
happening less frequently. While
previous investments cannot be
ignored entirely, operators are putting
them into context based on future
requirements, not past expenditure.
Technology trends are driving the
requirements for network and IT
convergence, but the changes cannot
take place without people to
implement them. We’ll look at the
impact on human skills and resources
in the next section.
12
Section 3
Skills are the greatest challenge

Digital transformation demands new skills of technology leaders and employees within
technology divisions. Many communications service providers (CSPs) are ‘insourcing’ talent,
meaning they are hiring or retraining employees to develop the necessary skill sets. This reflects
the macro-trend that has developed across the entire IT sphere. Cloud development
environments encourage this as they significantly reduce costs.

Most of the CSP respondents who CSP are hiring soware developers
took part in TM Forum’s Digital
Transformation Tracker 3 (DTT 3) survey
said they expect significant growth in
2015 2018 2021

the number of software developers

employed by their organizations in
the next three years. Seven
respondents representing seven
different CSPs noted that their
companies already employ more than
48% 54% 34%
5,000 developers, and six, who
reported having fewer than 250
of respondents said their said their company expect their company

software developers in 2015,

company employed fewer employs at least 100 to employ 500
than 50 developers developers developers or more
indicated they expect the number to
increase to 1,000 or 2,000 by 2021. TM Forum, 2018

Can CSPs attract the

necessary skills?
However, ensuring that CSPs can
Which skills are needed most?

identify and attract the relevant IT

skillsets is one of the biggest
challenges facing technology leaders
and their human resources
departments. Not surprisingly, skills in
data analytics rank highest on the list
for the CXOs who attended TM
1. Big data/ 2. Programming/ 3. Agile roles (scrum 4. IT 5. Security/ 6. Cloud/SaaS

Forum’s 2018 CTIO Summit, whereas

analy cs/business applica on managers, business architecture compliance/

they said they have no plans to recruit

intelligence development analysts, etc.) governance

more traditional IT skills such as TM Forum, 2018

database administration and web

development.

inform.tmforum.org 13
Section 3: Skills are the greatest challenge
Technology leaders face two primary
challenges in acquiring skills
n A relatively small pool of suitably
qualified talent – for example,
Telus CTO Ibrahim Gedeon
expresses frustration with the
relevance of skills coming from
universities, as most are only
applicable to research and cannot
be applied easily to the CSP
environment; experience is key but
it comes at a price.
n Steep competition from other
CSPs and digital natives – the
kinds of skills CSPs need are also in
Technologies and skills CSPs are adopng
Microservices
Agile so ware
development
6%
AI and machine
learning
Analy!cs
Cloud
Devops
0%
We have implemented and are benefi"ng
We are just star!ng
demand among many of the world’s making attempts to embrace the
leading companies, as webscale cultural style of digital native
giants, Silicon Valley startups and companies like Amazon and Google.
major enterprises in other verticals However, such initiatives can easily
are going through their own digital descend into trite examples. There is
transformations. far more to creating a culture that
attracts the best IT talent than
The graphic below shows where changing dress codes, installing a pool
CXOs feel operators are making table and getting pizza delivered to
progress when it comes to adopting offices.
new technologies and skills.
The most important factors identified
in our ongoing research are autonomy
and the challenge of working with the
A question of culture
Most CSP leaders believe they need
best and latest technologies. Or, in
to change the culture of their
other words, the best IT talent want
companies to compete, and they are
to be challenged and allowed
freedom to think and innovate.
CSPs increasingly are adopting
cutting-edge technology like
virtualization, artificial intelligence,
17%
22%
virtual reality and big data analytics,
28%
33%
39% so that can be attractive to software
developers. A far more difficult
22%
28%
challenge, however, lies in CSPs’
11%
ability to demonstrate autonomy.
Many operators have histories that
33%
22%
include government ownership or are
39%
long-standing market leaders – both
28%
33%
of which tend to promote the
39%
adoption and continuation of
33%
hierarchical, operations-driven
28%
39%
cultures. Changing such cultures is a
long and challenging process but
22%
22%
there is evidence that working
44%
11%
practices are changing alongside the
adoption of technologies that will
10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
help to attract IT talent (see panel on
page 15).
We are rolling out but have yet to acheive results
It is something we are planning to do
TM Forum, 2018
inform.tmforum.org 14
Section 3: Skills are the greatest challenge
Doing away with rules at Bharti Airtel
Many CSPs are starting to acquire
the skills they need by hiring
developers into digital divisions to
create platform-based services
aimed at enterprise customers.
Management at India’s Bharti Airtel
has taken deliberate steps to
encourage digital culture, according
to Group CIO Harmeen Mehta.
Within her organization (IT &
Preserving network
knowledge
While some operators are succeeding
at hiring developers for platform-
based services, finding coding talent
for areas such as network
engineering, where deep knowledge
of networking technology is also
required, is more difficult. As a
technology leader of an international
carrier explains, it is important to be
able to transfer network knowledge
into an IT environment – operators
cannot afford to lose that expertise.
CSPs are combining network
knowledge and IT skills in many ways.
For some, it’s all about creating mixed
teams. One European CSP executive
explains that every network team has
an IT member who can advise about
software approaches. For others it’s
about introducing IT working
practices such as DevOps and Agile
methodology into network
operations.
Engineering), half the staff focus on
developing digital products and
platforms, while half focus on the
core telecom business.
In the platform group, “almost
everybody comes from an internet
background,” Mehta says. “For the
other half, telecom is their core
strength and they are focused
much more on BSS, OSS and core
telco products, supporting our
fixed-line business, our digital TV
businesses, and, of course, the
mobility business. They are
completely distinct skillsets.
Interestingly, there are very
different age dynamics as well. The
number of millennials on the digital
side is almost 80 percent, whereas
they number less than 20 percent
The DTT 3 survey shows that CSPs
are adopting DevOps within IT
departments more than they are
within network departments, but still
nearly half are already adopting it
network divisions.
CSPs begin to adopt DevOps for networks
IT
19%
35%
We have successfully deployed
DevOps across many teams
inform.tmforum.org
on the core telco side.”
She adds: “This was a very
conscious decision we made –
that’s the kind of culture we
wanted to build. In the digital part
of our organization, there are no
rules; it’s completely non-
hierarchical. People associate
themselves with the platforms they
are building, and we literally have
no rules: They do what they want,
wear what they want, come and go
when they want. Sometimes they
‘binge-code’ and then disappear for
48 hours. It’s a very, very open
environment and you have to allow
for that. You can’t attract the level
of talent and build the right open-
minded products for your
consumers without it.”
Networks
18%
46%
51% 31%
We are in the early stages of We have not introduced DevOps
adopting DevOps
TM Forum, 2018
15

Section 3: Skills are the greatest challenge
Should everyone code?
In line with the desire to integrate
skills, there is a drive towards
teaching everyone within a CSP
organization to code on some level.
Some CFOs and CMOs are learning
to code, and many operators host
hackathons and offer training for
employees who want to acquire
coding skills. In addition, people
working in all CSP domains should
view AI as an opportunity, rather than
something scary.
However, operators also should be
striving to empower employees with
intuitive tools that can provide the
control and creativity coding delivers
without requiring specific coding
skills. Says Thierry Souche, CIO,
Orange Group:
“
There is no quick and easy answer to
combining traditional engineering and
emerging IT skill sets. However, there
is no doubt that the future is software
– that it will no longer be possible to
It won’t be possible to
run a CSP business without being
enable everyone to code,
software-driven. Examples of IT
but we need everyone to working practices and skills will
become more and more prevalent in
be code aware. We want
network engineering, and it will be
everyone to have
incumbent on CTIOs to provide the
ownership of their own vision and leadership necessary to
adopt these skills.
capabilities, for them to be
able to automate what can
help them with
productivity and automate
the repetitive to make
their jobs more
interesting.”
inform.tmforum.org 16
Section Title

Section 4
Make it happen
Strategies for merging IT and networks

Nowhere is digital transformation more significant than in the technology departments of

communications service providers (CSPs) and in the way in which IT and network engineering
functions are converging through software. For most companies, the division between networks
and IT eventually will disappear, although the amount of time it takes for this to happen will vary.
Here are some key requirements and steps CSPs should take as they work toward convergence:

Create a single Recognize and address Focus on a few

technology strategy
Transformation success starts at the
top and a by creating a single strategy
for IT and engineering. This helps
create common goals and avoids
pitting the two divisions against each
other. A single CTIO position is ideal.
However, it is not always feasible or
even desirable from the outset due to
the shear amount of work and
diversity of challenges, particularly in
dealing with legacy systems.
cultural differences
Culture can make or break
transformation. There are clear
differences between the cultures of
network engineering and IT, and CSPs
must work to preserve the best of
both while bringing the two divisions
together. This cannot be an
afterthought. Steps toward
convergence should be transparent
and include formal measures, such as
the restructuring of roles. Cultural
considerations also need to be
applied to recruitment and ensuring
that working conditions promote both
autonomy and excellence.
technology priorities
Rapid technological change could
easily overwhelm CTIOs, CTOs and
CIOs, which means prioritization is
essential and should be done in line
with an overall strategy and
understanding of technical and
business dependencies. For example,
AI in operations is likely to become a
priority only after CSPs virtualize and
operations to increase agility.

inform.tmforum.org 17
Section Title
Include legacy in
transformation planning
Transformation is about embracing
new technology, but legacy systems
will not disappear. Managing the
migration of systems and customers
from old to new is just as important
as the quality of new systems. Getting
migration wrong has the potential to
scupper transformation, and the case
for migration and decommissioning
should be viewed in that context, not
case by case.
Increase soware
accessibility for all
Software is the future of CSP
businesses; it will permeate virtually
every job function. However, to avoid
IT departments becoming operational
and strategic bottlenecks, software
skills must be distributed across the
organization. CSPs can achieve this by
offering training in coding and by
including IT personnel in all cross-
functional teams. However, long-term
success depends on creating
architectures, such as serverless
systems that abstract technology and
drive natural-language tools deep into
the organization.
inform.tmforum.org
Collaborate on
convergence
CSPs should collaborate with their
peers and partners in standards-
development organizations and open
source groups to create common,
agreed upon architectures for
convergence and to benchmark
progress made on digital
transformation. The TM Forum Open
Digital Architecture (ODA) is a
collection of assets (architecture
processes, best practices, standards
and tools) designed to help CSPs and
their suppliers reimagine and evolve
OSS/BSS. It offers a standardized
blueprint enabling suppliers to
participate in a marketplace for
reusable solutions to common
business challenges. Operators also
can use the TM Forum Digital
Maturity Model to benchmark their
progress on digital transformation
with other CSPs.
18
TM Forum toolkit for
digital transformation
TM Forum Digital
Maturity Model
The DMM is a ‘living’ maturity model
and set of metrics to help companies
measure their true digital maturity.
Members can access a guidebook as
well as an Excel spreadsheet
containing the actual model. It is also
available as iOS app.
Open APIs
TM Forum offers more than 50 APIs
to manage services end to end and
throughout their lifecycle in a multi-
partner environment.
Customer Experience
Implementation Suite
This set of tools consists of a
guidebook, hundreds of metrics, a
maturity model, lifecycle model, ROI
model and more than 54
implementation use cases.
Agile & Virtualized
Agile OSS/BSS Toolkit
This toolkit includes a complete
blueprint for a platform for managing
a multi-vendor hybrid/NFV
infrastructure, which includes open
APIs, information models, best
practices and deployment guides.
Open & Partner Effectively
Digital Trust Challenges and
Opportunities Standard
This technical report outlines the key
concepts of digital trust and identifies
the top seven digital trust challenges.
Customer Centricity
Big Data Analytics Solution
Suite
This set of tools includes a big data
reference model, a guidebook
containing more than 65 use cases
and 1700+ pre-defined metrics.
inform.tmforum.org
Open Digital Architecture
Developed collaboratively by the
world’s largest telecom operators and
their partners, the ODA provides a
common operations and IT
management ‘blueprint’. It combines
proven cloud-computing best
practices with TM Forum’s work on
zero-touch orchestration operations
and management; digital ecosystem
management; data analytics; AI and
Open APIs.
Monetizing the Internet of
Everything Guide
This information guide describes a
standardized approach and a
monetization template for new,
innovative services.
360 Degree View of a
Customer
This guidebook offers a 360-degree
view of a customer and explains how
to put customers at the center of
considerations and actions.
19
Toolkit

Research & Media

Digital Transformation Digital Transformation

Tracker 3 Tracker 2
Why is network How to fix the
transformation so cultural divide
difficult?

Trend Analysis Report Digital Transformation

AI: e time is Tracker 1
now e race is on

Trend Analysis Report Trend Analysis Report

Vision 2020: 5G monetization:
Future CSP Operational
Business models imperatives

White Paper Quick Insights

AI & customer Want to drive
experience: business benefits?
Emerging best Improve customer
practices centricity

Quick Insights
Quick Insights
Smart analytics pay Building a data
dividends across lake to drive digital
the customer transformation
lifecycle

Quick Insights Quick Insights

Microservices: Data analytics &
Piecing together a AI: Key to end-to-
strategy end management

ebook
ebook TM Forum Open
Platforms: How to APIs: Enabling a
join the revolution zero-integration
API economy

inform.tmforum.org 20
TM Forum Frameworx

TM Forum Frameworx is a suite of best practices and

standards that, when adopted, enable a service-oriented,
highly automated and efficient approach to business
operations. Frameworx provides hundreds of standardized
Business Metrics that allow for benchmarking, as well as a
suite of interfaces and APIs that enable integration across
systems and platforms. Frameworx also includes adoption
of best practices to help companies implement and use the
standards and management best practices to ensure
ongoing conformance.

Frameworx has been widely adopted and proven to

significantly improve agility in IT and operations, resulting
in increased margins, lower costs and optimal customer
experience. Frameworx is created and evolved by TM
Forum members who participate in the Forum's
Collaboration Community.

8 things Frameworx can do for you:

1. Reduce transformation risk by delivering a proven

blueprint for agile, efficient business operations 6. Reduce integration costs and risk through standardized
interfaces and a common information model
2. Innovate and reduce time-to-market with streamlined
end-to-end service management 7. Gain independence and confidence in your procurement
choices through conformance certification and
3. Create, deliver and manage enterprise-grade services
procurement guides
across a multi-partner ecosystem
8. Gain clarity by providing a common, industry-standard
4. Improve customer experience and retention using
language
proven processes, metrics and maturity models

5. Optimize business processes to deliver highly efficient,

automated operations Download latest files Get training

inform.tmforum.org 21
Frameworx
Business Process Framework (eTOM)
The Business Process Framework (eTOM) is a
comprehensive, industry-agreed, multi-layered view of the
key business processes required to run an efficient,
effective and agile digital enterprise.
6 things you can do with the Business Process
Framework:
1. Create a common language for use across departments,
systems, external partners and suppliers, reducing cost
and risk of system implementation, integration and
procurement
2. Adopt a standard structure, terminology and
classification scheme for business processes to simplify
internal operations and maximize opportunities to
partner within and across industries
Information Framework (SID)
The Information Framework (SID) provides standard
definitions for all the information that flows through the
enterprise and between service providers and their
business partners.
5 things you can do with Information Framework:
1. Reduce integration costs by adopting standards-based
information models and using them in applications and
interfaces
2. Save hundreds of design hours by starting with a mature
framework and 1500 entities developed and vetted by
subject matter experts
inform.tmforum.org
3. Apply disciplined and consistent business process
development enterprise-wide, allowing for cross-
organizational re-use
4. Understand, design, develop and manage IT applications
in terms of business process requirements so
applications will better meet business needs
5. Create consistent and high-quality end-to-end process
flows, eliminating gaps and duplications
6. Identify opportunities for cost and performance
improvement through re-use of existing processes and
systems
Download latest files Get training
3. Speed time to market by using well-understood
integration interfaces based on the Information
Framework, eliminating the need for data translation
between systems
4. Avoid wasting precious development time on debates
with your team, partners, or vendors by adopting a
widely proven, industry accepted, rich and extensible
information model
5. Mandate conformance to the Information Framework
and save time and money during vendor evaluation and
procurement
Download latest files Get training
22
Frameworx

3. Integrate faster and with lower costs by defining and

Application Framework (TAM)
The Application Framework (TAM) provides a common
language and means of identification for buyers and
suppliers across all software application areas.
5 things you can do with the Application Framework:
1. Streamline procurement by using common definitions
and language to specify and evaluate solutions
clearly communicating the functions provided within
each application
4. Reduce custom development costs with modular,
standard application requirements
5. Increase automation and efficiency with standard,
deployable components

2. Document and then rationalize your application

inventory during transformation projects or mergers and Download latest files Get training
acquisitions

inform.tmforum.org 23
Frameworx

Open APIs
TM Forum's 50+ REST-based Open APIs have been developed collaboratively by communications service providers (CSPs),
government organizations and their partners. When used internally, the Open APIs help companies transform their IT,
increase operational agility and improve customer centricity. Externally they enable end-to-end seamless connectivity,
interoperability and portability across complex digital ecosystems.

To date, 42 of the world’s leading CSPs and technology suppliers have signed the Open API Manifesto publicly
demonstrating their endorsement of TM Forum’s Open APIs. CSPs that adopt the Open APIs can position them as a
preferred requirement in their IT requests for proposal, and technology partners can commit to using the Open APIs in
relevant product applications. Together they can unlock many growth opportunities, including dramatically improving
business and IT agility, reducing the cost and complexity of operations, and reducing integration cost, risk and time for the
entire supply chain.

The Open APIs are often tested, improved and extended through TM Forum’s Catalyst Program. Catalysts are proof-of-
concept projects that bring together companies large and small to create innovate solutions to common challenges,
demonstrating how solutions can be achieved by leveraging key TM Forum best practices and standards. Catalyst teams
work on the projects for four to six months before demonstrating them at TM Forum’s flagship events.

Access the Open APIs Learn more

Best Practices
TM Forum members have collaborated to produce an extensive library of standards, best practices, guidebooks, technical
reports and much more covering the most important topics for companies operating in the digital economy.

We have arranged these resources into toolkits by topic. Click on the link below to access the full toolkits and download*
all the available resources.

*Downloads are available to employees of TM Forum member companies only. Interested in joining as a member? Click
here.

Access the Toolkits

inform.tmforum.org 24
Research & Media Team

Advisor:
Report Author: Report Editor: Andy Tiller, Executive Vice
Catherine Haslam, Dawn Bushaus, President, Collaboration &
Senior Analyst Managing Editor Innovation
chaslam@tmforum.org dbushaus@tmforum.org
Report Design:
Intuitive Design UK Ltd
Head of Research & Media info@intuitive-design.co.uk
Chief Analyst: Product Delivery:
Mark Newman Paul Davis Published by:
mnewman@tmforum.org pdavis@tmforum.org TM Forum
4 Century Drive,
Parsippany,
NJ 07054
Editor, Digital Global Account Director: USA
Content: Carine Vandevelde www.tmforum.org
Arti Mehta cvandevelde@tmforum.org Phone: +1 973-944-5100
amehta@tmforum.org Fax: +1 973-944-5110
ISBN: 978-1-945220-36-4

Head of Research & Director, Solutions

Media Sales: Marketing:
Denise Tack Charlotte Lewis
dtack@tmforum.org clewis@tmforum.org

Publications Marketing
Manager:
Jan Lowdon
jlowdon@tmforum.org

© 2018. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The Forum would like to thank the sponsors and advertisers who have enabled
the publication of this fully independently researched report. The views and opinions expressed by individual authors and contributors in this publication are provided in the
writers’ personal capacities and are their sole responsibility. Their publication does not imply that they represent the views or opinions of TM Forum and must neither be
regarded as constituting advice on any matter whatsoever, nor be interpreted as such. The reproduction of advertisements and sponsored features in this publication does not
in any way imply endorsement by TM Forum of products or services referred to therein.

inform.tmforum.org 25
For more about TM Forum’s Collaboration Community, please
contact Andy Tiller, Executive Vice President, Collaboration &
Innovation, via atiller@tmforum.org