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Networks & Infrastructure
Innovation at the speed of life
BT’s top exec stresses need for rapid innovation among service providers
by Kendrick Struthers-Watson
The message from one of BT’s senior executives was that the
telecoms industry needs to undergo a significant shift — from
a telco to a softco. This, according to Matt Bross, Group CTO at
BT, is fundamental to telecom service providers being able to
move at the pace of consumer demand, not at the speed of
infrastructure change.
Being the keynote speaker at SOFNET in London, Bross was
keen to stress that what was happening in the telecoms
industry was not convergence but a ‘big bang.’
“Individual technologies are changing at a huge rate, which presents
formidable challenges, but also real opportunities. This shift
is being driven by three elements — Web 2.0, NGN and
software-driven infrastructure.”
According to Bross, these three segments can drive innovation
at the speed of life — something that the industry has failed
to do so far. “We must also move to a more focused
investment strategy. This should involve wrapping our
products, processes, W21C SDK and commercial capabilities
together to ensure we provide the customer with absolutely
what they want — and get it right first time.”
However, Bross was adamant that adversity brings out the
best in people, albeit that there was unstoppable change
underway. “Innovation is not taking place in the traditional
manner, and power has moved away from the centralised
approach. We must understand that the energy is moving to
the individual, while we must look at making the transition to
becoming a softco.”
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