S D P S
SDPs are characterised by ABI Research in its recent “Consumers have responded well to this and are
report ‘Next Generation Service Delivery Platforms’ now at the point of saying they are willing to pay for
as combinations of hardware, software, applications services they think are relevant to them. Innovative
and professional services that bridge different SDPs are at the heart of enabling this interactive
elements of telephone networks to allow delivery of relationship."
converged multimedia services to subscribers.
ABI sees the reasons for deploying SDPs, and the
The urgency with which these types of platform are roles they are expected to play, as changing over
being embraced is informed by a number of factors. time. “In the beginning, Service Delivery Platforms
were considered to fall under the umbrella of IMS (IP
According to a 2008 study published by the Analysys Multimedia Subsystem),” comments ABI Research
Mason/OSS Observer consultancy, competition vice president Stuart Carlaw. “As IMS went, so
between CSPs (and with companies in adjacent went SDP. Because IMS has not quickly delivered
industries, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the multimedia services it was designed for, and
Apple), is driving investment in SDPs to enhance is a very expensive and complicated technology,
existing services and combine them with new many vendors are saying ‘We have to have IMS
offerings, such as presence, location, IPTV, content, eventually. But we have a pressing need for some of
games and other new capabilities. its functionality right now’.”

The Analysys Mason report, 'Service delivery So, according to ABI, the SDP is increasingly seen
platform market review', adds that operators are also as an interim, pre-IMS solution that can deliver
investing in SDPs as a platform for enabling third- some of its multimedia services immediately at a
party service providers to use service enablers to fraction of the cost. The result: a less expensive bill
offer innovative new services. This holds the promise of materials, and the ability to do more with a smaller
of matching the rate of innovation achieved by the budget.
Internet ecosystem.
But it’s not all about futuristic converged and
“Service Delivery is a relatively new spending area for multimedia service offerings. “Using SDP, operators
operators which reflects a shift away from traditional can offer a seamless mix of very cool applications
equipment to IT platforms that provide more flexibility that blend voice, video and data,” acknowledges
and cost-effectively enable new innovative services,” senior ABI analyst Nadine Manjaro. “But the
says Peter Mottishaw, principal analyst of Analysys research revealed that many of the applications
Mason. "It is critical that operators invest in new currently being deployed via SDP are not new or
platforms that enable them to be more responsive to converged: they are messaging, music downloads,
what the marketplace wants." and other legacy applications. Operators can and
should be bolder in their vision of what SDP can do
Provider of telecommunications network software for them and their subscribers.”
and services Telcordia maintains that a well designed
SDP can enable operators to offer services that Either way, though, SDP deployments are generating
are deployed faster, personalised to the individual fairly hefty revenues. Analysys Mason, for example,
customer and are available when and where the forecasts extremely rapid growth in SDP spending,
customer wants it. Ultimately, says Telcordia, SDPs from USD$1.86 billion in 2007 to US$5.31 billion in
enable CSPs to successfully anticipate and respond 2012 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
faster to what their customer wants, opening new 23%.
revenue streams and tapping into new customers.
“(The) report by Analysys Mason confirms
“The Internet has spurred a new dynamic with Telcordia's view that CSPs must respond quickly
customers where it is no longer a transaction-based to the changing dynamic that is now the interactive
relationship but rather an interactive, real-time customer relationship; innovative SDPs is just the
relationship,” offers Patrick McCarthy, vice president, start of it,” predicts McCarthy.
marketing, Service Delivery Solutions, Telcordia.
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