SDP 2.0: Essential Technology for a Converging World

By Accenture's Angelo Morelli

President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” If spoken today, the words aptly would describe the communications, high-tech and media industries, where unprecedented change is taking place as convergence eliminates the traditional lines that once separated their marketplaces.

In the last half decade, technology service providers have relied heavily on service delivery platforms (SDPs) in order to get new innovations to market in a timely fashion. An SDP is a standardized service creation and execution architecture that allows users to map out effectively the creation of projects and innovations in order to accelerate development and production.

However, in an increasingly converged world, this platform has become antiquated. Companies that expect to achieve and sustain high performance in the coming years must make the leap to the next generation — SDP 2.0.

A New Environment Calls for a New Solution

The service-creation and delivery environment simply has outpaced the ability of traditional SDPs to keep up. Convergence has created a growing need to collaborate between companies in order to create revenue-generating innovations. Such a collaborative environment increases opportunities for innovation, but it also introduces more risk and, potentially, more cost, unless companies take steps to make their development environment more efficient and effective.

Another factor is the need to create consumer services that build upon a suite of capabilities known as Web 2.0. Today’s Internet environment, especially as it intersects with wireless and broadband services, is creating an unprecedented wave of user-generated content, with services that treat the consumer not just as an individual but as part of a larger social fabric of extended family, friends and colleagues.

Developing SDP 2.0 capabilities to account for this complex development environment is a challenge that must be met if providers are to achieve and sustain high performance in an age of convergence.

SDP 2.0 Essential Ingredients

A successful SDP 2.0 framework supports an effective and cost-efficient environment for creating value-added services across what now is frequently referred to as the “three screens” — the computer, the television and the mobile device.

At the top of the framework is the device platform that contains the operating system and the enabling middleware. Also of primary importance are the embedded applications that focus on creating a compelling user experience across multiple devices.

The second part of the framework is the multichannel portal, which is integral in developing differentiated and user-centric capabilities. These portals enable the creation, sharing and distribution of personalized content, as well as access to self-service capabilities.

SDP 2.0 also enables power capabilities for users: voice, video and other content; social communities; search and navigation; and a variety of self-service user-care activities — not only to hold down costs but to provide the kind of real-time information access that now is expected in today’s high-speed world.

The modern platform must build on all the functions and features that have made SDPs essential tools — support for dynamic, flexible creation; reduced business and financial risks; consistent provision of services to end users; and controls over the execution of all services to make them cost effective. However, it should add vital new capabilities such as on-boarding, unified user information, flexible policy management, service management and control, and an open service-creation environment. It also should enable various tools such as mashups, mobile widgets, application presence, network presence, location-based services, etc. Simply stated, SDP 2.0 should take the sound principles of the original service delivery platform and open it up to modern three-screen principles.

Key Perks of SDP 2.0

If properly implemented, an effective SDP 2.0 solution allows users to conduct a rapid diagnostic of the existing capabilities of the architecture and technology, governance framework, organization and processes, and available resources and skills across the entire platform. It also allows them to map priorities onto a phased delivery scheme by identifying and linking business priorities for new services to SDP building blocks in order to scale things down and make project management easier.

In a 2.0 world, SDP does not implement services by itself. It provides the foundation and the capabilities to create, execute and support services. It enables a service-creation process that breaks down the steps of creation and identifies which components are needed to enable which services.

As always, the main goal for leading service providers is growth. And in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace effective service innovation and rapid service creation are critical. Efficient SDP 2.0 capabilities provide companies with the perfect recipe for success: the opportunity to drive toward high performance by mitigating development and delivery risks, and speeding new services to market — all while lowering costs and helping to increase the impact of limited resources.

Angelo Morelli is an executive director with Accenture, responsible for Accenture’s offerings and work around new product development and innovation for communications, high tech and media clients globally. He is based in Rome. With more than a decade of experience helping communications service providers achieve high performance, Morelli is the global lead for the Accenture Service Delivery Platform solution. He is responsible for architecture definition, asset development, creation and client team support, as well as alliance partner management. Morelli is also responsible for helping wireless and wireline operators simplify their network architectures and technologies to achieve greater flexibility and cost efficiencies. Morelli received a university degree in electronic engineering from the University of Rome, La Sapienza.

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