It was great to be in Chicago last week for the CCA-Cavell Cloud Comms Summit and meet up with all of our industry friends and colleagues with whom we have been away for far too long. The Cloud Comms Summit focussed on two big trends in the industry today: Microsoft Teams (Operator Connect) and CPaaS. It looks like 2023 will be a pivotal year for the industry!
CSP Challenges for 2023
The event was kicked off with a review of the annual CCA-Cavell survey by Clark Peterson (Cloud Communications Alliance) and Matthew Townend (Cavell Group). Very insightful, if you are a CCA member you should definitely hit them up for the full survey results.
Microsoft is a key topic inside the vendor and service provider eco system. Nearly all CSPs responding that they are or plan to work with Microsoft with ⅓ of them planning to implement Microsoft Operator Connect. It’s clear whether you are a CSP or a vendor, you need a Teams strategy.
Based on the different data results that were shared, Service Providers will look to add the following services over the next 12 months:
- Integrated UC and contact center
- Harnessing platform as a service options vs building everything themselves
- Omnichannel contact center
- CPaaS/API store
- Self-provisioning/ordering portals
- Security products
CPaaS
It’s exciting to see CPaaS represented so strongly within these key lists in regard to the immediate future and what is being planned.
I personally participated on the panel “Cloud Communications meet Mobility” with Gavin Macomber, Mark Herbert, Sherry Clay, DP Venkatesh chaired by Clark Peterson. We had a good discussion about the impact of 5G on cloud communications and the opportunity that rich messaging will have along with the role of OTT apps while we wait for access to the native dialer on the mobile device. This panel continued to highlight the need for value-added applications to help drive the business opportunity that is needed.
The value of what we are all working on was brought home by Jordan Rupar from Q Advisors where she shared the key indicators that investors are looking for in this current economic environment. Though the perception may be that the market is down, Jordan assured us that she is as busy as ever and valuations are still positive if you follow the “rule of 40”.
Though there weren’t any dedicated panels on CPaaS, it came up in literally every session. As we see from the data above, CPaaS is a critical roadmap item for all CSPs as they help their customers cross the digital divide.
It was great to see so many CPaaS players there representing! A shout-out to all those that attended. 2600Hz Patrick Sullivan Clint Mohs, Vinix Mark Diaz, NUSO Matt Siemens, Ytel Nick Newsom, BICS Herve Andrieu, Bandwidth Inc., SignalWire
Kevin Nethercott, Managing Partner @CPaaS Acceleration Alliance
Kevin provides over 25 years of experience in launching companies and doing business development globally, with 20 years focussed in technology development. The last eight years has been spent leading the digital transformations for global carriers through the development of CPaaS Enablement. Over the years Kevin’s leadership has forged successful strategic relationships with leading companies around the world striking new innovative business models and partnerships.
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