This is a guest blog by Chris Koeneman, CRO at Kandy Communications.
Since the emergence of cloud computing, the use of the cloud by telecom providers has not grown as it has in other sectors. Cloud Service Providers and SaaS companies have grown up independent of telecom providers, rendering the network as an afterthought. The end customer uses whatever network service they have in place, or the SaaS company bundles network connectivity as part of the service. Consequently, the “telco cloud” as a source of revenue growth for telecom providers has been underwhelming. This may be changing due to a more expanded use of Communications Platform as a Service, or CPaaS, by telecom service providers. Interesting new use cases and innovations in software platforms are making the development of new services easier, with less upfront capex required and flexible economic models.
Telecom providers inherent advantage in CPaaS
The global Communication Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) Market is projected to grow from $11.03 billion in 2022 to $62.54 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 28.1% during the forecast period. Very few other categories in the real time communications industry can boast such a dramatic and steady CAGR.
Telecom providers have an inherent advantage in addressing this market because CPaaS services involve network services. Any competitor other than a telecom carrier will have to stack margin on top of network service. Telecom providers can leverage owner economics to deliver not only classic CPaaS types of services but also other API-based services.
An important element for success based on Kandy’s evolution as a pioneer in the space is APIs that make it possible for developers to build more advanced, sophisticated solutions, including those which address specific vertical market use cases.
Driven by the demand for better ways to communicate remotely in real time which the pandemic accelerated, we are witnessing an explosion of organizations moving to embedded and digital communications for retail, healthcare, insurance, education and more. Our programmable video API enables financial institutions to enjoy secure video collaboration with consumers, individual investors, business customers, and trading partners, reducing costs, improving productivity, and delivering a competitive experience.
Kandy, the white-label technology platform provider for Communications Service Providers (CSPs), makes it far more efficient and profitable, for example, for CSPs to enhance business applications. Using Kandy communications APIs delivered using an intuitive service portal, they can enrich omnichannel applications with intuitive voice, messaging, video, 2FA, and billing/provisioning solutions rather than building their own platform.
5 Key Trends in CPaaS
Other than massive revenue growth which every industry analyst firm covering the space agrees will continue with CPaaS, what will 2023 bring? Here are five CPaaS trends we are seeing every day as we support our global CSP partners.
- New combinations of APIs will lead to even more compelling experiences and economics for businesses wishing to deliver personalized services. For example, a retail brand can tap into geospatial data through an API that will allow them to advertise a special deal to customers who have opted in, letting the customer know what they “have in store” when the customer is in the neighborhood.
- 5G networks will reduce latency and contribute to an even clearer, stateful video session on mobile devices even as the end-user is on the move. Developers will become far less reluctant to include live interactive video as part of their organization’s customer experience options, confident that as more ultra-broadband cellular networks come online, even in densely populated locations, consumers won’t be disappointed or frustrated.
- Mixologists in the CPaaS developer world will build services that bring together human and machine connections, using technologies including WebRTC, which supports both. For example, a patient with a heart condition that needs to be tracked no longer be trapped at home; with 5G connectivity, they can wear their heart monitor outside, synched to their mobile device, and should an incident occur, the Chronic Care Management application powered by APIs can set up an immediate consultation with that patient’s cardiologists office. Both the patient and the provider can be connected at once time, with data from the heart monitor available to both for a remote consult, which could result in sending the patient directly to a hospital if the indications are dire.
- Interconnections with Tier 1 telecom operators and multiple mobile operators will become increasingly important to ensure global reach for CPaaS-based offerings, so applications will work anywhere, on any network, and on any device. Large global brands will insist on worldwide reach, given the uptick in travel, and their focus on delivering consistent and high-quality experiences regardless of where their customers happen to be, and which devices they are using.
- Integrations with major CRM, ERP, contact center, UC and collaboration platforms and e-commerce web services will advance tremendously, especially as developers take advantage of new visual building tools, no-code or low-code capabilities, and the continued adoption of omnichannel and “channel-less” messaging. Large enterprises especially will recognize the value in terms of more productivity, more data and analytics allowing them to understand the nature and impact of better CX, and the overall reduction of friction in getting work done using internal collaboration solutions.
Kandy CPaaS vs Over-The-Top CPaaS
Kandy began developing its CPaaS in 2014, and have stayed true to our business focus, which is serving Tier 1 telecom operators and CSPs so they can bring more value to their business customers. We’re very different from the over-the-top CPaaS players, as we don’t compete with our customers. Our success has come from offering service providers the ability to launch an end-to-end CPaaS platform much more quickly than building it from scratch in house, together with a complementary global access network, and with integration into the service providers billing systems. Kandy helps CSPs complement and broaden CPaaS-based services and solutions they can bring to their B2B customers, across a broad range of industry verticals.
To learn more about the Kandy CPaaS offering, including the white-label implementation of an API Marketplace for one of the leading Tier One service providers in the US, go to the Kandy website.
Chris Koeneman
International sales and marketing executive with a record of success with public and private technology companies. Extensive leadership experience with global teams selling complex solutions to enterprise, service provider, and OEM customers both directly and through channel partners. Responsibilities include global sales, marketing, product line management (P&L), customer service, business development, and field engineering. Led teams focused on a variety of technologies including enterprise software, wireless, networking, network security, SaaS, fintech, and virtualization. Have served as an interim CEO and as an officer for a public company.
Comments are closed