Compuware launches new initiative to increase profitability of mobile data service providers

BANGALORE, INDIA: Compuware Corp. today launched a new initiative to increase the profitability of mobile data service providers by empowering them to improve and manage the customer data experience.

The exponential increase in data-rich applications on mobile devices makes the optimization of the subscriber experience more difficult to achieve and more important to revenue, customer satisfaction and service provider loyalty.

Compuware Vantage for Mobile is the first integrated solution to provide a real-time view of a customer’s mobile data services experience by starting with an individual subscriber’s experience and linking back to key business functions.

Customer benefits include increased subscriber retention, higher data average revenue per unit (ARPU), optimization of network investments, reduction in customer support costs and improved customer experience.

“Data-centric mobile devices continue to pave the way for a massive growth in network traffic,” said Elisabeth Rainge, Program Director for Network Software at IDC.

“Network performance metrics are indeed important to validate the huge investments currently being made in mobile broadband networks to ensure data services are fast and reliable. But unless the network performance is combined with an understanding of the customer experience, the provider risks discouraging the now-nascent usage of mobile data services as well as undermining the profitability and trust that come with a long term customer relationship.”

Unlike existing network-centric management tools that only provide metrics on network performance and the aggregate view of subscribers, Vantage for Mobile effectively addresses the new challenges that require operators to understand individual subscriber experiences on mobile data services.

The solution enables network operations teams to identify areas for network expansion; customer support teams to quickly resolve issues; sales and marketing teams to make informed business decisions; and customer retention teams to better understand customer renewal decisions.

“Mobile operators have traditionally been focused on the network; as the demand for mobile broadband data services grows they need to extend their focus to include quality of experience. The quality of the customer data experience will differentiate one operator from another,” said Ian Clarke, Global Director of Telecoms Strategy at Compuware.

“In this new world, the price of having no real-time visibility into a subscriber’s experience of mobile data services is an unsustainable combination of decreasing profit and escalating subscriber churn. With the popularity of mobile applications on devices such as Apple’s iPhone, the customer data experience has to be flawless. This business-wide issue impacts a broad range of departments and must be addressed if operators are to reduce retention risks and increase profitability.”

Compuware also announced the availability of a market research study of 22 operators worldwide. This study confirmed that the root cause of reduced customer satisfaction, increased churn and increased management costs is a lack of visibility into the subscriber experience of mobile data services.

Moreover, the study identified how the growing demand for mobile data has brought operators a new dimension of management challenges that include: higher than expected network traffic, reduced profitability of IP data revenue, rising support costs, rising complexity of new devices and services and increased pressure on call center staff. These challenges combined with intensified competition and price wars are eroding operator profitability.

“As mobile network operators (MNOs) search for elusive growth in tough economic times, mobile broadband data services represent a bright spot for accelerating demand and revenue generation,” said Sheryl Kingstone, Director Enterprise Research, Yankee Group.

“Success will only happen when MNOs capitalize on their strengths in service distribution and personalization and implement solutions to address the fundamental challenges in economically delivering profitable services. Yet MNO’s do not have visibility into the critical network data as it relates to their subscriber base to capitalize on the opportunity. Only then can they proactively identify new revenue opportunities and improve customer experience.”