SDPs can't be one-size (app store) fits all

The definition of service delivery platforms (SDPs) may be constantly in flux, but one thing’s certain: telco deployments of SDPs need to reflect a well thought out business plan, not just mimic the hot app store trend of the day.

That’s one of the main contentions of a new report from the TM Forum’s Insight Research division, released today.

SDPs – whatever their definition, and the industry sports a million of them – are a key weapon in helping service providers avoid becoming so-called dumb pipes. But they’ll accomplish that only if providers have a keen understanding of how to tie the underlying technologies to new service and business models and build them not alone, but with partners, said Rob Rich, research director of TM Forum Insights.

According to Rich, one of the fundamental findings of the forum’s report was the idea that SDPs remain more of a concept than a clear, deployable product. “What we came away with, and this may not be radically new but we think it’s important, is the view that the service delivery platform remains primarily an architecture rather than a platform or a packaged instance of a platform,” Rich said. “At the implementation level, everyone is going to [use an SDP] to build their own unique service delivery environment.”

More importantly, service providers must closely tie that delivery mechanism for new services to the business models supporting – and driving revenue for – those new offerings, Rich said. For that reason, SDPs are essentially custom projects – each one must be built to support not only a particular carrier’s network but their unique and differentiated approach to serving customers as well. Aping the Apple app store won’t work in every instance, Rich said.

“Everyone’s jumping on the app store bandwagon. Service providers, like everyone else, see something that works and they want it too,” Rich said. “What’s more important is to use your service delivery platform in ways that uniquely position you to deliver the services your customers want.”

Just as important, Rich said, providers must focus “on how do I tie my partners in to the SDP?” he said. “If service providers try to build it all themselves, they are bound to fail.”

In particular, for triple play providers, a service environment isn’t likely to focus only on mobile apps for one device – as it would in the Apple or Android app stores – but rather enable a variety of services and applications spanning the Internet, video and mobile environments, Rich said.

The report, “Evolving Service Delivery Platforms: Essential Plumbing for ‘Smart Pipes’,” is available for download by TM Forum members. Non-members can access a Webcast and slides describing the findings.

The report includes five sections written by TM Forum experts focusing on using an SDP to build revenue-product smart pipes; competing with other application delivery environments; using an SDP to deliver an app store; leveraging new, more open service and business models; and learning how to link SDPs to legacy network silos.

The report will also be distributed at the TM Forum’s Management World Americas 2009 conference next week in Orlando, Florida.