Amdocs: OSS deployments steady, but larger transformation projects may slow

With the Changing Worlds acquisition, Amdocs aims to invest in new market opportunities to position itself for growth when economic conditions improve, Baharav said. Changing Worlds has patented technology that automatically builds mobile subscriber profiles based on user behavior and activity. The platform, dubbed the ClixSmart Intelligent Portal Platform, then delivers personalized content and services to that user based on those so-called “implicit” preferences. ChangingWorlds customers include Sprint, Vodafone Global, the O2 Group, T-Mobile and other global operators.

Amdocs and ChangingWorlds share key customers – most notably Sprint and Vodafone – and Amdocs plans to both integrate the personalization technology with its platform as well as expand its focus to more screens beyond mobile, including the PC and the television. Amdocs’s focus on the back office also means that beyond just using the customer behavioral profiles to target content, operators will be able to use that detailed customer information to improve pre-sales and customer support as well, the company said.

“We’re already halfway down the personalization road with the customer data residing in our systems,” said Seth Nesbit, Amdocs vice president of product and solutions marketing, in an interview. "We know a lot about customers and customer history."

That more static customer data combines powerfully with ChangingWorld’s constantly updated behavioral data. “What Changing Worlds brings to the table is that it allows us to turn that information into actionable intelligence to [help service providers] increase revenues,” Nesbit said.

Such personalization capabilities will be important in delivering information and services directly to customers as well as equipping sales reps across online, telephone and brick-and-mortar channels with better information to enable them to better cross- and up-sell customers, Nesbit said. While wireless offers a strong initial opportunity and is obviously ChangingWorld’s current focus, “My gut feeling is this is a cumulative effect,” he said. “You get synergies and network effects by profiling and recommending across channels.”

While Web companies like Amazon.com and Google use recommendations and profiling to target customers today, many telecom service providers are “still mostly in a one-size-fits-all world,” he said. “On a mobile portal deck, and even off-portal, you are going to get the same experience as your grandmother. That just doesn’t make sense.”