m2m billing - comarch m2m projects

Copyright Comarch 2012

M2M Billing

– Comarch Telco M2M Projects

Krzysztof Kwiatkowski

Head of BSS Product Management

2 Copyright Comarch 2012

Comarch Group – Facts and Figures

• Public company established in 1993

• Headquarters – Krakow, Poland

• 3500 employees worldwide

• Customers include over 50 CSPs, on 4 continents, in over 20 countries

• Over 3000 successfully completed projects


6 Industries – Global References


Outline

• M2M strategies

• Typical M2M platform

• Outsourced or own?

• Existing systems or separated silo?

• Billing challenges

• M2M projects

• Research activities


Revenue trends versus strategiesR

evenue

Pure connectivity

Intelligent connectivity

Application Enablement

Maturity of the M2M market


Sample Existing Systems

Retail

Billing System

Partner

Billing System

Network

M2M Platform

Service

Provisioning

Service

Monitoring

Service & Network

Inventory

IT Systems of

M2M Partner

M2M devices

CRM

Billing & Revenue Sharing

CRM – partner

management

Provisioning

connectivity

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Monitoring B2B Gateway – web services

M2M

Dashboards

Order

Management

Data

collection

Device software

deployment

Triggers &

Actions

`

M2M Application


Vehicle of Logistics Company


M2M Application

Provisioning

Monitoring

Subscribers

Database

Ve

rtic

als

CS

P

AAASIM

Management

Policy

Management

Intelligent Connectivity

Product

Catalog

Management

Application

Enablement

Connectivity


Additional modules

• MLR = HLR for M2M

• Device Management

• SCP (for voice services)

• Application Enablement

– Coming from the “cloud of verticals”

– On-site

– Coming from the telco world (MTC)


Development of business models

• M2M platform is for managing the M2M connectivity aspects

• M2M application enabler is for enabling M2M vertical applications

• Cloud enabler is for enabling cloud applications

• We see a huge synergy between M2M business and cloud business of CSPs

• The same platform with single product catalog, CRM, B2B gateway (etc.) can manage

M2M and cloud offering

Management PlatformProduct catalog, billing, CRM, B2B Gateway,

Order Management, Dashboards

Cloud Enabler M2M Application Enabler

M2M Connectivity platformHosting Infrastructure

Sample Existing Systems

Retail

Billing System

Partner

Billing System

Network

M2M Platform

Service

Provisioning

Service

Monitoring

Service & Network

Inventory

IT Systems of

M2M Partner

M2M devices

CRM

Billing & Revenue Sharing

CRM – partner

management

Provisioning

connectivity

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Inte

rfa

ce

Monitoring B2B Gateway – web services

M2M

Dashboards

Order

Management

Data

collection

Device software

deployment

Triggers &

Actions

`

M2M Application




M2M Application

Provisioning

Monitoring

Subscribers

Database

Ve

rtic

als

CS

P

AAASIM

Management

Policy

Management

Intelligent Connectivity

Product

Catalog


Choosing the best M2M platform delivery model

In-house development

+

• Low start-up costs

• Flexibility

-

• High costs of development in the long run

• No scale effect

Outsourced / Partnership

+

• Low start-up and operational costs

• Quick start-up

-

• No differentiation

• Unclear customer ownership

Ownership / Licensed

+

• Clear customer ownership

• Better differentiation tool

-

• Higher costs

• Slower start-up

Highest independence level

and flexibility

Model for CSPs looking at M2M

as an important, strategic

segment

Proven business models,

lower risk

For smaller CSP considering

entering the M2M but not as a

strategic segment


Why separated M2M silo?

• Many differences between traditional telecom business and M2M, e.g.:– Type of partners and ways to cooperate with them

– Various verticals served

– Complex (and different) logistic processes

• Difficult to achieve a scale effect – M2M business line would be added to the existing BSS platform

– But almost everything will be different and configured separately

• Separate organization units for M2M

• Different cost calculations for M2M– Low M2M ARPU (but potentially good margin)

– Systems supporting M2M must be very cheap in maintenance and operations

(potentially more SIM cards/customers but less money)

• Difficulties with ROI when running M2M on existing B2C / B2B silos


M2M Billing challenges

Customers

• International customers

• Customers and resellers (white labeling)

• Multi-country: multi-language, multi-currency, multiple time zones,

multiple tax regimes

Customer

Experience

• Final products are very personalized, defined during selling process

• Potentially hierarchies and split-billing controlled by customer

Revenue

Assurance

• Advanced limit control: per group or per SIM; for data or money; per

zone

Flexibility

• Flexibility and short lead-to-cash demanded by sales

• Flexibility also needed for finance departments: debt, credit notes and

advance invoices in any time

Convergence

• Billing for connectivity and non-telecom services

– M2M verticals in application enablement strategy

• Pre-paid model possible on SIM level or reseller level

Challenges• Deliver advanced and cost efficient billing services to M2M

departments in the organization


Leading European M2M operator – Case # 1

• Target group & services:

– Automotive

– Retail & payment

– Logictics & transportation

– Consumer electronics

– Healthcare

– Industrial & smart business

– Security & surveillance

– Energy & utilities

– Smart city & smart home

• Key benefits:

– End-2-end processes supported

– Plaform for all users and groups

– Highly efficient and configurable


• Challenges:

– Multinational platform – many companies, world coverage

– Migration of actual platform

– Complex hierarchy of users and customers

– Sophisticated triggering and alarming module

• Solutions:

– Platform supports multi-tenancy, multiple languages, multi-

currency

– Configuration of custom processes and APIs

– Different functionalities and GUI for different users

– Triggers & actions module for online and offline triggers

From challenge to solution – Case # 1


Leading European M2M operator – Case # 2

• Target group & services

– Automotive

– Logistics & Transportation,

Fleet Management

– Healthcare

– Smart Metering (Energy &

Utilities)

• Key benefits

– Graphically advanced

and suited solution

– Integrated with complex

internal systems

– Configuration-based (no

hard coding)


• Challenges:

– Time to market (fast implementation)

– Multi-country support

– SIM monitoring

• Solutions:

– Phases in implementation – division of functionalities

– Platform supports multi-tenancy, multiple languages, multi-

currency

– Rule-based monitoring on GGSN and HLR

From challenge to solution – Case # 2


Research activities

• 3GPP TR 23.888 – Technical Report studies and evaluates

architectural aspects of the System Improvements for

Machine Type Communications requirements specified in

TS 22.368

• Key Issues addressed:

– Group Based Optimization

– Time Controlled

– Signalling Congestion Control• Malfunctioning, massive numbers of MTC Devices to attach/connect all at once, recurring applications that are

synchronised to the exact (half/quarter) hour, …

– Potential overload issues caused by Roaming MTC devices• Very little traffic per device but still generate 'normal' levels of signalling and occupy 'normal' levels of VLR

space. This "imbalance" might lead to the VPLMN operator being "unhappy".

m2m billing - comarch m2m projects

Technology

m2m market

strategic m2m business

generic m2m platform

scale effect m2m business

smaller9why separated

comarch group facts

cloud business of cspsthe

traditional telecom