# Infosys POV 
Title: Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle Management for Digital Ecosystems 
Author: Infosys Consulting 
Format: PDF 1.7 

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 An Infosys Consulting Perspective By Sagar Roongta, Kiran Amin and Thiag Karunanithi Consulting@Infosys.com | InfosysConsultingInsights.com REINVENTING THE CSP  PRODUCT LIFECYCLE  MANAGEMENT FOR  DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS How to sustainably manage product portfolio  complexity in the digital age? 

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 CONTENTS 2 1.<|endoftext|>Introduction 2.<|endoftext|>Unified PLM Framework 3.<|endoftext|>Components of Unified PLM 4.<|endoftext|>Recommendations for CSPs 5.<|endoftext|>Infosys PLM Maturity Model Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle  Management for the Digital Ecosystems © 2023 Infosys Consulting 

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 Generating new sources of revenue & free cash  flows are the top priorities for CSP CEOs in 2023 In our regular interactions with Communication  Service Providers (CSPs) across Asia Pacific,  increasing revenue growth is a key priority for  executive leadership. The traditional revenue  sources have diminished while any price  increase will prove to be an extremely sensitive  subject for price savvy customers. The COVID- 19 pandemic allowed CSPs to emerge  unscathed, or at least to re-think how they now  commit substantial investments to expand  their 5G networks and open additional revenue  sources.<|endoftext|>As per Gartner’s 2023 Board of Director’s  Survey, 46% of boards wanted to expand new  product lines, to create new growth  opportunities.  In this environment, CSPs have  expanded to occupy the role of digital  ecosystem gateways, acting as a marketplace  operator where consumer and enterprise  customers can buy bundled service offering(s)  within an enclosed ecosystem and CSP  partners. These ecosystem partners vary from  digital content providers, gaming fintech,  financial services, cybersecurity, insurance, and  health-tech companies seeking to access the  digital ready customer portfolio of CSPs.  Through these mass-personalized offerings,  CSPs could increase customer stickiness and  reinforce core business goals. For the end- consumer, their CSP becomes not just a  connectivity provider but an incumbent one- stop-shop for digital services. Consequently, as  per a recent IDC report, one in three CSP is  expected to generate more than 15% of their  overall revenue from new digital products and  services, compared to one in six in 2020. 1,2 INTRODUCTION 3 Did You Know? As per a recent IDC report, one in  three CSP is expected to generate more  than 15% of their overall revenue from  digital products and services, compared  to one in six in 2020.<|endoftext|>Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle  Management for the Digital Ecosystems © 2023 Infosys Consulting How should CSPs manage their product portfolios  as they launch plethora of new 5G, digital  and innovative offerings? 

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 INTRODUCTION 4 As an ecosystem provider, CSPs would be  operating in a dramatically different business  model. Newer, open, and more complex  offerings must be introduced to markets  quickly, which requires more investments and  collaboration, while the lifecycle of each  product must be better controlled from  financial and technological perspectives.  However, the existing CSP product portfolio is  already overly complex, and the product  development process is highly bureaucratic as  it currently functions on legacy systems,  processes, and historical ways of working.  Furthermore, mistakes or shortcomings  perceived in the products or product designs  reach the market because the company cannot  react to market changes quickly enough. The  slowness of an end-to-end process means that  companies are unable to bring its products to  market in rhythm with customers’ wishes,  market changes, and set timetables or to  collect the greatest possible product margin.  Subsequently, CSPs are forced to undergo  expensive product rationalization exercises to  cull out redundant or non-profitable offerings.  Hence, to succeed in the dynamic ecosystem  era, CSP would need to reimagine how they  develop new products whilst innovating and  managing their lifecycles. This requires a deep  dive into their existing product lifecycle  approach from a piecemeal activity to a next  generation product lifecycle management  approach. How and at what level of each  company conducts its product lifecycle  management implementation depends on  several factors that can be explained through  the Unified PLM Framework.<|endoftext|>For sustainable digital ecosystem success, CSPs  need to re-imagine their PLM activities as a  strategic initiative Did You Know? According to Bain’s Digital GPS  Benchmark, more than half of respondents  from telecom industry, said that automation  of back-office operations like PLM, as their  top digital priority3 Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle  Management for the Digital Ecosystems © 2023 Infosys Consulting 

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 The Unified Product Lifecycle Management  (Unified PLM) is a comprehensive approach to  implementing product lifecycle strategy in a  telecom organization. It integrates a  comprehensive PLM strategy, a modular  product architecture, an efficient PLM process  design and enabling data & technology  architecture that saves time, reduces product  complexity, and excels in a multi-party  environment. It creates a framework to capture  insights across lifecycle phases to rapidly  create new offerings while having an  automated process to right-size unused  offerings.4 It starts with setting up a PLM strategy and  governance structures that defines the  stakeholders critical to implement a product  architecture relevant for the digital age which  need not be complex but simplified and  modularized. Subsequently, the enabling  processes and technology are implemented to  execute the product portfolio and lifecycle  strategy.  The unified PLM framework has five key  components: Unified PLM is a holistic framework for PMs to  save time and reduce costs in a multi-party world UNIFIED PLM FRAMEWORK 5 • Strict process stage gates • IT change & configuration  management • Process improvement  initiatives • Product retirement process • Process support systems • Decision support system • Product data management  and policies • Process efficiency tools • PLM maturity  assessment • Product portfolio &  PLM alignment • PLM governance  framework • Incorporation of  product variants • Organizational structure • Roles and responsibilities • Skill & Resources  allocated • Multi-party collaboration • Modular marketing  product structure • Product rules governance • Modular process design  • Reusability of  components PLM Strategy PLM Process Excellence Data & Technology Product Design Organization & People Unified PLM Framework Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle  Management for the Digital Ecosystems © 2023 Infosys Consulting 

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 The PLM strategy is the foundational rail on  which the organization embarks on  transforming its PLM activities. It is an optimal  alignment between the need for innovation  and marketing priorities with a governance  mechanism that effectively addresses the PLM  priorities. It allows for seamless  synchronization of product development,  market management, and retirement  processes. It also sets the necessary  governance and control mechanisms to detect  and mitigate potential threats. However, CSPs  should be wary of implementing a one-size- fits-all approach to all products in the portfolio;  they should treat various products differently  based on their operating model, product  complexity and lifecycle behavior.<|endoftext|>For example, a device bundled with mobile  plans have a limited shelf-life; hence the PLM  Strategy should be agile to respond faster to  any type of change while enterprise products  have a longer shelf-life to allow for market  development and sales cycles. Hence, an  effective PLM strategy creates a framework for  managing distinct product variants within the  strategic priorities.  Unified PLM begins from strategy to create the  rails on which people & products are organized COMPONENTS OF UNIFIED PLM 6 PLM Strategy 1 PLM Governance 2 Alignment to Product Portfolio  Strategy 3 PLM Process Variants PLM Strategy Reinventing the CSP Product Lifecycle  Management for the Digital Ecosystems © 2023 Infosys Consulting 

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 COMPONENTS OF UNIFIED PLM PLM activities cut across different stakeholders  such as product marketing, sales, technology,  customer management, business intelligence  and finance teams. And in an unstructured  environment, these activities are conducted on  an ad-hoc basis by individual functions. And  consequently, conflicts between stakeholders  are quite common. Various case studies have  demonstrated that more conflicts lead to a  higher probability of final product failure.  Hence, for a sustainable PLM success, an  organizational structure must