Telco Sector Solutions Overview
In this fast-moving API economy, telecommunications carriers must focus their attention on securely exposing services both internally and to external partners and applications. Turning network services into resources that can be easily accessed via APIs is the future for all businesses – and especially for telcos.
The latest over-the-top applications threaten the very core of how we communicate, so telcos must develop new ways of supporting open network architecture:
- Investment in the long tail of third-party app developers can be great for stimulating innovation but it is likely to remain a loss leader as it is hard to monetize directly.
- Rather than focusing on directly monetizing APIs, carriers must understand the business partnerships and enterprise solutions where they can add value.
- Commodity services (messaging, location etc.) are not viable businesses for carriers that need to sustain growth. New services like QoS, user context and identity are the future.
Layer 7 Solutions for API Exposure in Telco
Layer 7 Technologies can offer telcos products, solutions and services that leverage existing investments but also enable participation in the burgeoning API economy. Simply publishing APIs is not enough to guarantee success. API design, management, security and scalability are all of paramount importance – on top of which, telcos must also consider the importance of managing developers, identities and operations. Layer 7’s offerings enable carriers to address all these areas of concern.
Layer 7 solutions are being used by fixed, mobile, cable and IPTV operators today for:
- API Management and security
- Developer management
- Mobile access to backend systems
- Machine-to-machine (M2M) interconnect
- Cloud computing
Layer 7 also provides extensive services to API publishers across industries, via the API Academy which supports API design, implementation and developer engagement. Services include:
- API Design & Architecture Boot Camp
- API Strategy Consulting Services
- Hackathon Promotion & Management Services
Layer 7 is a thought leader in best practices for telco API publishing, active in the Open Mobile Alliance and TeleManagement Forum.