Your Data is Your Data: How ISPs can Leverage Their Systems for Success in an AI World

Your systems generate and store large amounts of data - but why is it so tedious to get the information you need?

Most of the time, the answer to that question is because the applications aren’t dynamic. In some cases, this is because vendors actively drag their feet on opening up access to data, or charge you to do so. In others, it’s because there are significant difficulties retrieving insights from old, tired systems.

Whatever the case may be, limited access to data can paralyze your organization. The rise of AI and other innovations has made the telecom industry more competitive by enhancing business’s efficiency and increasing their capacity; however, when the data that drives these tools isn’t readily available, you end up frustrated as your organization fails to keep up.

These challenges are what make open data - information from your systems that is freely available for you to use, modify, and share - so important. 

How open data benefits ISPs

Put simply, open data empowers your organization to do things better and faster. 

With open data access comes the ability to configure information in ways that simplify workflows and free up time. Many ISPs use applications that integrate with different networks and vendors to normalize data, presenting it in a single interface that makes it easy to find and interpret rather than piecing together information from different systems to try and understand where a problem is stemming from.

When an unexpected event arises, free access to the data in your systems also allows you to respond quickly instead of relying on a third party to get what you need, where you need it. For example, if your network experiences a mass outage due to a storm, data from various systems can be pulled into a centralized location, giving you the ability to see exactly how many of your subscribers were impacted, where they’re located, and more. 

Beyond internal operations, leveraging open data can transform your subscriber relations. Connecting your systems and the information within them enables you to monitor service interruptions and immediately take action to minimize or eliminate impacts on subscribers, supporting higher rates of retention. In addition, it gives you a more complete picture of individual subscribers’ experiences so you can take steps to mitigate churn risk. 

Just as open data supports progress in the areas mentioned above, it also drives better results when it comes to AI and automation. While many such tools are only built for buzz, AI models are exceptionally useful for recognizing patterns and gleaning insights in large datasets. Therefore, when they are fed accessible and comprehensive data from your applications, they can accurately summarize information and come to conclusions that help you make informed decisions and free up time to actually implement improvements. In this way, open data not only helps you improve workflows, response times, and customer satisfaction, but empowers AI to help you achieve even better results. 

Addressing barriers to open data

While open data is a powerful tool, as previously mentioned, access to it isn’t guaranteed. In order to reap the benefits outlined above, ISPs can and should take steps to address these challenges. 

Whether it’s lengthy and difficult retrievals, archaic formatting, or limited functionalities, old systems make it nearly impossible to easily and consistently utilize the data they store. The resolution to this problem is straightforward: legacy systems need to be modernized. 

Although this can be expensive and complicated, investing in tools that make it easy to access data helps your organization be more competitive and successful in the long term. While modern systems provide you with the benefits of open data environments, they also don’t come with the costs and risks associated with maintaining legacy systems. Instead, they support data continuity, enhance data governance, and minimize security vulnerabilities. 

Meanwhile, as the competitive environment in the telecom industry shifts, some vendors are leveraging data inter-op to unlock a new revenue channel for themselves. By requiring you to pay to export or integrate data from their applications, they aim to put their customers in a position of forced reliance, limiting you to only using products in their stack. 

To avoid falling into this trap, it’s important to be aware of vendors’ data policies. If a business that you work with or plan to work with isn’t committed to data accessibility, making that a condition of your agreement can hold them accountable for getting you the information you need. However, if a vendor continues to present challenges or refuses to agree to accessibility, it may be worth rethinking your relationship. 

7Sigma’s approach

At 7Sigma, we believe your data is just that - yours. The ability to access it is essential for responding to unexpected events, supporting subscribers, managing devices, improving operations, and more. As such, we are committed to supporting reasonable data access, integrations, exports, and interoperability so you can operate your business effectively and choose the systems that best support your goals.

We put our philosophy into practice by developing tools and functionalities that make it easy to get the information you need, where you need it. Using our APIs and webhooks, our customers have many different avenues to bring data out of our system into different applications. There, they can unify, configure, and display it in ways that support their success - without encountering friction. 

Wrapping up

Review your applications and make an honest assessment of your data’s openness. Can you easily access, modify, and share the information stored there? If not, it may be time to make some changes. 

7Sigma is always here to help. Contact our team if you want to discuss data accessibility or need help understanding your vendors’ policies.