Telecommunications will be one of the top industries for IT spending in the next 12-18 months, according to global analyst Ovum, and partnerships between vendors and telcos is vital.

Investments are being made to optimise network assets and infrastructure as well as improving service quality and the customer experience, and this will intensify in 2015, says Ovum.

Ovum says collaborative partnerships between telcos and vendors is important to create solutions to future problems.

Vendors should create long term relationships with telcos as well as key stakeholders, including systems integrators and consultants, says Ovum.

Telcos will look to vendors to help find innovative and budget-friendly solutions to problems, as there is increasing pressure to change and limited budgets to fund this.

“With LTE infrastructure largely in place, we are entering an era in which the judicious choice and deployment of support software will be critical to the profitability of CSPs,” says Peter Dykes, Ovum, senior analyst Telco IT.

“This will also require a complete change of mindset by CSPs and vendors alike. The switch to IP as the main bearer technology will have ramifications throughout the industry, and only those that are able to adapt will survive,” says Dykes.

The Ovum 'telco IT trends to watch' report noted spending on IT will enable new services to be launched in new markets, as well as lowering cost base and reducing churn and customer acquisition costs.

There will be renewed interest in customer care, with rising demand for high-quality content and services on smart devices.

Customer care will be a differentiator, says Ovum, with more of a focus on relevance and content of services and packages.

The report says customer relationship management (CRM) strategies for sales, marketing and operations will be informed by omni-channel engagements in 2015.

“The telecoms industry is witnessing a long-term shift in spend towards customer-oriented systems and processes to improve customer satisfaction,” says Dykes.

“Investment will be geared towards telecoms infrastructure (cloud platforms and BSS/OSS systems to support LTE implementations) and online channels to support the move towards digital lifestyles,” he says.

In order to prosper, Ovum says telcos need to be customer-centric when it comes to products and services as well as quality of service and experience. Telcos must adapt organisational structure and business processes to encompass customer needs, says Ovum.

The report says outsourcing engagements between telcos and IT service providers will intensify.