Similar to the 4Ps of Marketing, anyone who has taken an introductory business course has probably heard about Porter’s 5 Forces. Porter’s 5 Forces is a model companies use to identify the competitiveness of a particular industry. And just like the Ps in the Marketing Mix, you can revisit the five forces any time your company grows or the product suite changes.

This article will cover the five forces, share an example, and explore why those in the UC industry should try out this model. 

What are Porter’s 5 Forces?

As mentioned above, Porter’s 5 Forces cover five competitive forces that shape every industry. The concept was developed in 1979 by Michael Porter to assess and evaluate a business’s competitive strength and position in its specific sector. 

Not only does the framework provide peace of mind regarding competition, but it also considers your suppliers and potential substitutions from end users. 

Porter’s 5 Forces are:

1. Threat of New Entrants
2. Threat of Substitution
3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
4. Bargaining Power of Buyers
5. Rivalry of Existing Competition

When you understand the industry you are entering or actively working in, you can better position yourself, your brand, and your product amongst competitors. Each force has benefits to help you find your competitive advantage. Let’s explore them! 

• Threat of New Entrants

A new entrant is a company that produces a competing product for the first time. How likely would it be for a new company to enter the market? The threat would be low if you are in a specific industry requiring much knowledge and research. However, the threat would be high if the product is simple, like developing dog toys. 

The threat of new entrants in the UC market is moderate. We measure the threat as moderate because new companies must provide innovative solutions aligned with industry standards. However, they can easily partner with established players that are the original software manufacturers of the products. 

As a UC Reseller, think of how easy it is to enter the industry. It requires a niche expertise; however, not manufacturing your products is one significant benefit to reselling. By partnering with an experienced provider, like Bicom Systems, resellers avoid starting their business at square one. They also have the tools to meet the demands of many different customers across different industries.

For example, one customer may be a pizza company that needs their delivery staff available on mobile. Another customer may be in the hospitality industry and require minimal features but multiple extensions. Partnering with an experienced provider means you have all the tools to ensure you meet the needs of your customers. 

Not to mention, trusted providers will support their resellers by providing branded marketing material, training courses, and case studies. Stay with a provider who is constantly updating their solutions and staying innovative. 

• Threat of Substitutes

Regarding unified communications, we can consider the threat of substitutes in two ways. One is the likelihood that your customers will switch away from your product. Or two, that they move away from UC services entirely.

The threat of substitutes is low when considering option two because no alternative services can substitute UC. On the other hand, with option one and your customers, the threat of substitutes is moderate.

Customers have the ability to switch to a new provider, but switching providers is not like changing laundry detergent. It takes time to transfer clients from one hosted solution to another. Many factors come into play when considering switching, such as price, features, customer service, etc. 

To ensure your customers do not search for substitutes, look at our Bicom Systems Tips! 

• Be Transparent 
• Treat Your Customers like Partners
• Ensure Products are Updated Regularly
• Keep Your Providers Up to Date with Industry Standards 

  • For example, SMS is becoming a common feature. Our Partners expressed the real risk of losing business, so we partnered with Telnyx and added it! Don’t be afraid to express your wants and needs to your provider. 

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers depends on how much power and control a company’s supplier has over price and quality. Could the supplier raise their prices? Or reduce the quality of their services? Another factor to consider when determining this force is the number of suppliers a company can pick. The fewer suppliers there are, the more power they hold. Businesses are better positioned when there are many suppliers to choose from. 

When we consider the bargaining power of suppliers, think of factors like: 

• Switching Costs 
• Availability of Substitutes
• Uniqueness or Differences 

In the technology industry, there is an unspoken rule that players must stay up to date with industry standards. On top of that, in the UC industry, very few vendors have their own cloud hosting. As a result of these two points, and keeping in mind UC Resellers are considering software manufacturers as suppliers, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. 

As we mentioned before, do not be afraid to make product feature requests to your provider. If your customer ‘wishes’ they had a specific feature, chances are other customers will benefit from it. Thankfully at Bicom Systems, our partners can purchase or rent the licenses and sell them to whoever, wherever, for whatever the price. The extremely clear channel strategy gives power to the resellers so they can control the bargaining power of suppliers to their customers. 

Ensure you partner with well-established providers in the industry. When your provider is credible, you can trust they will not make dramatic changes with their support, prices, or quality of solutions.   

• Bargaining Power of Buyers

On the other end of suppliers, we have buyers. This force allows customers to add pressure on providers and demand better prices and quality of products. The number of competitors in an industry that offers identical products increases the buyer’s bargaining power. It is best practice to consider the bargaining power of buyers to be high when there are many options. 

As distributors in the UC industry, there are dozens of vendors that sell identical products at comparable prices. Since buyers have several options to choose from similar services, the bargaining power in the UC market is high. Customers are now searching for the best price, unique features, and ease of switching to another vendor. 

A few strategies to consider to help you deliver unique value to your customers are: 

• Incentive Programs
• Quarterly Sales and Discounts
• Top Notch Customer Service 
• Reliable Support  

When you are connecting with customers, personalize your sales pitch. Understand their needs and showcase how your company can meet them and solve their problems. Everyone has the ‘best’ solutions, but as a Reseller, it is your responsibility to show how your solutions will help them. 

• Competitive Rivalry 

Last, we examine competitive rivalry in the marketplace. This force is determined by the number and size of existing competitors in the industry. Think of it as the pressure market players put on each other. 

Rivalry is considered high when many competitors are equal in size, power, and price. We determine competitive rivalry is high in the UC industry because competitors are not much different. 

It is high because various industries introduce new technology and trends daily, directly increasing competition. Not to mention the similarities between major vendors in technology. As a US Reseller, protect yourself by having a competitive advantage. Position yourself as favorable, or the superior business, and you will stand out against competitors. Showcase your highly knowledgeable sales staff, unbeatable prices, or early access to new technology. 

To help stand out among competitors, is to approach different industries. For example, did you know VoIP can be extremely beneficial for schools and universities? Showcase the benefits of selling to the academic sector. 

Wrapping Up

Now that you learned the basics of the model, you understand how vital identifying competitive forces are for long-term planning. Working through the five points is useful for examining your current competitive position and ability to move into other areas. The best part is that the forces can be revisited at any time, just like the Marketing Mix. 

Learn why you should be a add title=”Become a UC Reseller” UCaaS Reseller and join this ever-growing, million-dollar industry by becoming a Bicom Systems partner today. 

Let’s Connect.
📞 +1 (647) 313 1515
📧 sales@bicomsystems.com
💻 www.bicomsystems.com/contact-us   

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In today’s hyperconnected world, consumers rely on telcos and multiple system operators (MSOs) for just about everything. They serve as a lifeline for healthcare, providing telehealth to communicate with the chronically ill.  They act as the primary enabler of home schoolers, accessing the curriculum and collaborating with teachers and other students not enrolled in traditional school. And the entertainment and connection to friends and family that MSOs provide is critical to the quality of life. Telco and MSOs are technology intensive businesses that generate revenue by providing service to a diverse population of consumers. Success depends on simple formula – … [visit site to read more]

Vodafone Oman has added analytics, DevOps processes and an integration layer to its ongoing engagement with Netcracker. This latest expansion to the partnership will, says Netcracker, further add to the operator’s data-driven capabilities, allowing it to grow and enhance its business and deliver an improved experience for customers.

Vodafone entered the Omani market in December 2021 as the Sultanate’s third mobile operator, leveraging Netcracker Advanced Analytics to achieve end-to-end visibility across its business and operations and gain improved system availability and resilience. Netcracker DevOps Enablement includes a number of components to help Vodafone improve its DevOps processes as part of an overall operational transformation.

The operator will also utilize Netcracker Support & Managed Services to optimize and improve business performance and extend coverage for Netcracker’s products and surrounding third-party systems. Overarching these projects, says Netcracker, is a new integration layer that will be critical to improving customer management, including functions such as service onboarding.

“After a successful partnership with Netcracker to support the launch of our mobile business less than a year ago, we are taking the next step to leverage critical data and bring in DevOps and managed services processes to further improve our business and operations,” said Stelios Savvides, Technology Director at Vodafone Oman. “By using these functions alongside a robust integration layer, we are confident that we will achieve increased revenue, lower OpEx and improve our engagement with our customers.”

Vodafone’s Oman operation has clearly been busy in recent weeks. As we reported on 11 October, Ericsson is to provide the operator with AI-based cognitive software solutions for network optimization to facilitate data-driven decisions and support Vodafone in implementing zero-touch operations (ZTO) and anomaly detection capabilities.

Nokia certainly started off this week with a bang with news coming in from five different fronts, each worth noting individually: … [visit site to read more]

Global telecommunications networks are phasing out physical legacy infrastructure in favor of IP-based communications. But for some businesses, the new technology and compliance practices that come with transitioning to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems can be intimidatingly complex. 

Why is now the time to move your communications to VoIP?

The cost of maintaining physical infrastructure coupled with the notoriously inflexible nature of copper wire telephone lines has caused many countries to rethink their dependence on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). While this shift toward internet-based calling began in the 1990’s, it has steadily gained momentum since the emergence and broad global adoption of smartphones. Now, countries worldwide are decommissioning their physical telephony infrastructure, such as  Australia and the United Kingdom who have committed to decommissioning their PSTN networks altogether by 2025.

As most of the western world begins to minimize investment in the PSTN, it is more important than ever to start thinking about making the switch to VoIP for your voice communications. 

Benefits Explained: Numbers and SIP Trunking

VoIP offers flexible calling plans, access to local numbers in geographies all across the world and additional number features–all at a cheaper cost than maintaining legacy systems associated with fixed-line communications. 

• International VoIP carriers can help expand your global reach, with access to international numbers and global voice service on-demand–so you can respond to customers whenever, wherever they are.
• There is no need for concern about feature parity between on-premise and VoIP-based solutions. PSTN Replacement describes a feature set of VoIP telephony services in a specific country or area. In countries where PSTN replacement is available, numbers will have inbound and outbound local calling; geographic, toll-free, and national number resources; emergency service-enabled numbers; guaranteed Calling Line Identity (CLI) passthrough; dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling; and number portability. PSTN replacement essentially ensures you don’t have to compromise on any of your on-premise number features as you move off the PSTN.

Switch and Save

It may be a surprise that moving away from the PSTN and expanding globally can be done in a cost-effective manner. How? There are two main reasons:

1. The equipment needed to support fixed-line communications is often costly to set up and maintain. With IP-based systems, no hardware is required other than a computer and an internet connection, allowing you to scale trunks up and down as you need at little-to-no cost.
2. In addition, communications providers that offer international service enable you to buy numbers and minutes without the hassle of managing multiple vendor relationships and contracts for each new country or region–saving valuable time and money. 

VoIP has many benefits for the end-user, but it also has a number of unique selling points for resellers. Whether you are a large company or a small business, the same benefit applies: cost savings. On-premise PBX (private branch exchange) has its prospects, but for most use cases, cloud PBX is the way to go. 

Interested in learning more?

Access markets all across the world with Bicom Systems and Telnyx. Through our partnership, we make it easier for businesses to scale their communications globally with a suite of self-service tooling for number search and provisioning, SIP Trunk creation and management, debugging, and QoS reporting. Telnyx offers Bicom Systems customers PSTN Replacement in over 30 countries, including key markets such as the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and the Netherlands. 

To learn more about Bicom Systems and Telnyx and how we can help you expand your global offering, register for our upcoming webinar–the first in our new series, “Expanding global connectivity”.

Treten Networks, an ICT solutions and enterprise security services business, has partnered with Africa Data Centres. This partnership will, it says, allow Treten’s customers access to the cloud and infrastructure they need to realise their digital transformation goals.

Treten Networks offers specialist business advisory services that provide advanced network and security solutions. It has a footprint in over 18 countries across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Canada and the UK.

In addition to its existing services, Treten will now leverage Africa Data Centres’ physical infrastructure and ecosystem of connectivity partners to support cloud deployments for its customers.

Both organisations aim to solve customers’ business challenges with this partnership by providing what are described as sustainable game-changing technologies and solutions.

Operating the continent’s largest carrier-neutral data centres, Africa Data Centres has access to tens of thousands of connections to cloud, content and network providers from Africa and across the globe. As a result, Treten says that its own customers will reap the benefits of connecting directly with secure, low-latency connections to key providers and business partners.

Together, Africa Data Centres and Treten say they can provide organisations with secure private infrastructure and access to hyperscale cloud providers through numerous interconnections and exchanges.

Treten Networks is rapidly expanding its footprint with its bespoke cloud service offerings, including compute, storage, networking, backup and recovery. « We already boast of an extremely low latency and the fastest cloud service in Nigeria, and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with Africa Data Centres, » says Karo Esemitodje, Head of Cloud Services from Treten Networks.

An optical upgrade, a technology partnership, a new IX, and some data center M&A: … [visit site to read more]

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