http://www.billingworld.com/news/2014/01/...ent-in-network-manag.aspx"It takes an eye on the long haul, combined with flawless execution in a seeming stagnant market to be a leader in network managed services.
That's what ABI Research found in its latest study, which named Ericsson, Nokia Solutions and Alcatel-Lucent – in that order – tops in this $10 billion market. The assessment is based on a combination of implementation (market traction) and innovation (managed service as competitive advantage) criteria.
Ericsson is the "implementation" winner with 36.6 percent market share and more than 1 billion subscribers under its care. Second is Huawei, with a projected end-of-year market share of nearly 23 percent. ABI Research believes it will nudge ahead of the third place contender, Nokia Solutions and Networks, with a little more than 22 percent market share.
The nod for "innovation leadership" goes to Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Solutions and Networks, and Ericsson, based on advances in managed-service automation, cloud offerings, and leveraging the potential of managed services for a competitive advantage, ABI said. Alcatel-Lucent’s focus on equipping its customers with competitive advantage, coupled with its focus on automation and cloud delivery, positions it as a most formidable challenger.
“Network managed services is an extremely competitive and tough business where scale and execution are everything," says Joe Hoffman, research director, ABI. “We now see managed services moving beyond outsourcing and cost reduction as service providers seek to deliver competitive advantage to their customers.""