Would price game work to woo for data svcs?

DUBLIN: The economic crisis will have a relatively muted impact on the market for business data services because data networks have become essential for the running of most businesses.

However, data and managed services continue to be extremely competitive areas of telecoms service provision, in which prices will come under extreme pressure as service providers chase cashflow. The reaction of many companies to the recession is to put all plans on hold while they wait to see what happens. This is delaying migration to new technologies, even where those offer cost savings, as pointed out by a new report by Research and Markets called, Business data services in Europe: growth opportunities and forecasts 2009-2014" report.

Service providers need to find ways to respond to this trend that are more subtle than simple price reductions, it explains.

Such tactics could include offering customers greater flexibility and control in contracts for WANs and managed services, and changing pricing structures to allay concerns about over-provisioning for a shrinking workforce.

“This report provides insight into the effects of the economic crisis on demand for business data services, based on interviews with end users, user groups, vendors and service providers, and includes detailed forecasts for spend by service type and access technology (including ATM, Ethernet, FR and IP VPN) for seven countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK. High-level forecasts are provided for Western Europe as a whole.” The company press release added.