LIVE FROM AMDOCS EXPERIENCE 2017, BERLIN: Microsoft is the latest software player to claim a shift in mindset is needed for operators to thrive in the new, digital world, and that this has “got to come from the top down: it’s got to be consistent”.

“Operators have spent 125 years building out five-9s [reliability]. That’s in their DNA, that’s what they do. It’s very difficult to quickly launch digital solutions that are not five-9s enabled. And that culture is a huge barrier to getting things done quickly,” said Bob de Haven, general manager of Worldwide Communications & Media at Microsoft.

Telecoms companies need to “experiment and fail fast”, in order to swiftly bring new services – and move on from failed initiatives. This “key mentality” contrasts with earlier telco focuses on testing and reliability prior to service launches – which create a window of opportunity for rivals.

de Haven’s comments echo those of Oracle exec Chris King at the 5G Asia event in Singapore last month. “Where do we need to be?” King asked in his event keynote. “We need to learn from our friends at Facebook and Google. We need to learn to run faster and pivot faster. And most importantly, we need to learn how to fail and fail elegantly.”

This week Microsoft’s de Haven suggested that a healthy does of paranoia can be important when dealing with fast moving digital markets: “Who is your Uber? Who is your Netflix? Who is going to come into your market and disintermediate you? You almost have to go to bed every night thinking about that.”

With operators having struggled to make the most of their assets in the past, de Haven’s advice was to “think ecosystem and become an enterprise software company”. This includes looking at monetisation opportunities beyond the point of distribution, for example through making data available to partners.

“You think that way, you change your businesses,” he said.

And the Microsoft executive highlighted some of the bold moves Microsoft has made in recent years, including cannibalising its own markets by launching Office 365 while Office itself is still a cash cow, and investing heavily in its Azure cloud infrastructure.