CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - Based on its recent research on the big data solutions market, Frost & Sullivan presents Intersec with the 2014 African Customer Value Leadership Award.
At the core of Intersec's success is its ability to maximise hardware usage through highly efficient software design implementation. Soon after its inception, Intersec made an important decision to target telecommunications operators to help them develop innovative capabilities and service platforms. It particularly sought to enable mobile operators to capture and monetise the value inherent in their networks, through the efficient processing of big data.
Intersec has demonstrated an ability to efficiently address telecommunications providers' needs, including deriving ways to monetise their customer data with internal and external usage, identifying their target audience for associated and derived services, and thrashing out the most effective ways of using them.
Using Intersec's solution, operators can build their own rules-based systems to automatically respond to particular user events and context. This means that the processed big data can provide actionable insights and fully personalised applications such as customer retention management (loyalty and churn); real-time, contextual engagement; and location mapping.
"Intersec's service is founded on the company's desire to cut through the complexity of big data and provide simple, targeted vertical solutions that are easy to deploy," said Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Gareth Mellon .
Messaging (of various forms) is still the key means of communication between operators and users, particularly in emerging markets such as Africa. In this environment, Intersec's system provides added value to operators by opening up multiple communication channels including SMS, MMS, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD), cell broadcast centre (CBC), interactive voice response (IVR) and email.
Another characteristic of Intersec's solution is its agnosticism, both in terms of system and device inputs. Indeed, it is even able to capture non-cellular network data, further enhancing its value to operators that might provide multiple means of access. Intersec's creation of a single framework also breaks down information silos, which is a recurring problem for companies seeking to implement big data solutions.
"In terms of implementation, Intersec aims to provide incremental benefit and hence, avoid direct competition with larger, integrated providers," noted Mellon. "Its initial value proposition is to improve internal efficiencies (notably, effective real-time customer value management and retention solutions) and demonstrate the system's worth before progressing to new revenue streams and business models."
Intersec provides solutions with capacity for add-on services, as software activation of these additions is relatively easy. Its solutions have already been adopted by numerous operators across Africa and its innovative approach to product development will add to its growing momentum in the African market.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognizes the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and ultimately customer base expansion.
Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.
