This is according to Kevin Meltzer, Consology's business development director, who says: “Life without the convenience of Web-based online service is becoming increasingly hard to imagine."
He explains that self-service has moved from being a niche application to become pervasive across all ICT sectors.
“When Consology started out [ten years ago], the concept of online billing and self-service had yet to even begin to take route in SA outside of selected applications such as online banking,” says Meltzer.
“Online self-service was still a garage industry in SA and the rest of the world, with only a few specialist companies selling these solutions into the market.”
At that time, explains Meltzer, cynics considered online business as a non-starter. “The Nasdaq had just dropped through the floor and the entire dotcom market imploded as the inevitable backlash against overpriced Internet stocks took place. The Internet bubble had truly burst.”
Self-service evolves
However, Meltzer points out that companies started to move key business processes such as billing and account management onto the Internet. “The evolution of our first business partner, edocs, perfectly encapsulates the progress of the self-service market,” he notes.
Meltzer states that the 2005 Siebel acquisition of edocs signified the growth of the self-service market over the past decade. “Siebel, a 5 000 person company, was subsequently acquired by software giant Oracle, bringing self-service right into the mainstream of the software industry.”
According to Meltzer, online banking, social networking and Web 2.0 are some of the major drivers contributing to the growth of self-service applications.
On the move
Meltzer predicts more investment will be made into mobile applications following the proliferation of smartphones and new tablet devices such as Apple's iPad, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and now the Blackberry PlayBook.
“The previous challenge of high data charges has fallen away and consumers, as well as business users, are demanding real-time access information on these new devices.”
He explains self-service strategies in business, particularly in the telecoms industry, will mature in 2011, adding that South African telco service providers will have an opportunity in self-service, as they are now focusing on delivering value-added services as competition heats up in the market.
“We have yet to see the full potential of self-service in telecoms. There is much more that telcos need to be looking at in terms of life-enhancing services and securing brand loyalty for their customers and to be able to turn on and off services when customers want them.”
Not quite there
He says it is not only the customer that benefits from the convenience and efficiency of self-service applications, but also the cost-saving benefits that businesses derive by going paperless by offering these services.
In terms of government, Meltzer says citizen self-service in SA still has a way to go.
“Government has traditionally been focused on e-government yet it's more about policy to apply for documents online. However, we are starting to see government looking at more online services but it is not quite there yet.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Alex Kayle
Quelle/Source: ITWeb, 05.01.2011
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