Henning Dransfeld, Ph.D., Clement Teo, and Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D.
We recently attended T-Systems' Analyst And Sourcing Advisor Summit in London. T-Systems has made some progress since its last analyst summit, not least of which is the development of a clearer overall market message and further developments of its portfolio. Its overall market message centers on what Forrester calls “the age of the customer.” The vendor emphasizes enhanced network/solution performance, innovation, and execution. Our key takeaways were:
The deepening the relationship between T-Systems and parent Deutsche Telekom is sensible. During the keynote, and in the breakout sessions, there were several references to how T-Systems’ assets complement Deutsche Telekom’s. T-Systems is moving ever closer to its parent Deutsche Telekom, in particularly in the B2B2C space. T-Systems can provide solutions to its business customers that are brought to market through Deutsche Telekom's consumer customer base. Such an approach is limited to Deutsche Telekom's footprint. However, this strategy could also be extended to other carriers as white-label solutions, where no competitive conditions exist (e.g., in Spain or the Nordics). This approach clearly makes sense for both Deutsche Telekom and T-Systems and is reflected in T-Systems "zero-distance" marketing message.