Amdocs and Heavy Reading: Research Shows Overwhelming Demand for Integrated Charging and Policy Management Solutions to Address Data Monetization Challenge

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), the leading provider of customer experience systems, today released the findings of a global research report, conducted by leading analyst firm Heavy Reading, which highlights the importance for service providers around the world to integrate charging and policy management capabilities to enable their future pricing strategies for data services.

The recent rise in new data price plans is being driven by the need for service providers to offer customers an improved data experience and to better monetize their investments in network capacity.

"We can expect new data price plans to flood the market as data usage skyrockets with the introduction of improved tablets and smartphones, such as the iPhone 5, BlackBerry Torch and the Nokia N series," said Ari Banerjee, senior analyst, Heavy Reading. "Our research shows there is global consensus that integration of charging and policy management capabilities is required to monetize these new data pricing strategies. Service providers have found attempts to integrate charging and policy management by their internal IT and network departments challenging and too expensive and are now seeking pre-integrated vendor solutions."

Key research findings reveal that charging subscribers based on the customer experience provided is gaining mindshare, but existing systems are challenged to enable it:

Marketing departments want to introduce more sophisticated data price plans

• 83 percent of respondents say their marketing organizations are asking IT to enable innovative data price plans;
• Over 90 percent say their companies are looking to create packages across lines of business, customer types and payment methods;
• 86 percent of providers plan to launch tiered pricing plans;
• 82 percent plan to launch single data plans for multiple devices (e.g. tablets, smartphones, etc.);
• 67 percent plan to launch family plans.

Integrated charging and policy management capabilities are required to enable these more sophisticated data price plans

• 85 percent of respondents see a need to integrate charging and policy management capabilities. Integration between charging and policy management will allow providers to offer a better customer experience by introducing plans that relate to the device type, network status, customer information across all lines of business and other parameters.

IT organizations find it difficult to deliver

• 80 percent of respondents do not think their existing policy management systems, deployed to support network-related use cases (bandwidth management, fair usage, bill shock) can support more advanced use cases, such as data plans across multiple lines of business, payment methods and spend limits, and more;
• 10 percent have tried to integrate charging and policy management systems and failed.

"This survey validates the need for better integrated charging and policy management capabilities in order for service providers to create, offer and monetize the next generation of data services," said Rebecca Prudhomme, vice president of product and solutions marketing at Amdocs. "But we must remember that end customers also want to get their new services in a simple and intuitive manner. This is exactly where value-based pricing should come into play. For example, a movie package that has data and speed prerequisites already embedded into it for a high-quality experience will offer end customers the ease of use and personalized services for which they are willing to pay more."

The research is based on 64 qualitative interviews with decision makers in director, vice president or chief executive roles from 32 service providers from across Europe (13), North America (9) and Asia-Pacific (10), from both IT and marketing departments. Interviews were conducted between May and July 2011.

Amdocs' recent acquisition of leading policy management vendor Bridgewater Systems will enable the company to offer the market a pre-integrated convergent charging and policy management solution, scalable to meet the needs of the largest service providers. The Amdocs Convergent Charging  software incorporates Amdocs' innovative, real-time charging technology – Amdocs Turbo Charging – and holds the industry record for real-time charging performance, demonstrating the ability to process 276 million prepaid calls during peak calling hours.

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About Amdocs

Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience systems innovation. The company combines business and operational support systems, service delivery platforms, proven services, and deep industry expertise to enable service providers and their customers to do more in the connected world. Amdocs' offerings help service providers explore new business models, differentiate through personalized customer experiences, and streamline operations. A global company with revenue of approximately $3.0 billion in fiscal 2010, Amdocs has over 19,000 employees and serves customers in more than 60 countries worldwide. For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs' Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs' growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs' ability to grow in the business segments it serves, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, however the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, filed on December 7, 2010 and our quarterly 6-K filed forms furnished on February 8,  May 11 and August 8, 2011.

SOURCE Amdocs