Service Provider Survey: Improving Time to Market is Important - But Only If New Services Deliver Better Customer Experience

Survey demonstrates that improved operational practices are critical to support faster time to market

ST. LOUIS, June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A global survey of service providers in the wireless, wireline and cable markets found that service providers acknowledge that rapid time to market for new services is critical to delivering a more competitive customer experience. But the survey, which was sponsored by Amdocs (NYSE:DOX), the leading provider of customer experience systems, also revealed that service providers place even more emphasis on safeguarding service fulfillment and controlling the cost of service delivery to end users. 90 percent of survey respondents indicated that getting the service right -- in other words, ensuring a positive customer experience - is as important as delivering it quickly.

While two-thirds of respondents expect to improve profit margins through faster time to market and 75 percent confirm that faster time to market will reduce customer churn -- more than 90 percent recognize that decreasing time to market requires investment in OSS (Operations Support Systems) to address the challenges of legacy-based systems and processes. In particular, respondents cited automation (85 percent), common tools and processes (81 percent) and data integrity (79 percent) as critical areas for future investment.

"Time to market is important -- but not at any cost -- and certainly not at any risk to the customer experience," said Charles Born, vice president of corporate communications at Amdocs. "To overcome the challenges, mitigate the risks and deliver the required customer experience, the survey demonstrates that service providers recognize the need to address operational challenges and constraints by investing in BSS/OSS integration, standardization and automation of key processes, and improved data integrity."

Other findings include:

-- The most important differentiators are those that impact customer
experience: 98 percent of respondents said quality of service is a
critical factor in determining customer satisfaction and retention.
Other critical factors include time to deliver service (91 percent),
which is the time between when a customer places an order and when it
is filled; customer experience (91 percent), and cost of service (83
percent). Whilst time to market is not the most critical
differentiator, 93 percent of respondents recognize its importance in
delivering a competitive customer experience.
-- A gap exists between aspiration and reality: The target time to market
for service providers is three to six months; however, less than one- third of respondents can introduce new products in less than three
months; and only one-third of respondents have seen a decrease in time
to market for introducing new services. While service providers aspire
to introduce services quickly, they cited that challenges and
constraints in achieving rapid time to market include the complexity of
the technology environment, time to develop systems and processes,
OSS/BSS integration and lack of standardization.
-- Time to market impacts the bottom line: The survey shows that nearly
one quarter of respondents launch new products late to market and more
than half expect the number of new products to increase. Delays result
in missed revenue opportunities and sub-standard customer experiences,
which negatively affect customer retention. Cost to market has to be
contained, even as time to market is reduced.

Conducted in February 2008, the survey featured more than 120 interviews with CIOs, COOs, directors of OSS, and product managers of leading wireline, wireless and cable providers from Europe, Asia Pacific, North and South America, the Far East and Middle East. Coleman Parkes Research, an independent firm based in London, conducted the survey. Complete survey findings can be found at: www.amdocs.com.

About Amdocs Customer Experience Systems (CES)

Amdocs CES, introduced in January 2008, is an integrated portfolio that delivers the operating environment service providers need to transform from providers of utility voice, data and video services into purveyors of the digital lifestyle. Amdocs CES allows providers to deliver an optimal customer experience-personalized, participatory and timely across any service, location and device. The Amdocs CES portfolio leverages Amdocs business process best practices based on real-world scenarios, and transcends traditional business support systems (BSS), operations support systems (OSS) and service delivery platforms (SDPs) to enable service providers to address both current and emerging customer experience business processes. Amdocs' unique business model focuses on enabling its customers to create differentiation and build brand, loyalty, profitability and competitive leadership.

About Amdocs

Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience systems innovation, enabling world-leading service providers to deliver an integrated, innovative and intentional customer experience(TM) at every point of service. Amdocs provides solutions that deliver customer experience excellence, combining the software, service and expertise to help its customers execute their strategies and achieve service, operational and financial excellence. A global company with revenue of $2.84 billion in fiscal 2007, Amdocs has more than 17,000 employees and serves customers in more than 50 countries around the world. For more information, visit Amdocs at http://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, 2007, filed on December 3, 2007, and in our quarterly 6-K furnished on February 11 and May 6, 2008.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: mricci@webershandwick.com

Source: Amdocs

CONTACT: Johanna Vallecillo, Weber Shandwick for Amdocs,
+1-408-685-0615, jvallecillo@webershandwick.com

Web site: http://www.amdocs.com/

2008-06-04 06:14:42 0376898 PRNEWSWIRE