Predicting a 2012 Full of Opportunities in Emerging Markets Telecoms, Media & ICT

2011 was a busy year for telecoms, media and ICT in emerging markets, where the full strength of the global economic storm did not completely blast away growth - especially in mobile markets.

For 2012 the telecoms, media and ICT world will continue to change quickly. Whilst economic outlooks remain bleak for many global markets, emerging markets are likely continue to successfully tread water. There are positive signs of stabilisation in many African states, with vendors building new offices here with the hope of winning early business. Even though they will avoid the main brunt of the global economic gloom, it is likely there won't be excessive risk taking in emerging markets. Cost control has always been a necessity for those working in low ARPU markets, and so 2012 will see a continued focus on increasing productivity. But it is clear that a strategy of purely surviving and doing more with less will not be good enough for those looking to claim meaningful market share.

Many businesses will be aiming for business transformation, and this will be based on the following priorities: driving the consumption of ICT, mobile/cloud technologies and social networking, and improved analytics for existing technology/services. These priorities, where completed successfully, are game changers and the foundation for innovating and transforming business models for success. Another tactic occurring among global ICT players (like IBM, SAP, and Oracle) is that they are using acquisition strategies in order to grow in the mobile, cloud, and social software and IT-services markets. With this strategy and natural market developments, the competition for market share and users will carry on growing.

Cloud will certainly shake up traditional offerings and the next 12 to 18 months will show how innovation created by new and existing local ICT companies will compete with global legacy IT vendors.

In the world of VAS any new telecoms/ICT services will need thorough business plans for medium to longterm ROI before launching.

All in all it's looking to be an exciting year! And our team is certainly looking forward to the challenge of addressing these market developments and catering for the peer to peer and B2B learning and networking. Don't miss our global series or you may just miss out....