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Surpassing initial forecasts, the worldwide subscriber data management software and integration services market will finish this calendar year up 21 percent from 2007, a Campbell, California-based IT research firm is forecasting.

 

The figure represents a global market of $128 million, according to officials at Infonetics Research and their report, Subscriber Data Management Software and Integration Services.

 

According to Jeff Heynen, directing analyst at Infonetics Research (News - Alert) and lead analyst on the report, though global economic turmoil has operators lowering their capital expenditure budgets for 2009 and the initial part of 2010, operators’ and subscriber data management vendors’ spending on SDM solutions will increase, as SDM software is viewed as solving multiple pressing issues.

 

Those issues include “preventing dirty or duplicate data, reducing revenue leakage due to fraud, reducing operational costs, and speeding time to market for new services,” Heynen said.

 

“All of these issues are critical as operators seek to improve their bottom lines when top-line growth is hard to come by,” he said.

 

Here’s how the firm breaks down SDM and integration services revenue by region:

 

According to the report, SDM software makes up the bulk of SDM sales, while SDM integration services are growing at a faster pace.

 

Also, despite interoperability challenges posed by federating data from multiple data stores, many service providers will purchase SDM software along with off-the-shelf servers and integrate the software themselves, the report said.

 

“Mobile operators are using SDM solutions to extend the life of their existing HLR and next gen HLR platforms to deliver fixed-mobile convergence services at a lower overall cost,” Infonetics says. “Mobile operators in EMEA and fixed line operators deploying VoIP and IPTV (News - Alert) services in Asia were the first to deploy SDM software to reduce operational costs and prepare for the transition to next-generation HLRs and, ultimately, HSSs.”

 

A “HLR” is a “Home Location Register,” the main database of subscriber information for a mobile network.

 

As TMCnet reported, despite this slower economy, mobility and services that support mobile technologies are faring well.

 

Chris Kozup (News - Alert), senior manager of mobility solutions at San Jose, California-based Cisco Systems Inc., told TMCnet during an interview that even during an economic downturn, businesses should make it a priority to ensure adequate wireless coverage, invest in device management and invest in wireless security.

 

According to Dan Geiger, Infonetics’ new directing analyst for next gen OSS and policy, customers want their services to be personalized and delivered in a timely fashion, so service providers are embracing technologies that provide rapid and specific subscriber insight.

 

“Subscriber data management software helps provide this insight and solves some longstanding operational inefficiencies to boot,” Geiger said. “Because of SDM’s growing importance, we have almost doubled our 2011 SDM software and integration services revenue forecast from our last report.”