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Consulting Category: Business model development

Assessing viable blockchain use cases to take beyond PoC

Case study overview

STL Partners works with clients to define and prioritise use cases to take forward for further development and proof of concept. We advise on potential partners, business models and go-to-market strategies, as well as provide technical documentation on how the solution would work in practice.

See how STL Partners supported a major telecoms vendor:

  • Identify and prioritise blockchain use cases;
  • Detail promising use cases, including case studies, potential partners and roles for operators;
  • Provide internal strategic guidance on POC.

Consulting services overview

Get in touch to find out how we can help you:

  • Identify and prioritise key use cases
  • Define the viable business models
  • Model the business case for new initiatives
Get in touch

Identify and prioritise blockchain use cases

We underwent several workshops to prioritise blockchain use cases, complemented by an interview programme to test their viability in the industry. The rigorous process combined ideation sessions, run by STL Partners in close collaboration with the client, with ongoing primary research to test the use cases with the market.

To prioritise the use cases we scored each against a set of key requirements including:

  • Clarity of business model for our client
  • Ease of implementation for the use case including barriers to change

We then discussed the output of the scoring in a workshop, using dynamic visualisations to test which use cases should be prioritised for the next phase of the project.

Example deliverables
Example deliverables

Detail promising use cases

STL Partners researched 8 of the most promising use cases in more detail. We identified examples of POCs or in-life deployments of the use case, the value proposition for all parties, and the key drivers for adoption of the use case.

We then published two reports on behalf of our client. The first defined the market situation for blockchain, explored the role of telecoms operators, and outlined more than 35 viable use cases. The second deep-dived on the 8 most promising use cases and explored the benefits and the partnership models for them.

Provide internal strategic guidance on POC

STL Partners worked with our client to define the technical requirements for a POC and identify potential partners.

Example deliverables

Defining a strategy for 5G-enabled services

Case study overview

STL Partners works collaboratively with clients to identify, define, and prioritise use cases and services across a range of growth areas, including 5G. We help clients to define the viable business model options and assess the associated risks and mitigation strategies. This includes detailing and analysing the potential commercial models for a product or service.

Below we outline how STL Partners supported an alliance of mobile operators to:

  • Identify and prioritise 5G use cases;
  • Understand the market landscape, trends, and dynamics;
  • Evaluate the viable business models.

 

 

Consulting services overview

Get in touch to find out how we can help you:

  • Identify and prioritise key use cases
  • Define the viable business models
  • Model the business case for new initiatives
Get in touch

Identify and prioritise 5G use cases

At the beginning of the project STL Partners, in collaboration with the client, identified a long-list of 5G use cases. We then scored these using specific criteria (e.g. client’s right to play, tactical vs strategic opportunity), categorised the use cases into strategic opportunity areas, and subsequently prioritised the strongest opportunity areas for further research and development.

Example deliverables
Example deliverables

Understanding the market landscape, trends, and dynamics

Once the opportunity areas had been prioritised, STL Partners undertook initial research to understand the market context.

We analysed growth across the different market segments, developed the value chain for the opportunity areas (identifying key players within this), and highlighted what telcos (locally and globally) were already doing in the space.

Evaluate the viable business models

STL Partners supported the client in defining their potential roles within the ecosystem. Through primary interviews with solutions partners and extensive desk research, we built a picture of the viable business models and how the client could move higher up the value chain and bring more value to their customers and members.

We undertook a series of internal workshops to align on the client’s existing capabilities and appetite to move into new areas – from this we were able to provide a recommendation to the client on how to pursue the opportunity and the immediate next steps.

Example deliverables

Building the business case for MEC

Case study overview

STL Partners works collaboratively with clients to identify, define, and prioritise use cases and services across a range of growth areas. We help clients to define the viable business model options and build a detailed business case to quantify the opportunity. This includes in-depth cost and revenue modelling to assess returns on investment (ROI), as well as detailing and analysing the potential commercial models for the product or service.

See how we helped a global mobile operator:

  • Identify and define use cases for a MEC product;
  • Score and prioritise those use cases to identify the tactical & strategic opportunities;
  • Size the market and potential revenues for prioritised use cases, including breakdowns by value chain segment;
  • Quantify ROI for roll out of MEC sites across different business models (IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS) and partnership strategies with hyperscalers (Build vs Borrow).

 

Consulting services overview

Get in touch to find out how we can help you:

  • Identify and prioritise key use cases
  • Define the viable business models
  • Model the business case for new initiatives
Get in touch

We worked closely with STL in true partnership to deliver high-quality, actionable insights that weren’t available anywhere else

Head of cloud edge
Global tier-1 operator

Use case identification and definition

For a leading European operator, STL Partners identified over 50 innovative use-cases for edge computing. We looked at use cases spanning both the dedicated and distributed edge, as well as use cases across different viable edge business models.

Once use cases had been identified, STL Partners further developed the use cases, through desk and primary research, highlighting potential customer segments, real life examples, the drivers for edge (on-premise edge or network edge), and the potential proposition (e.g. Gaddi pitches).

Example deliverables
Example deliverables

Use case scoring and prioritisation

Through a series of interactive workshops, STL Partners defined key criteria with the client to score the developed use cases and subsequently prioritise ~8 use-cases, which were in-keeping with the operators “tactical MEC rollout strategy” and wider portfolio.

Criteria included potential pull through revenues, the technical maturity of the solutions, “how edge” to assess the potential value of the proposition to industry customers

Sizing the market and potential revenues

Once the use cases had been prioritised, we undertook market sizing to assess each use-cases financial viability. We sized the addressable market and potential revenues for the client through a bottom up approach, looking at a granular level at use case adoption timelines, regional spend across the client’s key markets, and different pricing model options. We also sized the market by value chain segment to assess where the client should play and where most value could be derived.

Example deliverables
Example deliverables

Quantifying ROI for roll out of MEC sites

In parallel with this use-cases work, STL Partners built a commercial model to inform the telco’s strategy with regards to building and roll out of the MEC platform. We sought to answer the overarching question: “Should the telco build its own MEC infrastructure, or borrow from potential partners (including hyperscalers)?”.  

This exercise included building an analytical model to forecast costs and revenues across different business models the telco could adopt (IaaS, PaaS, solutions etc.), and to assess how this changed over time with increasing server growth and use case adoption. We also looked at different partnership models between the telco and hyperscaler, for example, charging based on data ingress/egress or on a simpler co-location model (charging for power/space).

We could then calculate payback and NPV across these models at different rates of growths and sensitivities to assess worst and best case scenarios. This fed into the client’s subsequent negotiation and partnership with the partner.