Communications service providers (CSPs) around the world are enduring a perfect storm of challenges today amid evolving customer expectations, eroding profit margins, economic uncertainty and the impact of government regulations.

Simply put, CSPs now stand at an unprecedented crossroads that will demand revolutionary new strategies and capabilities to optimize processes and harness the power of technology. In this article, we explore the advantages of establishing a productive network of product and service suppliers – and how CGI experts are making a difference for businesses today as the rapid pace of change accelerates.

Forging global alliances for today’s dynamic reality

In today’s dynamic reality, we are seeing a shift in the software solution market as businesses increasingly choose to buy rather than build new capabilities. Multiple factors are driving this trend, including the proliferation of cost-effective SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms, the race to reduce time-to-market, and the need for business agility. Also in play is the rapid emergence of AI-driven capabilities and expertise that organizations can rely on without the need for costly investment in new in-house skills.

As more businesses embrace this trend, today’s CSPs need to provide state-of-the art capabilities to manage the evolution of cloud, data and AI technologies, while also providing expertise in diverse SaaS offerings and how best to integrate them in ways that accelerate and enhance business processes.

CGI experts are helping organizations make the right connections for today’s reality through strong global alliances and trusted partnerships with all major software companies and solutions. We have a global presence of almost 100,000 consultants worldwide and a proven record of success with leading organizations in all major industries.

Navigating digital transformation and modernization

In today’s hypercompetitive global market, CSPs need to deliver cutting-edge systems and applications that are scalable and flexible if they hope to meet customer needs amid digital transformation – while also keeping pace with the emerging innovations of technology titans. The current environment is adding another significant dimension of market and profit pressures – prompting CSPs to manage costs more effectively and improve the bottom line.

CGI has forged a network of strong global partnerships with AWS, GCP and Azure and all major SaaS players in the market. Our transformation specialists also possess market-leading experience in telecom BSS and OSS simplification and rationalization1, typically using a phased, step-by-step approach that unlocks business benefits and savings while reliably maintaining momentum on the transformation journey.

CGI also partners with market leaders offering modernization capabilities ranging from mainframe capabilities to common technologies in distributed environments. Moreover, we provide powerful GenAI capabilities to accelerate modernization by converting codes from old to new technologies.

Cybersecurity services for today’s threat-filled landscape

Cybersecurity is high on the business agenda amid soaring threats and costly attacks that can paralyze businesses. Analysts report a doubling in cybercrime every year for the past four years, with threats becoming more sophisticated and dangerous.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, global cybercrime cost businesses an estimated US$8 trillion in 2023 – exceeding the value all world economies combined except for the U.S. and China.2 Data breaches involving millions of customers have cost companies untold millions of dollars in legal and compliance costs, not to mention brand damage that will take some organizations years to rebuild. And make no mistake, today’s threats include the communications industry – telecom organizations are particularly vulnerable given the extensive and sophisticated global networks they operate.

In today’s threat-filled reality, CGI is providing state-of-the-art managed services to large enterprises, including Tier 1 CSPs in North America and Europe. We also have extensive experience in security posture and proactive vulnerability management, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements in diverse regions. Also noteworthy, AI for IT Operations (AIOps) have been incorporated into CGI managed-service offerings – enhancing our capabilities for cost-effective anomaly detection.

Autonomous network evolution is critical

The evolution of telecom networks introduces new demands for the industry, whether it is wireline, wireless or core. There are opportunities for CSPs to automate the management of millions of devices connected to the internet and 5G network, including network orchestration and slicing that allows a single physical network infrastructure to support multiple independent virtual networks.

Autonomous network evolution – the shift from human-driven to AI-powered network management – is essential for CSP success. The future demands a fully automated, self-configurating, self-healing and self-optimizing network infrastructure that minimizes manual intervention and eliminates human error – ultimately reducing costs and service interruptions.

We are proud of our legacy as an IT-focused service provider. And as network technology becomes more software-defined, IT and network engineer skillsets are productively merging and overlapping. Our strength in IT solutions and services position CGI well in the new age of software-defined network technologies.

CGI has also helped CSPs in Europe navigate 5G network planning and implementation, which has also contributed to the industry with vision3.

The race to AI and data analytics is on

Since ChatGPT’s arrival, the technology world has changed dramatically. CSPs around the world are racing to harness the unprecedented wave of new AI capabilities and their value to business. So far, the realization rate of converting AI and GenAI from proof-of-concept to actual use cases has been modest and there is still room for progress and improvement. AI has also been instrumental in revolutionizing many aspects of the telecom sector, including customer experiences, hyper-personalization, fallout management, proactive equipment maintenance and more.

CGI has more than 30 years of success in delivering AI and machine learning (ML) solutions to clients and our specialists are at the forefront of providing the latest innovations as these technologies inevitably continue to evolve.

According to CGI’s global 2025 Voice of Our Clients research, 66% of communications industry executives are applying generative AI to improve production and operations. As businesses embrace the power of AI, CGI has invested $1 billion (Cdn) to enhance our AI capabilities and offerings and meet their needs.

Our initiatives include helping communication-sector clients predict when network equipment and components require maintenance or replacement to avoid costly disruption. Our specialists also collaborated with a major communications client to build a KMS (Knowledge Management System) that makes critical data intelligence readily available organization-wide. We have also worked closely with leaders in other key industries such as healthcare, where we delivered AI-based diagnostics to help a European hospital detect brain hemorrhages with up to 98% accuracy.

Helping TM Forum reinvent the telco industry

TM Forum is a global alliance of telcos and technology companies that serves as the communications industry’s international collaborative body to drive standards, best practices and innovation. It is the only industry body to count the world’s top 10 CSPs and all key hyperscalers as active, strategic members.

With over 800 members, the TM Forum’s stated mission is to ‘reinvent the telco industry as a vibrant part of the digital landscape – and a driving force in shaping its future.’

CGI has been a TM Forum member and contributor for over two decades, actively participating in ongoing TM Forum initiatives and discussions such as ODA and Open API. CGI has worked with a large North American CSP to leverage TM Forum assets, which achieved business outcomes. These include:

  • A strategic transformation roadmap;
  • Reduced integration costs with standardized Open API;
  • Significant savings for domains using TM Forum ODA and common modeling;
  • Improved agility and time-to-market;
  • Reduction of 4,000+ hours in the core order management solution.

Our role with the Forum also includes participating in the following capacities:

  • Leader – CGI is recognized as an industry leader and was selected to join the Technical Advisory Committee4 in 2025 to provide thought leadership and innovation.
  • Innovator – CGI has contributed to award-winning TM Forum Catalyst initiatives, including “Agent Fabric – Phase II,” which received Innovation and AI category awards in 2025.
  • Practitioner – CGI ranks 6th globally in TM Forum certification in the past three years and has also been certified in solutions such as Digital Decoupling Reference Architecture & Governance.
  • Collaborator – CGI has actively pursued opportunities to share key experiences and insights that will benefit other members. Our specialists participated in the global architecture forum webinar.

In conclusion, CGI is in a unique position to serve as a strategic partner to CSPs thanks to our extensive global alliances, market-leading capabilities across a wide range of technologies, and deep sector knowledge and best practices. CGI is here to make a difference and I invite you to contact me to learn more about how our industry experts are helping today’s telcos pursue innovative strategies to reduce costs, unlock revenue streams and enhance competitiveness.

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