(c)iStock.com/Massimo Merlini

A new report from Tata Communications offers a warning for service providers; their solutions do not always meet the expectations of enterprises.

The research, which was conducted by IDC among enterprises and service providers across 32 countries, saw enterprises rank security, cited by 52% of respondents, cloud (43%) and mobility (32%) as their primary technology priorities.

But there may be a gap between what enterprises want and what service providers can give. Enterprises see service providers’ main roles as increasing their network capacity or reach, cited by almost three quarters (73%) of those polled. Delivering hybrid networking services was cited by 66%, while meeting cloud needs was key to almost half (48%) of respondents.

Enterprises evidently still see their providers primarily as network suppliers, but the research sounds a note of caution over how service providers need to up their capabilities in cloud as well as think further about partnerships. “Through the right partnerships, service providers are able to open up new revenue streams in growth areas such as cloud and unified communication and collaboration, without having to invest in developing their own solutions from scratch,” said James Parker, president of global sales at Tata.

“Our research indicates that many service providers haven’t kept up with the rapid pace of digital disruption in enterprises, which is jeopardising their ability to win business in this segment,” said James Eibisch, research director at IDC. “In order for service providers to be able to meet enterprises’ changing IT needs, they should explore partnering with other like-minded players, complementing their own solutions portfolio.

“The right cloud ecosystem, for example, makes it quicker and more cost-effective for service providers to grow their revenues from the cloud,” Eibisch added.