The COVID-19 pandemic has marked a challenging turning point in the 21st Century — a new era in the satellite industry is now realized as the supply chain has dramatically changed following all of the lockdowns and all that entails.
Even though in the satellite industry there are many innovative companies, the way to do business has always been quite traditional; in-person customer meetings, trade shows and conferences organized by industry associations... all were the hotspots for signing agreements and networking with peers. These methods of doing business have now suffered a checkmate. The challenge is now for experienced sales professionals to bridge their previous comfort zones in order to adapt to this new, virtual reality.
There is a new paradigm following the COVID-19 outbreak and companies need to adapt rapidly to maximize their resiliency and productivity. The new way of increasing revenue is through online communications and new technologies have arisen to close deals and generate additional revenues.
With LEO & MEO Constellations and 5G technologies on the rise, and the increasing demand for connectivity, service providers have had additional pressures brought to bear throughout the pandemic, especially broadband providers and satellite operators.
Air and Maritime satellite services have suffered a notable decrease in business amounting to losses of millions of dollars every day. Against all odds, new acquisitions are occuring at a rapid pace. Flat-panel antennas developments are opening a revolution of connection in the mobility market, will be booming in the Post COVID-19 world.
Since the 2008 global crisis, the satellite industry reveals an exponential share growth, being more than 50 percent of the revenues accounted for within the Satellite Services markets, according to a Software Industry Association (SIA) report. This means that, in these difficult times for the global economy, the satellite industry does not halt its growth cycle. The increasing demand for connectivity leads to the realization that the satellite industry remains quite stable and continues to grow with new technologies that assist with the sales, delivery, deployment and maintainance of crucial connectivity. Companies need to adapt for these new realities and take into account
the traditional GEO, FSS or latest LEO constellations, such as Starlink (SpaceX). In the ground segment, Cloud technologies and virtualized products are taking becoming more and more relevant as they open a new pay per use market.
New Transactions
Technology solutions are indeed a boon for this unexpected pandemic situation as they enable companies to work remotely. Zoom, an application that enables the virtual meeting of customers and partners or attendance at online events, is a business friend.
With the new technology solutions, selling and buying satellite capacity and networks access is easier to accomplish. Sales can occur without the necessity of visiting the customer, as quotes are easy to understand. This opens a new market to those who may not be familiar with satellite technologies.
Providers can benefit from cost reductions in time and travel and generate new revenue with these new sales tools. Sales representatives can now be more autonomous, regardless of their location, through virtual contacts. Technology is opening the door to a more mainstream satellite industry.
Software companies within the satellite industry are improving their products by adapting them to become services in the Cloud and that avoids hardware and logistics issues as the key point is to facilitate the complex issues that the global industry faces every day. Businesses must adapt, change... or die.
There are apps in the Cloud that streamline sales transactions for SATCOM networks, such as the Integrasys Beam Budget tool (the ZOOM of satellite networks). Integrasys developed this tool whose main aim is to make the workflow easier for satellite providers and operators.
Integrasys’ Beam Budget Link application screenshot.
Beam Budget is the company’s best selling, satellite simulation tool that is able to accurately model spacecraft transponders, beams and footprints, as well as ground equipment, to assess the global performance of wide area satellite networks on multiple time-scales.
What will the future be like?
New work processes will continue for years to come — there is no turning back. People’s habits and work processes are changing rapidly. Integrasys will continue to be actively involved in the new business practices paradigms.
Connectivity is and will be continue to needed in order to maintain personal and business relationships — now is the time to fully adopt this new era of satellite business transactions.
www.integrasys-space.com/