What's a "Service Provider" These Days?

Over the last couple of decades, it has become a common practice for the value of consumer electronics products to be supplied by services associated with products. Apple's iTunes and App Store provide a clear example. But service and repair contracts likewise have become an important source of revenue and profit for device sales.


Something like that also is happening in the enterprise information technology business as well. 
Steve Shalita, VP of marketing at NetScout Systems, says NetScout considers itself not a "network management" company, but a service delivery management company.


"Today in IT, they don't deliver applications any more," Steve said. Instead, they deliver services. Many consumer applications likewise also have been cloud-based services from the start. 


That has implications for telecom service providers and cable operators as well, even though they always have been service providers. With cloud computing and mobility, more software products are becoming network-accessed services. 


That means it is conceivable that communications service providers could become more important providers of IT services in the future.