The telecoms software market experienced strategic resets and shifting priorities in 2024

Our preliminary analysis indicates that the size of the overall telecoms software market remained largely unchanged between 2023 and 2024, despite revenue growth in some areas. For example, software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based offerings continued to gain traction, driven by platforms such as Salesforce and ServiceNow. Product-based revenue grew slightly but professional services revenue declined, signalling a rebalancing of telecoms operators’ priorities amid tightening economic conditions.

This lack of growth can be attributed to an uncertain macroeconomic back-drop, driven by persistent inflation, elevated infrastructure costs and ongoing geopolitical risks. Such an environment resulted in operators cutting back on discretionary spending, particularly for consulting-led and strategic transformation programmes. Many operators instead chose to focus resources on incremental digital transformation initiatives with clearly defined outcomes, such as improved operational efficiency or cost reduction. These tended to be based around products.