“With the fixed voice market transient, there’s now much more emphasis on IP to accelerate revenue streams,” says Head of Networks, Mark Curtis-Wood. “The advantages of IP contracts are that they are generally based on a three or five-year basis so it’s a great way to build long term business relationships and benefit from recurring income. Securing network ownership improves the chances of resellers gaining more business - making it harder for a client to move anywhere else.”
Mark highlighted: “Effectively we are an aggregator; we cherry pick the best services for resellers and work with major industry names such as BT, Cable and Wireless, Virgin Media and several others. We also analyse market trends to best equip our customers for now and in the future - finding the best solutions and services and offering them to our base.
“The challenge for resellers at the moment is to ensure they have the capability and capacity to deliver everything their customers require. Often resellers do not have the resource or knowledge to sell the complete range of solutions. They’ve got the depth of relationship with their clients but they don’t always have all the tools in the bag to deliver what is needed. In reality most resellers will struggle to gain the best commercial rates through direct relationships with network providers simply because they don’t deliver enough volumes of business. That’s where aggregators really come into their own. We can source the best commercial products in the market, which for complex solutions could come from a couple of different suppliers.
“From our point of view we are making a lot of progress in this sector. Resellers trust us, based on long term relationships of up to 30 years. We are financially very secure and have a diverse mix of resellers with different skill sets and levels of ability. Who they trust is an issue for resellers and their customers.
“We’ve got the pedigree and knowledge to deliver true data network solutions and are picking up key wins every month, often delivering high profile multi-site IP VPN solutions.”
Mark added: “It’s the diversity of what we offer that gives us the edge - backed -up by a team with the expertise to put proposals together, helping resellers sell if required and also deliver full project management.
“Not all networks are the same. If the right resilience isn’t there from the start then everything else will fall apart. Ultimately a business could come to stand still. Aggregators have a very key role to play. It’s not just about providing the cheapest solution, but providing the right solution.”