NEWS INTERVIEW alwaysON bounces back
alwaysON has emerged from a period of confusion and strategic misalignment as a reinvigorated and channel focused force, headed up by James Byles, Managing Director. The new- look company, rebranded as alwaysON 2.0, has launched a refreshed reseller recruitment campaign in a bid to gain significant market share.
James Byles I
n June 2010 the Foresight Group acquired a complete shareholding interest in
alwaysON, and in January 2011 a new management team was appointed to reinvigorate the company, including the appointment of Byles as Managing Director. “The last four months have been about formulating our strategy, embracing new routes to market and invigorating our channel base,” said Byles. “The next 12-18 months will be about delivering our portfolio and strategy in line with the expectations that we have set out for alwaysON 2.0.”
alwaysON is an integrated voice, data and collaboration solutions provider, specialising in managed networks and hosted applications. It delivers private cloud access as well as secure cloud-based applications. Wholesale change became a top priority following a root and branch review of the company, and central to the revamp was a realignment of processes, focus, pricing,
portfolio, value proposition and people. “The business had been confused about what we want to be famous for,” said Byles. “As everyone knows, the last few years have been tough. As a result of the difficult economic climate the previous business changed its focus to deliver solutions that deviated from our core area of expertise. This had an impact on the alwaysON brand, causing confusion about who we are and what we can deliver. This confusion seemed to be widespread both from a brand and customer or partner perspective, and within our internal teams. alwaysON 2.0 is not just a rebrand, it’s a top to bottom review of our go-to-market message and strategy.”
The rebrand reflects
significant structural changes within the business. Byles was appointed in February 2011 with a remit to bring a customer service focus and to build relationships. “We have been through a period of realignment to maximise business efficiency
to deliver on our customer- first philosophy. Our support teams have been restructured in conjunction with a customer service review. We have revamped a number of processes and enhanced the quality of our service levels. Approximately half of the team is new or have been appointed to new roles. Our new teams have afforded us the privilege of a fresh pair of eyes and new approach to all things alwaysON. Hence the reference internally to alwaysON 2.0.”
Growth plans
The company has aggressive growth targets in place for 2011. “Our headcount is currently 22 employees, but that number is set to grow in line with our revenues,” added Byles. “We are focused on delivering solutions. That means the right models and an innovative approach to address client and partner specific requirements. Our new access strategy and core capex programme ensures the scalability and connectivity of our solutions to our partners.”
alwaysON 2.0 aims to maximise its new brand by making strong commitments and then delivering against them. “Our customers and channel partners are at the
heart of what we do,” Byles explained. “We all know that things go wrong from time to time, it is how we manage client expectations and handle service issues that are the standards against which we would like to be measured.”
Change is inevitable for a brand to stay contemporary and relevant, and the rebrand signifies positive change without abandoning founding principles, according to Byles. “We have a strong go-to-market strategy with our new channel partner programme. Our newly refined value proposition provides us with a wide target market scope. The important point to note is that our core capabilities mean that we can tailor solutions according to specific channel partner requirements. We can offer all or part of our value proposition. We are of course open to discussing specific requirements or ideas with channel partners.”
Byles says that all of the company’s propositions are gaining interest, especially the managed network offerings. “Our flexible approach to solution design, our ‘MPLS as standard’ approach and the variety of access classes we can offer are where we
are gaining most traction in the market,” he noted. “If I had to pinpoint one specific solution that is gaining most interest, it would be our 3.5G solution.”
Byles has years of corporate sales, senior management and executive management experience in the IT and telecoms sectors, having held leadership positions at BT, Siemens, Dimension Data, KCom and IP-Soft. “It is important to understand our market and the key challenges that our customers are facing in order to provide not just a solution, but the service that caters for their needs,” he said. “alwaysON is a company with many facets and a strong team.” n
SOLUTION SET • Managed Network • Access: Five classes of connectivity – 3.5G, xDSL, FTTC, EFM, Fibre
• Private cloud: MPLS (as standard) and IP VPN
• Breakout: Public Internet and PSTN • Hosted applications • Voice: Hosted PBX, contact centre, conferencing
• UC&C: Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Lync
• Security • Managed: All solutions are offered to market with a service management wrap
Page 38 for upfront commissions, healthy margins and recurring revenues from Abzorbplus+ 18 COMMS DEALER JUNE 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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