Comms Dealer

Stripe 21 is making great gains with its Cisco powered SIP-ISDN hybrid service, according to Managing Director Stephen North.

North found a new direction in 2002 when he realised the potential of his team's ability to deploy Quality of Service over broadband as a Cisco managed service. He then established Stripe 21 in 2006 with a vision to bring a more robust outlook on the use of bandwidth and disrupt the status quo. "We saw this as essential for the replacement of ISDN services with SIP because ISDN has always been delivered as a managed service with guaranteed QoS," he explained. "Therefore any replacement must also be a managed service with the same guarantees, but better and cheaper. When BT launched Datastream in 2002 it enabled us to packet switch VoIP over broadband. This launched the Cisco powered Quality of Service portfolio we have today."

New investment in 2008 from Barclays under the DTI scheme and private equity investment enabled Stripe 21 to double its revenue consistently quarter on quarter for the next eight consecutive quarters, and key to this growth is its channel strategy. "The channel is the way forward for us," added North. "I predict significant growth in our QoS guaranteed voice services via the reseller channel. This includes hosted PBX, ISDN, SIP and hybrid services. Wide Area Networks are also a significant growth area, while our hybrid service delivers both ISDN and SIP ports to the end user, representing an easy win for the reseller channel. Resellers can increase margin by 40 per cent just by ordering new ISDN services from our online portal. We aim to develop key partnerships and offer personal support to our resellers and their clients."

The Stripe 21 management team launched their converged IP services business on the back of BT's 21CN. Through its reseller base Stripe 21 supplies voice, data and Internet services to many household name blue chip companies. The firm has seen particular success in the media and recruitment sectors where low costs and high availability are mandatory, and is increasingly sought after by call centres with FSA compliance requirements. "We can deliver multiple guaranteed services over a single connection," noted North. "Delivering multiple services over a single connection is a great way to save money."

The name Stripe 21 comes from a combination of clever planning and the imagination of an eight year old boy. One component of the name derives from RIPE NCC (the global Internet registry for Internet routable IP addresses that all ISPs belong to), and the combination of numbers and letters also meant that North could register various URLs without compromising the name. He added: "When I started the company I asked my son to come up with a name. I pointed out we have Orange Mobile, Purple IP and Pink Telecom, and he replied, 'You should call it Stripey dad!'. I thought that's not a bad idea."

North habitually follows a policy of involving others in making big decisions. The company's culture favours open communication between all levels with an open forum every month and a broad agenda. "We also hold a monthly technical forum where we structure and formulate new services and set out plans to upgrade existing clients," commented North. "These meetings also help us to maintain our standards and we hold separate strategy meetings for the tech' team where they agree targets and deadlines that are realistic and achievable."

Stripe 21's white label services enable channel partners to migrate to a revenue-based business model rather than an isolated one-off hardware margin. "We can deliver ISDN, SIP or our new hybrid service to enable savings of up to 40 per cent on legacy ISDN, but with no PABX upgrade and no compromise on quality," added North.

Despite such enabling technology North highlighted that many end users have ended up with Internet-based voice services that are not guaranteed and are as reliable as Skype, Vonage and any other Internet-based VoIP service. "These are excellent products with a valid place in the market but they are absolutely not a replacement for the quality, security and reliability of ISDN," he said. "This can become a nightmare for resellers and end users, but a Quality of Service guarantee solves this problem. Our Cisco managed service is also widely deployed under white label to many major hosted PABX suppliers. Some installations exceed 100 SIP extensions per site on ADSL with excellent quality, security and reliability."

The customer benefit is a lower cost of ownership as many traditional telco services are delivered over the converged IP infrastructure, reducing overall costs, explained North. "Many dealers and resellers have clients who would benefit from this technology which is more secure, faster and cheaper than upgrading legacy equipment and services," he added. "The purpose of Stripe 21 is to leverage IP technology to drive down connectivity costs and provide the channel with a financial case for change. This enables RoI proposals and strategies to help increase sales for core channel partner products."

Much is made of the adoption of cheaper SIP connectivity and it has its place in the market, believes North. "But SIP providers have to guarantee up to 30 concurrent calls on a single connection to provide a realistic challenge to ISDN," he added. "Customers expect a fully managed service with a QoS guarantee. Resellers can now migrate their clients to a secure, reliable, fully managed ISDN30e service and slip in simultaneous SIP connectivity. The service future proofs customers for easy migration to SIP as the service is ready and waiting, putting the margin back into ISDN line rental for resellers."•

David Joplin, Head of Channel Sales at Exponential-e, explains how the company's evolving network proposition continues to pay off for partners.

Exponential-e was established in 2002 by Lee Wade who continues to steer the company's direction and strategy today as CEO. The organisation now employs 200-plus staff and works with over 300 channel partners including carriers, systems integrators, referral partners and VARs, and boasts more than 1,000 corporate customers. Operating its own network means Exponential-e is able to define the way technology is used to deliver multiple services over one single connection. Its 100GigE next generation infrastructure means that once connected customers gain access to their own private cloud of business services.

"Our company's brand essence is innovation in motion," commented Joplin. "With the proven history of our Ethernet Layer 2 VPLS network being used to deliver business critical services since 2002, our network continues to be the backbone of the services we and our partners are able to deliver. With a smart approach and trusted relationships Exponential-e continues to offer channel partners opportunities to wrap their own services around our network while also leveraging the Exponential-e service portfolio at any step which suits their business and their clients."

In 2005 Exponential-e designed and built a VPLS network giving enterprises a simple any-to-any Layer WAN on which to build their services. In 2007 the indirect channel was started at the same time as the launch of the Smart Internet (formerly PowerNGN) service and SIP Gateway service. "These products combined are key to the channel growth," added Joplin.

Moving into 2011, the channel had grown and needed to be split into three key teams. "These teams then started to exploit the investments in data centres and our 100Gig core network upgrade," explained Joplin. "This allowed partners to take advantage of cloud services behind the clean side of the firewall thus removing any of the security concerns. In 2013 we will be building on these services with the Insight portal for monitoring and management which allows true managed services to be deployed whatever the skill set."

Exponential-e made significant investments in cloud and data centre infrastructure last year resulting in its own Virtual Data Centre offering and wider cloud services including Online Backup and Replication. And early 2013 saw the launch of its enterprise-class colocation offering. "The VDC service is designed for channel partners to replicate customer infrastructure and data from one site to another over our carrier-class network with dedicated connectivity," noted Joplin. "This service complements our traditional network and enables voice and network partners to migrate into cloud services easily with the same visibility and SLAs expected from Exponential-e. The service offers partners the ability to support clients' IaaS needs from replicating a Mitel PBX to managing an entire server estate, and can benefit partners by increasing margin opportunity while passing on cost savings to end users."

Billed as an easy win for partners the online backup service offers snapshots and live replication of the customers' applications. It is positioned as a cost-effective step for partners to offer online backup into their service portfolio while also being an opportunity for experienced partners to diversify into another provider and potentially benefit from the cost savings this service could bring.

"Exponential-e's Server Replication service is designed for flexibility with high availability and on demand options," added Joplin. "The service offers live backup and combines the benefits of our network and VDC service offerings to create a full disaster recovery solution and business continuity solution. Partners are able to extend existing customer VLANs into our replications service which offers a new revenue stream and is easily incorporated into their end users existing infrastructure."

All Exponential-e services take advantage of its Layer 2 VPLS network and are incorporated into existing end user infrastructures. This enables partners to upsell services through one provider rather than building a disparate infrastructure for clients through many service providers, resulting in cost savings, flexibility and ongoing sales opportunities, according to Joplin.

He added: "Our investments in network and services is designed to deliver for our partners today and in the future as they expand and develop. Supporting cloud and voice are key catalysts in driving network sales. The SLA, Layer 2 services and visibility of the network are key advantages. Once connected even through a simple service such as Business Internet partners can continue to upgrade their clients and add services as they grow and add further, perhaps managed services to their own portfolio."

Looking ahead the network will still be key to what Exponential-e does but the commercial model to channel partners may be very different to how it is now, stated Joplin. He also noted that DSL type services have always been something that the firm has had in its portfolio but not really focused on. "The new FTTC access products may change this," he said. "GEA is available as a layer 2 service and there we can offer our converged solutions encompassing voice, Internet and cloud for the partner to take to the SME and remote worker market."•

To say that G3 Comms Managing Director Tony Parish has the Midas touch might just extend the reach of his achievements into the realms of mythology, yet his golden merits ensure, by any stretch of the imagination, that he remains one of the industry's larger than life characters.

London-based G3 Comms was established in 2002 by three of the existing board members, headed-up by Parish, with an intent to capitalise on spiking demand for converged networks and unified communications. Today the firm employs 45 staff and boasts £12 million turnover derived from 300 customers, 80 per cent of which are mid-sized enterprises of 250 to 1,000 employees. In more detail, 33 per cent of the company's revenues come from UC, with the same 33 per cent split between technical support and voice and data services delivered to a growing number of UK-based multi-national businesses.

Parish is not one for sitting on his hands and so standing still is not an option. And in a move that advanced his strategy to the next level G3 Comms and sister company G3 Network Services merged operations in 2012 to become G3 Comms Group. Over the past 10 years both companies had built capabilities in designing, implementing and maintaining IP communications and converged network solutions. During this time, the two businesses increasingly pooled resources to enable their customers to capitalise on the latest communications technology, and according to Parish the new structure opens up many more opportunities as it is better able to address the needs of enterprise clients.

"We've always believed that the most important thing for any business is to stay ahead of the competition," commented Parish. "To get some kind of advantage that makes you special, more profitable, more efficient and a better choice for your customers. Staying ahead means you can never stand still."

G3's strategy includes greater penetration of global markets and the company significantly expanded its global capabilities as founding partner of the Aura Alliance, which in less than five years has grown to become the world's largest Avaya endorsed global alliance with more than 50 members and over 3,200 Avaya accredited specialists providing local support in 112 countries. During this time, G3 played a key role in accelerating the size and capabilities of the Alliance as well as shaping its role in supporting global partners.

"With this support we can deliver the latest converged network solutions across LAN and WAN, next generation hosted, cloud-based voice and data services and UC anywhere in the world," said Parish. "We will continue to innovate, stay ahead of developments in technology and market trends and adapt our business services. Our approach to business is straightforward - we believe that by staying in front we can put our customers first."

The Aura Alliance has evolved from being a facilitator to becoming a provider of global deployment services and project management. This means that local members now have more support, improved resources and greater flexibility when they undertake projects, resulting in a better experience and a better deal for international clients, noted Parish. "In a period of economic uncertainty and massive changes within technology ecosystems, global clients are increasingly reliant on providers who can eliminate system complexity, deliver cost savings and realise business value with seamless end-to-end solutions delivered with a seamless end-end-end service," he explained. "With G3's help, the Alliance has risen to this challenge as a provider to multi-national businesses deploying global Avaya systems."

Advances in technology are rapidly transforming the way businesses operate and new virtual and cloud-based network delivered services are creating the chance to realise step-changes in efficiency and productivity. To extract maximum value from next generation communications investment, enterprises need to rely on service providers who can deliver end-to-end solutions. Stepping up to the mark, G3 Comms has specialist skills and experience on both sides of the firewall and the agility to combine these to deliver solutions that are fit for purpose.

"By fully integrating our businesses, developing our technology partner relationships and embracing next generation connectivity, G3 Comms is now better placed and better equipped to empower a new era of enterprise communications," said Parish. "Accessed from a single contact point for expenditure accountability, our end-to-end expertise gives clients the ability to design, implement and maintain their complex, mission critical technology using one seamless service."

According to Parish, increasingly complex communication estates, higher maintenance costs and greater technology interoperability are driving a move towards virtualisation, from total IT infrastructures and hosted UC to cloud contact centres and virtual data centres. "By the same token, BYOD is also now high on the corporate communications agenda," added Parish. "While conferencing and collaboration solutions are providing new opportunities to cut costs and streamline operations, particularly for multi-national businesses."

With many businesses now opting to upgrade communications rather than replace their ageing systems the demand for first class telecoms management and maintenance services has become increasingly important. G3's technical help desk and services such as G3://4D and its suite of network monitoring tools are helping clients to maximise the performance of their existing infrastructures by identifying and resolving system issues before they become a business risk. "These services complement our end-to-end offering and mean our clients can rely on us to cut downtime, reduce risk and extract maximum value from their technology investment," added Parish.

G3 employs a team of people with the skills necessary to plan, deploy, manage and maintain such complex communication solutions. Its engineers are recognised as some of the most experienced and highly qualified in the business and G3 has won numerous awards for its standards of customer service. But despite these achievements G3 Comms still has some way to go to fulfil its potential. And the firm's watchwords for next year, noted Parish, are 'bigger and better'.

"Having integrated G3 Telecommunications and G3 Network Services into one larger entity we're now going through the process of establishing G3 Comms as a legal entity," added Parish. "The merger brings everything together, combining skills and expertise to give us the end-to-end solution capabilities that businesses need. After the recession, we're growing again and have just logged our best monthly figures for the last three years for both turnover and profit. The future is bright for G3."•