Telecom Management Isn’t Worth an I.T. Department’s Time, According to New Research

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St. Paul, Minn. – I.T. Leaders and CIOs can focus on strategic initiatives, gain greater telecom expertise, and lower their total cost of telecom according to a new white paper published by Renodis (www.Renodis.com), the only firm in America providing integrated professional management of business communications infrastructure.

How can outsourcing telecom management help a company?  “It’s allowed us to do more value-added services versus managing boilerplate telecom functions,” says Joe Topinka, CIO and Vice President of Multichannel Commerce at Red Wing Shoe Company. “We’re able to do more project-based work now.  These strategic initiatives have to do with expanding market strategy. That’s a big deal for us,” he says.  “Telecom management is important – it’s the dial tone of the organization. But it’s not what differentiates us, so we looked for a partner.”

The paper also describes how outsourcing has grown substantially in the I.T. field.  “Traditionally, I.T. is inside the wall with network design, system design, computing, desktop support,” says Tim Colwell, Senior Vice President of Global Analytics at AOTMP.  “Outside the wall, there’s this monumental complexity in carrier services, plans, and tariffs. It’s ever-changing and rapidly evolving.”  Colwell says many companies just don’t have the in-house expertise for telecom jobs such as providing mobile help-desk support, overseeing mobile-device management, managing inventory, or leading dispute resolution and negotiating with carriers.

Managing telecom internally is not only a heavy drain on resources, but normally results in increased costs. In one such instance, a national manufacturer/retailer that starting outsourcing their telecom management saw a 17% cost reduction over 3 years, higher end-user satisfaction, and successful redeployment of key I.T. talent.

Topinka says outsourcing telecommunications management made a difference for his company’s bottom line. “It makes sense to outsource,” he says. “Our CFO, like most CFOs, was looking for efficiencies and cost savings while wanting to improve service. It really answered both those questions. The result was better service and improving cost structure.”

To download the white paper, go to: http://www.renodis.com/ittime.

About Renodis
Renodis is the only firm in America providing professional management of businesses communications infrastructure. As a pioneer in its field, Renodis is committed to providing objective service that empowers clients to reduce the Total Cost of Telecom™, free up valuable IT and Executive resources, future-proof their technology, and gain more time for core business initiatives.

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Renodis Names David Steichen Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and Chief Financial Officer

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Renodis, a Telecom and Mobility Management Company focused on freeing clients from telecom frustrations, names David Steichen Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and Chief Financial Officer, leading Renodis strategic expansion efforts through acquisition.

ST PAUL, MINN. (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Renodis, a Telecom and Mobility Management Company focused on freeing clients from telecom frustrations, is pleased to announce it has named David Steichen Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and Chief Financial Officer.

Craig Beason, Renodis CEO and Founder stated, “We have been evaluating strategic alternatives for some time. Having developed the infrastructure required to deliver our industry leading Turnkey Telecom Management Solutions, Renodis is uniquely positioned to pursue expansion through acquisition. I can think of no one better than Dave to lead this effort. In the decade I’ve known him, Dave has always exhibited an exceptional combination of deep industry experience, proven leadership, and valuable perspective.”

“I am honored to join Renodis as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and Chief Financial Officer. It is a privilege to be part of an organization with such a strong record of solving telecom technology frustrations for our clients.” says Steichen. “In developing the systems and processes necessary to become the leader in providing Turnkey Telecom Management Solutions, the Renodis team has uniquely positioned themselves to efficiently onboard new business whether grown organically or through acquisition. I look forward to helping this incredible team leverage the world class telecom management solutions they have developed to accelerate our growth and expand our already rapidly growing footprint throughout the upper Midwest and beyond.”

Steichen has been a financially focused advisory member of the Renodis Executive Team for the past four years, helping to steer strategic direction and growth as well as overseeing financial planning and reporting. In his new role Dave will continue to lead the financial strategy for the company and take on the additional responsibilities of identifying and investigating potential acquisition targets. He will be responsible for negotiating, contracting and integrating acquisitions and other partnership agreements that meet the target profile, and will play an instrumental role in assuring the design of financial and operational processes is adequate to absorb and sustain expected growth.

Prior to his role at Renodis, Steichen was co-founder of Mayday Capital Advisors, LLC, an organization providing strategic financial and operational advisory services to clients throughout the nation. With over 30 years as a business leader, Steichen is a 13-year veteran of Deloitte and has extensive experience serving as Chief Financial Officer and in other executive roles for large and small companies both public and private. He has worked in the corporate renewal arena since 2008, during which time his work has twice been recognized by the Turnaround Management Association, which has awarded him both the distinguished Transaction of the Year Award in 2010 and the Turnaround of the Year Award in 2013.

About Renodis 
Renodis is solely focused on freeing IT Leaders from telecom and mobility frustrations – saving time, money, and enabling a true focus on their business. The way we go about this is different and accomplished through an obsessive focus on our clients’ best interest in terms of service, technology, and total cost. Through innovative processes, purpose-built technology platforms, talented people, and deep industry relationships/knowledge our clients obtain peace of mind knowing their Telecom and Mobility environments are professionally managed.

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Renodis Announces Record Growth and Client Additions in 2019, Solves Telecom Dilemma for IT

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Renodis, a Telecom and Mobility Management Company focused on freeing clients from telecom frustrations, today announced record-setting managed-services growth and the addition of many new enterprise clients including Northern Tool + Equipment and Life Time. In addition, by completing the successful acquisition of US ACOMM Inc., Renodis formed new client relationships including Fairview/HealthEast, Cardinal Glass, and Twin Cities Orthopedics.

Renodis enjoys time with clients at the Twins Home Run Lunch at Target Field

Renodis expanded services with existing clients such as Cambria, Cemstone, and Frandsen Bank & Trust. For clients in numerous industries, Renodis’ end-to-end telecom and mobility services provide better outcomes to the business, lower the direct and indirect costs of telecom, and enable organizations to focus on more strategic business initiatives.

“The explosion of cloud technologies, an ever-increasing mobile workforce, and a telecom industry that’s becoming even more difficult to navigate the nuances of technologies and vendors has put IT Leaders in a difficult position,” states Craig Beason, CEO of Renodis. “IT is being asked to innovate and help transform the enterprise through technology, however they’re still bogged down with the operations of managing enterprise communications to best-in-class standards. That’s why we exist. Our model is different and driven by our clients’ best interests in the areas of service, technology, and total cost. I’m proud of our talented team for developing innovative new processes, leveraging our purpose-built technology platform, and cultivating deep industry relationships that enable us to provide hundreds of clients peace of mind knowing their Telecom and Mobility environments are professionally managed.”

2018 was a banner year for Renodis with expansion of many components of their managed services solution:

  • Renodis Managed Mobility Services (MMS) saw broadened capabilities, new clients, and now over 15,000 devices under management. The Renodis online portal launched a new shopping cart experience for end-user needs. In addition, Renodis MMS capabilities were featured in AOTMP’s 2018 Managed Mobility Services Market Landscape Report.
  • Renodis expanded Telecom and Mobility Managed Services with the acquisition of US ACOMM Inc., a network solutions provider headquartered in Brooklyn Center, MN, which combined the breadth and capabilities of both firms.
  • Renodis continued to build out their Vision™ platform, a purpose-built, cloud-based technology platform used to manage the lifecycle of client communications environments which includes assets, locations, spend/GL, contracts, tickets, and SLA.
  • Renodis launched their Telecom Project Management practice with an expansion of the senior client-management team, now representing more than 150 years of telecom experience capabilities.
  • Renodis evolved it’s VendorPoint™ advisory tool, a metric-driven vendor comparison methodology which enables enterprises to identify the right solution for their environment based on client-weighted criteria.
  • Renodis expanded their SD-WAN practice in partnership with VeloCloud VMware. Renodis solutions enhance SD-WAN products with a complete lifecycle service, from proof-of-concept and business case, to configuration and deployment, through a comprehensive managed support service.

For more than 16 years, Renodis has paved the way in client-centric Telecom and Mobility solutions, driving a shift to end-to-end outsourced management. With managed solutions focused on Mobility, SD-WAN, Wireline, Project Management, and Turnkey Telecom Management™, the Renodis promise frees IT leaders from telecom frustration while saving time, money, and increasing productivity.

About Renodis 
Renodis is solely focused on freeing IT Leaders from telecom and mobility frustrations – saving time, money, and enabling a true focus on their business. The way we go about this is different and accomplished through an obsessive focus on our clients’ best interest in terms of service, technology, and total cost. Through innovative processes, purpose-built technology platforms, talented people, and deep industry relationships/knowledge our clients obtain peace of mind knowing their Telecom and Mobility environments are professionally managed.

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Renodis Customer Experience Top in Industry According to New Telecom Services Net Promoter Scores

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Renodis announced today the company has recieved record-breaking Telecom Services Net Promoter scores over 5x higher than telecom and managed services industry averages. This parallels industry trends as more and more enterprises are moving to outsourcing telecom and mobility management.

Clients surveyed mentioned Renodis Telecom Services expertise in managing multiple telecom vendors and producing successful outcomes, Renodis responsiveness and high level of support, overall management of financials and decreases in total cost, and ability to seamlessly manage complex telecom and mobility projects.

“Renodis is extremely reliable,” said Marc Kermich, CIO of Red Wing Shoe Company. “There are a lot of vendors who will provide a plethora of services to pick from, but you still need to manage quality. We turned to Renodis because they carry the whole package. They bring great service, great quality, and the added benefit is they’re always thinking about lowering my cost of doing business.”

“Client experience and supporting our client’s business priorities are the primary drivers of everything we do at Renodis,” said CEO and Founder, Craig Beason. “For the past fifteen years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to building industry-leading telecom management methodologies that have been proven to produce great outcomes for our clients.”

As Renodis sees customer experience as paramount to serving clients, Renodis maintains an ongoing Client Survey Program which gauges short and long-term satisfaction, customer experience, and opportunities for improvement in every one of its Telecom Services and Mobility Management disciplines:

  • Technology Management: Ensuring each client has the right technologies in place that align with business priorities, leveraging the latest advancements in communications technology.
  • Vendor Management: Ensuring each client uses the right vendor that provides the correct services they need at the most competitive price, negotiating best-in-class terms, and managing contracts associated with all vendors.
  • Financial Management: A proactively managed and optimized Telecom Financial ecosystem closely tied to other disciplines – including audits, invoices, cost allocations, disputes, and analytics.
  • User Support: Providing exceptional end user support for telecom and mobility along with seasoned project management to migrate and manage change.
  • Asset Management: Complete, consolidated, and real-time inventory of all telecom and mobile assets.

“Renodis has been a game changer for DRC,” said John Bandy, CIO of Data Recognition Corporation and CIO of the Year from Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal. “The Renodis solution is Turnkey –  from an assessment to complete implementation and ongoing management. We have clear visibility, we know that our vendors are being managed, and our services are up to date. It’s also allowed us to spend more internal IT time and resources on strategic solutions to drive our growth.”

 

The achievement of these high scores also follow a Renodis expansion of Telecom Services with the January acquisition of US ACOMM, a network solutions provider headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

>Why are Renodis Telecom Services Scores so high? Contact us to learn more.>

 

 

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Why Telecom Expense Management Alone Fails to Completely Optimize Telecom and Mobility

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“I need a Telecom Expense Management provider so we can ensure our Telecom and Mobility environment is fully optimized, right?”

WRONG.

Why does Telecom Expense Management ALONE fail to produce complete telecom optimization? The problem with today’s Telecom Expense Management (TEM) environment is that it fails to address the other FOUR areas impacting successful Telecom outcomes:

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT:

  • “Do I have the right technologies in place that align with our business priorities?”
  • “Are we leveraging the latest available competitive technologies to drive business?”
  • “Have we done an ROI analysis/business case on mobility policies and practices, SD-WAN technology?”

VENDOR MANAGEMENT:

  • “Are we utilizing the right vendor in this space that provides the correct services we need at the most competitive price?”
  • “Do we have the knowledge and expertise to negotiate the best contract terms and manage all the contracts associated with our vendors?”
  • “Should my IT team be distracted by resolving vendor network issues and escalations?”
  • “Have we put off vendor analysis due to fear of lacking resources to support change?”

ASSET MANAGEMENT:

  • “How accurate is our inventory of all telecom assets?”
  • “Do we have a complete and consolidate inventory of all mobile assets?”
  • “Can all reports be produced real-time?”

USER SUPPORT:

  • “Do we have the resources to provide quality end user support for both telecom and mobility?”
  • “Do we have the Project Management resources to migrate to new technologies and the ebb and flow of new projects?”
  • “Do we have the resources to manage the ongoing changes in our telecom and mobility environment? Resources to manage MDM/EMM environment?”
  • “Are we utilizing the best custom tools and process to manage our environment?”

If you’re looking for a TEM provider and not asking the above questions, you’re missing out on a big part of the equation. Help drive your business by realizing a fully-optimized Telecom and Mobility environment.

Download a full list of Telecom and Mobility activities (including Telecom Expense Management).

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Managed Mobility Services: How Does it Become a Game Changer for IT Depts?

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Managed Mobility Services
Managed Mobility Services (or MMS) is a term used to describe the process management needed for a company to acquire, provision, and support smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. As mobile technologies are changing human behaviors and becoming increasingly ingrained in business, it’s more important than ever for enterprises to streamline mobility management processes and leverage industry expertise to drive strategic decisions.

 

According to a 2016 Gartner study, “Mobility has moved beyond devices and is now inextricably linked with business innovation.” Parallel to Gartner’s findings, we also see that when companies embrace mobility as not just a necessity, but a competitive advantage, they reap exponential rewards.

Why is Managed Mobility Services a Game Changer?

In the past, IT and the business have been forced to own the tactical burden and complexity of managing all that compasses a mobility ecosystem:

  • The assets and devices themselves including real-time inventory, reporting, and depot
  • The financials, invoice processing and spend management including ROI analysis and proactive usage reporting
  • The technology landscape, policy and program creation, knowledge of industry best practices, and leveraging EMM/MDM tools
  • Vendor management practices including choices, negotiation, and contract management
  • Providing quality end-user mobility support and service desk

However, strong managed mobility services from a trusted partner allow clients to experience a best-in-class mobility environment while utilizing their valuable internal IT talent for business impacting initiatives that drive growth. This equals lower overall total cost, competitively managed mobility ecosystem, and happy employees experiencing top-notch support.

Learn about how Wright Medical decreased spend, improved reporting, and enhanced end user support with Renodis Managed Mobility Services.

 

“Thanks to Renodis we get more in-depth reporting, analysis and control of our mobility area, including both spend and usage, while freeing up more time for myself and my employees to focus on other areas for our customers.”
– Mike Colley, EUC Infrastructure Architect, Wright Medical Group

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Renodis Named Finalist for 2018 Community Impact Award, Minnesota Business Magazine

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Renodis is delighted to be named a finalist for the 2018 Community Impact Award in the “Best in Class Small” category from from Minnesota Business Magazine.

The 2018 Community Impact Awards honors businesses, social enterprise organizations, nonprofits, initiatives and individuals making a significant impact on communities in Minnesota. Finalists will be honored and winners announced at a celebratory event February 22, 2018.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Renodis Community Impact Highlights

  • St Jude Children’s Hospital: Event Volunteering and Registration Desk
  • Honor Flight – Renodis CEO, Craig Beason, supported and accompanied a local WWII Veteran, Paul Bolden, as he traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of the Honor Flight Program, a non-profit dedicated to transporting veterans to visit memorials built to honor their service. “I’m really excited. I’m 86 years old and I used to travel a lot so it’s renewing in me all over again. I was in Bremerhaven Germany and I haven’t had contact with any of the guys since 1946”, recalls Paul Bolden. “I’m honored to be able to accompany Paul as he visits Washington, D.C. for the first time. This area’s Honor Flight program has been running since 2005 and this will be the 14th Honor Flight which includes 77 veterans and 88 guardians”, says Craig. In addition to sponsoring the flight Renodis employees participated in the “V-Mail” program, an in-flight mail call to provide the Honor Flight veterans letters thanking them for their service and wishing them well on their trip. The “V-Mail” program is a poignant reminder of how important mail service was to veterans while serving overseas.
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters Charity Hunt “HUNT FOR A HELPING HAND”– This is one of the biggest charitable events that Renodis organized. A South Dakota pheasant hunt involving clients and partners with proceeds benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sioux Valley.
  • Genesys Works – a local non-profit focused on providing technology experiences to underprivileged high school students. Renodis brings on a yearly, paid, high-school intern with the goal of giving them valuable workplace experience as they prepare for college and working in the technology field.
  • Ducks Unlimited Sponsor/Mentor for Youth Hunt Duck Season – Craig Beason was excited to mentor an underprivileged youth through Ducks Unlimited. These are youth that would otherwise not have an opportunity to learn about water fowl, the outdoors, and explore their interest in hunting.
  • Feed My Starving Children – We support this cause 4 times a year with a large group of employees volunteering time and bringing a corporate check
  • Polar Plunge: Special Olympics – We rent a bus and bring a large group of employees to participate in our local polar plunge. Challenges for employees that raise the most funds. ($12k raised over the past year)
  • Bruce F Vento Elementary School, St Paul Public Schools – School Supplies Collecting
  • State Fair Parking Coordination benefiting Second Harvest Heartland
  • Reoccurring Food Packing at Second Harvest Heartland
  • Reoccurring Food Shelf Drive benefiting Prism Food Bank
  • A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation Golf Tournament
  • Renodis VP of Delivery, Paul Cashin, and his wife Jane founded and are very active in Minnesota Special Hockey. Jane is currently the president of this organization that adapted an ice hockey program for players of all ages with developmental disabilities. Paul also coached and volunteered for Minnesota Special Olympics, Western Wings
  • ASPCA – Collect pet food/blankets for humane society
  • The Lewis House – Employee Knitting Group knitted hats and Scarves
  • The Ain Dah Yung Center – which means “our home” in the Ojibwe language – is an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless American Indian youth. Our employee knitting group knit hats and scarves for this group
  • KidsCan – Employees made tie blankets and cards for this group benefiting kids with cancer
  • Toys for Tots Boxes during the holiday season
  • Salvation Army Bell Ringing during the holiday season
  • Walk for Animals for the Animal Humane Society
  • American Red Cross Employee Monthly Blood Donations
  • *New* Renodis Employee Points Program Rewards Employees for Volunteering – this program awards points for fulfilling monthly challenges around Personal, Professional and Charitable giving opportunities. These points can be turned in for clothes, backpacks and other prizes.

Renodis Volunteers at Feed My Starving Children

 

volunteering at SHH

Volunteering at Secondhand Harvest Heartland

 

Paul Bolden

HONOR FLIGHT, Paul Bolden

genesys works
Genesys Works Draft Day

Renodis Volunteers at Second Harvest

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Renodis Expands Telecom and Mobility Management Services with Acquisition of US ACOMM

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Renodis today announced the acquisition of US ACOMM Inc., a network solutions provider headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. By joining companies under the Renodis umbrella, both firms, employees, partners, and most importantly clients will all positively benefit from the combined breadth and capabilities.

Craig Beason, CEO and Owner at Renodis commented: “Over the years I have seen US ACOMM employees delivering terrific service to clients. In many ways, this parallels our mission at Renodis of exceeding customer expectations in every capacity. This is sure to be an historic time for our newly combined organization and I look forward to delivering unparalleled service to new and existing clients in 2018 and beyond.”

In addition to scope and service, a key differentiator that Renodis is excited to bring to clients is their proprietary Renodis Vision™ integrated telecom management platform. Built on a foundation of the industry’s first CMDB for telecom and mobility management, the platform captures and manages all inventory, spend, contract data and activity related to clients’ telecom environments. Leveraging the Microsoft Dynamics software platform and highlighted by Microsoft itself in a special case study showcasing innovative use of their platform, Renodis leverages Vision™ to achieve the many integrated work flows and reporting outcomes needed to optimize and manage the entire telecom ecosystem for their clients.

“This transaction caps off 2017 as a year of significant growth for Renodis,” said Beason “In 2016, I asked our employees to develop the infrastructure to support a growth plan that included organic growth as well as growth through acquisition. Thanks to their hard work and dedication to that goal, we hope this will be the first of many announcements chronicling our growth in the coming years.”

For more than 15 years, Renodis has paved the way in client-centric telecom and mobility solutions, driving a shift to end-to-end outsourced management. With managed solutions focused on Mobility, SD-WAN, Wireline, Project Management, and Turnkey Telecom Management, the Renodis promise frees IT leaders from telecom frustration while saving time, money, and increasing productivity.

>>Contact Us Today to Learn More>>

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VeloCloud VMware: Why SD-WAN is “WORTH it”

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The VeloCloud VMware acquisition has been shaking up an already “disrupted” telecom industry since it’s announcement in November. Is this acquisition an argument to finally pull the trigger on investing in SD-WAN technology for your organization?

Experts agree that SD-WAN provides new options for reducing WAN costs with clear ROI, improving performance, and increasing availability. Here’s what Gartner has to say:

We recommend you look at SD-WAN when refreshing WAN edge equipment, renegotiating a carrier contract, building out new branches, or aggressively moving apps to the cloud (among other reasons).

We, along with industry experts, believe it’s worth a discussion.

SD-WAN essentially represents a new way to manage network connectivity to other office locations using software-defined networking principles — a potentially BIG competitive edge for your organization.

VeloCloud VMware SD-WAN technology can aggregate multiple types of connections, including broadband, MPLS and cellular, to create more reliable connections that are also often less expensive than going the MPLS only route.

So what does VMware stand to gain?

VMware, traditionally known for virtual machine management software, now looks to focus on network management. In 2012, VMware paid more than $1 billion to purchase Nicira, a start up company whose product is now sold by VMware as NSX.

We agree with IDC networking analyst Brad Casemore quoted in NetworkWorld’s Nov 2nd article: 

In choosing to purchase VeloCloud VMware says it’s found a company that has done well with mid-market and enterprise customers, and has seen some success in service provider and telecommunication provider users as well…

We at Renodis are excited about the state of the SD-WAN industry and the value we bring to our clients by being an authorized reseller and solution partner of VeloCloud.

Renodis solutions enhance VeloCloud’s SD-WAN products with a complete life cycle service, from proof-of-concept and business case, to configuration and deployment, through a comprehensive managed support service.

Not sure where to begin?

>Learn more about how SD-WAN can impact your organization>

 

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SD-WAN: The Winners and Losers – How will you stack up?

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Who stands to gain the most from this disruptive new technology that is fundamentally changing the traditional WAN landscape?

The Rodney Dangerfield of the IT Stack is about to get a lot more respect.

With all due respect (pun intended) to the great comedian, the Telecom layer of the IT stack has generally been perceived as the least exciting, least strategic space; so much so that the classic analogy used to describe it over the decades since divesture has been: ‘its a utility’. Not the most flattering reputation.

That is about to change in a big way, and there will be Winners and Losers as a result.

Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is a transformational new communications technology solution that is well on the way to full marketplace adoption in the coming years. Tech media, blogging experts, independent consultants, and early enterprise adopters have all jumped on the bandwagon with passion. Simply put, there is no lack of consensus regarding the certainty of its benefits and therefore inevitability of its rapid adoption. SD-WAN will be the networking solution that will become the enabler for the cloud era application tsunami that is upon us.

As evidence of this sure bet, one need look no further than Gartner’s estimate that SD-WAN will go from approximately 5% of the WAN market share today, to over 30% within the next 2+ years. This growth reflects the fact that there is really no serious debate regarding the many benefits that accrue to the numerous stakeholders within the enterprise. Frankly, rarely can it be stated as fact vs. opinion that ‘everyone wins’. Even the most diverse aptitudes (represented by the CFO vs. the CMO for example) will find SD-WAN is an enabler for real benefits to be realized by all functional areas of a business.

However, like all seismic shifts driven by technology innovation, there will be winners and losers scattered across the landscape.

Let’s take a moment to see how this disruptive new technology solution will affect players and users across the industry…

The Winners:

The pure play SD-WAN providers

Some of the biggest winners in this space are obviously the Magic Quadrant SD-WAN providers themselves of course. Specifically, those true pure play innovators creating the greatest value that deliver successful EARLY implementations and gain a large and reference ready install base. The truly innovative SD-WAN providers that step up to take on a leadership position in the industry are gaining the most funding and attention early on. Proof of this has already been manifested by the recent acquisitions of the two most celebrated early pure play innovators: Velocloud and Viptela.

Broadband Players

A key group of winners are broadband providers. Specifically, those who can deliver the highest bandwidth, with the shortest install intervals and the lowest cost. Hence, clear winners here will be fiber-rich cable companies, 4G/LTE wireless carriers, high bandwidth asset companies (vs traditional carriers), reliable DSL providers and wireless data providers. Prior to SD-WAN, these players had a value play that painfully pitted both an economic benefit (much lower cost) and technical benefit (i.e. oftentimes more bandwidth than MPLS) against the reality that there was much less reliability, security, and ease of management.

However, with SDWAN technology, these players enjoy the rare trifecta of optimizing the three primary value dimensions of all technology decisions: The best combination of Economics, Technology AND Support and Service outcomes.

Cloud Intensive Enterprises

Enterprises that have many cloud applications (or big plans for cloud app adoption) are on the winning side in this space. Those that need affordable high bandwidth, multi-lane yet aggregated-for-production-use paths, DR-certain, highways to enable their many critical applications while ensuring a secure and resilient network are perfect candidates for a pure play SD-WAN solution. Enterprises that expect to see significant change activity via acquisitions, divestitures or organic growth, will enjoy the speed of implementation and ease of management as key benefits of SD-WAN as an option vs. the lethargic, complex, management-intense, and significant CPE investment cost needed via the traditional MPLS route.

IT Organizations: CIO’s, Reputations, and valuable IT Personnel

As a still relatively young profession, IT is in the midst of a reputational transformation. Historically viewed as the “Service Bureau” to the business, the early reputation of IT suffered from a perception that they are a reactive business unit. Therefore, traditional boardroom thinking was that they did not need to be at the planning table and their success was defined in terms of risk mitigation and keeping costs down while providing the business what it ‘thought’ it needed. SD-WAN, properly leveraged, becomes the access card to open the doors of every area of the business and grab a seat at the planning table with the business acumen hat on–not the service bureau hat. If the enterprise IT organization has already adopted a BRM (Business Relationship Manager) role they can really accelerate intelligent conversations around the ‘what if’ possibilities for every business unit from Marketing to Sales to Operations. No limitations, no ‘it costs too much’…. only good business ideas and the latest differentiating applications to out-flank the competition…. all delivered affordably and reliably via SD-WAN super highways.

Additionally, valuable IT personnel will find SD-WAN career liberating vs. threatening. Occupational fulfillment is better served by focusing on strategic initiatives using the latest technology vs. wrestling with yesterday’s WAN solutions and their complexity, management headaches and consequent indictment (when things go wrong). The genie is out of the bottle. Embrace it, sponsor it, then let others manage it so you can apply your skills to technology that will make a real difference vs. ‘keeping the lights on’ with outdated WAN solutions.

Managed Services Solution Providers

Enterprises will require expertise and ethically guided partners to assist them in this migration to SD-WAN. Most IT organizations are stretched thin and this reality may cause some enterprises to move slowly even though they know the ROI and business benefits are compelling. Best-in-class enterprises will not let resource or expertise limitations stop them from embracing the competitive advantage offered by SDWAN adoption. They will seek out and partner with reputable managed services firms with proven models to Assess, Architect, Procure, Implement and Manage the SD-WAN road map. Letting internal limitations (whether they be talent, time, or money) delay adoption of SD-WAN will prove to be a poor reason to find yourself behind your peers and competitors who act now with the help of qualified and authorized MSPs. Additionally, a red-hot economy will not lessen the challenge in finding the internal talent any time soon.

Cloud Providers

In effect, SD-WAN provides a larger freeway for cloud applications and cloud providers to operate and removes the cost drag and security concerns regarding adoption of cloud applications. This allows more companies to enjoy the many productivity benefits via more applications delivered efficiently and effectively. Well positioned cloud providers, already in growth mode, will see this solution as an enabler for accelerated growth.

Enterprise End Users

Lastly, we cannot overlook the fact that Enterprise End Users will also win in this space. Employees will enjoy greatly improved productivity and faster access to cloud apps — a huge competitive advantage to those companies that execute both cloud, and the needed connectivity, swiftly and aggressively. Employees of firms who have deployed SD-WAN may never know the reason, but suddenly they will find themselves fully enabled (via accelerated cloud app explosions and all the bandwidth you ever needed) to be the most productive, happy, and retained group of talent in a very competitive labor market. Think of SD-WAN as creating a ‘Millennial-Friendly’ zone trumping your less enlightened competitors seeking this same talented and demanding segment of the labor force.

The Potential Losers

Large Tier 1 Carriers

To coin a popular phrase: “this is not their first rodeo”. Major Telcos (specifically non-wireless players who were not able to put the saddle on a different horse years ago) have just finished licking their wounds brought on by witnessing high margin TDM voice evaporate and become a mere application on the network with the near ubiquitous adoption of VoIP over the past decade. To replace or mitigate this margin loss, they have enjoyed large embedded bases of profitable MPLS connectivity to handle voice as an application along with many other apps of course. Now, however, SD-WAN has forced them to act. They can choose to either resist, delay, precipitously reduce legacy MPLS pricing, innovate with their own offerings, or some combination of these responses. It is clear however that they will see this base of business slowly erode over time much like TDM voice. To be fair, nearly every carrier (Tier one and smaller) has publicly embraced their own SD-WAN solution (many choosing one of the “V’s’ as their platform…..Velocloud, Viptela, or Versa).

It remains to be seen how trusted large carriers will be to provide and manage an integrated solution in a BYOB (bring your own bandwidth) environment where they will have to develop new and better program and project management skills than what has brought them to the dance in the first place (i.e. managing their own network solutions while grappling with last mile issues). How quickly and how well they execute on this strategy with their own quality solutions and managed services will determine the severity of the loss of their legacy offerings and client relationships.  But make no mistake: the days of slow bandwidth, long install times, costly CPE investments, complex on-going management AND high costs, are (or will be) over. The case is simply too compelling not to move….and fast.

One final comment in fairness to the carriers is that there could be a long ‘tail’ regarding MPLS deployment via SD-WAN solutions. Many early adopters may choose a hybrid solution and therefore keep their traditional MPLS connections as one of the two paths connected to their SD-WAN appliance. However, in this scenario, the negotiation leverage rests with the Enterprise given the options available to simply replace it with other secure high bandwidth options.

Traditional Telco Agents

Any business model dependent on commissions from higher cost, low value solutions will lose out in the SD-WAN battleground. The inherent conflict of interest that resides with a revenue model dependent on ‘higher’ monthly recurring costs, not lower costs, will eventually require soul searching that should yield the hoped for conclusion to ‘do the right thing’ while perhaps altering the business model to include managed services and other offerings to augment the inevitable large reductions in bandwidth costs (and consequent commission reductions) brought about by SD-WAN replacements of high cost MPLS networks. Those Solution Partners who have pivoted to managed services options (specifically with the expertise to journey-map SD-WAN migrations for their clients) to augment or replace the dependency on agency commissions, are best positioned to produce real value for their clients and thereby thrive vs. the entrenched and transaction-minded telecom agents of old. Consolidation within the Telecom Agency market is already well underway and SD-WAN adoption will accelerate this trend leaving higher valued Agent/MSP’s and only the largest Master Agents in positions of growth and value.

Hardware players

All of us know that the “As a Service” revolution enabled by Cloud technology impacted the Enterprise Data Center economics in a big way.

There is not a CPE player who historically focused on the Enterprise Data Center who hasn’t had to change their strategic focus and offerings as a result.

SD-WAN simply brings that economic model to the enterprise at the end point level with regard to traditional Wide Area Networking architecture and CPE needs.

Big iron players will likely see heavy hits and have already begun making plans for it. For example, Cisco acquired Viptela to compete, complement, integrate (their stated roadmap) with their ubiquitous (and complicated) iWAN solution.

As a general rule (with exceptions, and a long evolution perhaps) router, switch, firewalls, and other complex, and costly, CPE endpoints necessary in a distributed WAN environment to perform discreet functions will no longer be needed due to the simplicity of SD-WAN technology at its best (i.e. pure play providers with the best integrated technical solutions on premise and in the cloud will ultimately replace many of these complex, segregated CPE elements). In effect, any entity selling something today that’s premise-based, singular in function, and enabling a traditional MPLS network will see their revenues diminish over time despite the long tail on these markets. 

Slow-to-Adopt Enterprises

Enterprises that take a risk-averse traditional approach to networking will find themselves on the wrong side of the SD-WAN competitive battlefield relative to their peers who have accepted early adoption because of all the many benefits that come from SD-WAN. Don’t be on the wrong side of this ‘bit’coin. Early adopters will get the most resources from the SD-WAN companies. They will get the best support from managed services firms that help them get there. They’ll get the most attention, quicker installations, and more customer-service focus than ever as providers will wish to have multiple positive references. And they’ll get all the benefits of SD-WAN before their competitors. A true competitive advantage in the market.

SO NOW WHAT?

So, what are YOU going to do to be on the winning side of the SD-WAN revolution?

Cloud application adoption and high costs of MPLS networks will nudge you along to be sure. But, your competitors who adopt earlier will enjoy lower costs, greater productivity, simplified management of their WANs and ultimately a competitive advantage. After all, faster rollouts of game changing cloud apps may enable them to serve their clients and employees better and faster and cheaper than you.

Proactively informing your CEO you are embracing the future will pay big dividends. Let him or her know this will enable the acceleration of technology and digitization projects to create a competitive advantage while trumping the costly security blanket of ‘playing it safe’ with MPLS for another contract cycle, all while your enterprise suffers from slow bandwidth, poor service, and high costs.

The choice is yours. Begin the process today to build a strong Business Case and ROI via the assistance of a qualified partner.

Your CEO will be glad you did.

Your competition will not be.

>I NEED HELP WITH MY SD-WAN JOURNEY >

About the Author:

Myron Braun, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Renodis

As Vice President of Sales for Renodis, Myron Braun is responsible for helping lead the company to new levels of customer satisfaction and growth.

During his nearly 10 years at Renodis, Mr. Braun has leveraged his many prior years of experience within the Telecommunications Industry to help develop the nation’s only fully integrated, complete life-cycle managed services solution helping enterprises eliminate the pain and frustration of managing Telecom and Mobility environments. Turnkey Telecom ManagementTM (TTM) has many fans within the CIO community. The success of TTM has enabled the company to grow its managed services business 40+% year over year since 2013.

Prior to Renodis, Myron enjoyed a lengthy career at MCI/Verizon, where he was named Branch Vice President of Enterprise Markets for Minnesota. Under his leadership that branch grew to achieve the highest market share of any office in the country, with revenues in excess of $190 million in 2006.

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