At Tata Communications’ recent Global Analyst and CEO Summit in Hong Kong, I was struck by the continuing commitment to advance the usefulness of networks. There was plenty of techno-speak in and out of the sessions, but the needs of customers were never far from the surface. There were fewer traditional discussions of the India-based conglomerate’s network terminations in 140+ countries; speakers were more likely to highlight the company’s ability to reach more than 98% of the world’s population and GDP from Tata Communications’ global networks and directly connected service providers (SP). SP customers from around the world, as well as enterprises representing financial services, manufacturing, consumer products, media, and many more industries were shown as big, important Tata Communications customers with real needs met by real solutions.
Providing more than just inter-networking connectivity, Tata Communications serves SPs in all regions of the world. The company emphasized future opportunities; the Internet of things, concepts like smart cities and global support for multinational corporations were constant reminders of the types of SP relationships that distinguish Tata Communications. Their owned global network including data centres and undersea cables provides reach and service capability in partnership with the capillarity and customer relationships of local service providers. A second category of SP partners – those providing collaboration services – was also mentioned frequently. A long list of enterprise customers was also highlighted through the two days.
Executives discussed–under NDA–a list of multi-million dollar customer wins in fiscal year 2014 for services including conferencing and collaboration, MPLS and metro Ethernet WANs, data centre hosting, UCC modules and solutions, and other complex solutions. Tata Communications officials attributed this success to the company’s continued strong relationships with SI and VAR players around the world – many with great global name recognition. After Claude Sassoulas, Managing Director for Europe, spent an hour discussing critical factors leading to customers’ selection of Tata Communications, the various services delivered, and partners involved, he quipped how hard it had been to cut down the list of multi-million dollar wins he was discussing to fit within his one hour presentation slot.
