Getting the network foundations right

BY Staff Writer • 2018 03 20

We spoke to Jon Evans, chief executive of Enablis, to find out how the managed services provider grew their business by migrating customers from copper to fibre networks.

Big changes in business networking

The nbn™ rollout is a true turning point for Australian IT. Providers and end users alike are having to navigate the migration process and the planned disconnections of business-grade copper services, which start in November 2018, provide an urgent deadline for the transition away from legacy technologies.

Enablis Chief Executive Jon Evans described the migration from legacy copper services to new access technology as the critical network challenge facing all Australian businesses.

“Most businesses can’t operate without a connection to the network these days, so migration is a risk. Our greatest challenge is to keep our customer’s businesses running smoothly while providing them with a future-proof solution,” Jon said.

Enablis, a managed IT communications service provider specialising in multi-site business networks and services to organisations with between 10 and 300 sites, needed to migrate customers to a future-ready fibre network with minimum hassle in order to cement the company’s hard-earned reputation as a globally-recognised progressive managed services provider.

Being prepared

Enablis and its Telstra Wholesale team started discussions about migration several months in advance.

“Telstra Wholesale's proactive approach was a significant factor in helping us to see the opportunity to win new business and deliver better customer experiences as well as migrate existing customers” Jon said.

“They provided us with data and insights we needed for our business planning, including lists of all of the affected copper connections they provided and a tool to check what alternative services were available. Telstra Wholesale’s Ready for Service offer - where we were given favourable commercials to upgrade our customers to a fibre connection - also gave us the flexibility to create compelling pricing structures.”

As Telstra Wholesale Sales Director Tania Davis put it: “We’re always looking for ways to help our customers unlock value for themselves and for their customers. We spend the time together to develop secure and flexible platforms, products or services that we know can underpin a partner’s success.”

Jon and his team collaborated with Telstra Wholesale to create solutions tailored for Enablis’ end users.

“When we started talking with Telstra Wholesale about the migration from copper to fibre for our business customers, we knew we were going to come up with a solution together. They don’t just hand you some pre-packaged ideas and walk away, they really listen,” Jon said.

“The moment when Telstra Wholesale helped us realise the size of the opportunity and the size of the challenge, that's when we realised that working together with Telstra Wholesale really puts us in a very strong position to help our clients."

they are getting the benefits of a more future-proof fibre network that enables them to transform their businesses

Winning business on fibre

The partnership has opened up new opportunities for Enablis. “Now we can go to individual customers who are affected by the disconnection of copper services and present a great solution and commercials to transition them to fibre,” Jon said.

“Not only do Enablis’ customers see how the company is making the migration as painless as possible, but they are getting the benefits of a more future-proof fibre network that enables them to transform their businesses, whether that is helping to drive cloud adoption, deliver better collaboration experiences or employing innovative over-the-top services.

“I believe that moving customers to fibre with all the opportunities it offers, and our role in helping customers to make the most of the migration, really enables them to flourish.”

This approach has delivered significant value to Enablis already. Enablis took the solution they co-created with Telstra Wholesale into a new business pitch for a customer that had a large number of sites with geographically dispersed staff. In order to showcase the benefits of the proposed fibre solution, Enablis invited Telstra Wholesale Executive Director of Products and Marketing Terri Scerri to the pitch, which helped Enablis to secure the new business.

Jon recognises the value that Enablis’ partnership with Telstra Wholesale has brought to his business. “There’s a confidence that comes from knowing we have an incredible network, business intelligence and great commercials from Telstra Wholesale – it’s a foundation that helps us take the best solutions to our customers and win new business.”