Hosted Enterprise IP Communications: A Flexible and Cost-Effective Approach

Transcription

1 Hosted Enterprise IP Communications: A Flexible and Cost-Effective Approach A White Paper

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction... Making Informed Decisions in a Rapidly Evolving Technology Environment... Businesses Trust IP Telephony for Cost-Efficient and Productive Communications... Advanced Communications Applications Drive the Need for Application Integration... Global Economic Conditions Mandate a New Approach... Flexibility... Speed to market... Risk mitigation and risk sharing... Focus on core competencies... Economies of scale... Future-proofing investments... Premises-Based Versus Hosted Communications: Which is Right for You?... Supply-Side Factors... Functionality... Contract Terms... Marketing and Awareness... Demand-Side Factors...,... Security... Control... TCO Analysis Making the Case for Hosted IP Telephony and UC Services... CAPEX Savings... Flexibility, Scalability and Risk Sharing... Ability to Focus on Core Competencies and Reallocate Resources... Converged Access... Inexpensive Long Distance... Integrated Management and Self-Administered MACs... Broader Array of Features, Application Integration... Business Continuity

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Identifying the Best-Case Scenarios for Deploying Hosted IP Telephony... Non-Existent or Amortized Infrastructure... Rapid or Unpredictable Growth... Test and Trial New Technologies at Reduced Risk... Small Businesses and Branch Offices... Geographically Dispersed Organizations... Centrex Users... Conclusion

4 INTRODUCTION Today s businesses face considerable uncertainty when deciding whether to invest in a new communications infrastructure. Communications and IT technologies have evolved to become key enablers of core business processes and competitive differentiation. As a result, the technology procurement process has grown more complex, involving C-level executives from general management, operations and finance, marketing and sales, and, of course, IT. In the meantime, rapid technology evolution and intense competition are continually expanding the array of communications options and are forcing businesses to apply a much more rigorous approach to evaluating their technology alternatives. As customers strive to deploy solutions that can evolve along with their business needs, they can choose from two main delivery models: equipment and applications deployed on their premises, and outsourced communications services. The choice requires a well-defined list of the capabilities that can best address a company s long-term goals and needs, as well as clearly set objectives for effective resource allocation going forward. This paper examines the key challenges faced by businesses evaluating advanced communications solutions and the strategic implications of both implementation models. More specifically, this paper seeks to provide a perspective on the advantages of hosted IP communications in today s business environment MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS IN A RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT The nature of business is changing as companies become increasingly global and geographically dispersed. As businesses seek international expansion, and as their workforces become increasingly virtual, functional teams span multiple countries and continents. At the same time, an increased focus on work-life balance, along with efforts to recruit employees based on talent and qualifications rather than location, are driving a rapid proliferation of telecommuters who need to effectively communicate and collaborate with their office-based colleagues and one another. Businesses Trust IP Telephony for Cost-Efficient and Productive Communications The past decade has been marked by rapid technological innovation and an influx of advanced communications solutions that drastically transform the way we live and do business. Next-generation technologies such as IP telephony and Voice over IP (VoIP) have had a significant impact on the role of business communications in developing a sustainable competitive advantage. Now they are laying the foundation for even greater synergies between communications tools and business processes, through the implementation of unified communications (UC) and communications-enabled business processes (CEBP). Migration from legacy Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) communications to IP telephony environments has accelerated over the past few years. IP telephony has proven its ability to 3

5 cost-effectively improve productivity, and concerns over VoIP quality are quickly dissipating as codecs improve and high-definition (HD) voice promises to dramatically change the enduser experience. As a result, businesses are rapidly adopting IP communications; in 2009, the vast majority of PBX lines purchased were IP-capable, and about 30 percent of the world s business telephony users were on IP endpoints. s research shows that most businesses that have not yet deployed IP telephony plan to do so over the next few years. The major holdbacks are typically related to concerns over how to protect existing, unamortized assets and ensure continuity when migrating to a new communications architecture. Furthermore, as IP telephony platforms become more complex, businesses are discovering that they lack the in-house expertise to properly deploy, monitor and manage converged, application-rich solutions. Therefore, they are increasingly looking at outsourcing through managed or hosted services. Advanced Communications Applications Drive the Need for Application Integration While IP telephony and VoIP technologies derive their benefits from network convergence, unified communications create additional value to end-users through application integration. defines a UC application as an integrated set of voice, data and video communications, all of which leverage PC- and telephony-based presence information. The days when employees relied only on and voice communications are long gone. Advanced communications applications such as instant messaging (IM), unified messaging, conferencing and collaboration are rapidly gaining traction, enabling users to connect and exchange ideas more effectively than ever before. Similarly, mobile communications are presenting new opportunities for keeping business users connected 24/. But while the continuously expanding array of communications tools is empowering users, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to effectively integrate, monitor and control. Figure 1: Unified Communications Framework Unified Communications Framework Enterprise User Communications Tools Telephony Presence Unified Communications UM Conferencing Presence Presence Presence IM Mobile Horizontal Business Process Apps CRM SCM Communicationsrelated Related Business Contact Center ERP Process Applications 4

6 Delivering an effective UC platform is no trivial matter. Businesses must first identify the communications applications and vendors that best meet their needs. In a premises-based scenario, this stage requires a rigorous assessment of the technical capabilities of the individual solutions, as well as any given vendor s roadmap for future development. The toughest choice is whether to deploy a complete UC solution from a single vendor or to acquire best-of-breed applications from multiple vendors. The first approach guarantees interoperability within the UC stack, and is generally easier to manage and support. But many of the individual capabilities may be mediocre compared to their best-of-breed counterparts, and the reality is that most businesses have already deployed multi-vendor infrastructures and are likely to continue to invest in disparate solutions based on specific feature or vendor preferences. As a result, internal staff frequently find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of expertise required to implement and manage so many rapidly evolving technologies. Indeed, businesses must weigh the benefits of integrating all their communications applications against the potential costs and risks involved, especially in a multi-vendor environment. Today, most businesses and their channel partners lack UC and application integration skills, as well as the capabilities to effectively manage integrated solutions on an ongoing basis. As a result, many businesses are unable to take advantage of the benefits of UC. GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS MANDATE A NEW APPROACH The global recession caused fear and uncertainty in all business sectors worldwide. As revenues declined, companies had to curtail their spending; many are making do with outdated communications systems that still meet basic needs but offer little in terms of productivity enhancement, greater customer satisfaction, or competitive advantage. Smart organizations will take advantage of the downturn to invest in game-changing technologies ahead of the competition. The recent recession also made evident the need for a new approach to communications investments, and businesses should seek to deploy their next-generation communications infrastructure with the following factors in mind: Flexibility Speed to market Risk mitigation and risk sharing Focus on core competencies Economies of scale Future-proofing investments Flexibility: One of the biggest challenges during a recession is the need to downsize, which often results in unused communications capacity in premises-based implementations. 5

7 Furthermore, workforce reduction frequently impacts IT and telecom personnel, rendering the business unable to properly manage its infrastructure. Speed to Market: As tough economic conditions force businesses to tighten their purses, they find themselves unable to quickly react to market opportunities. R&D activities slow, marketing and sales staff shortages leave the door open for competitors to steal customers, and communications infrastructure inefficiencies prevent the remaining employees from effectively collaborating internally and communicating with customers and partners. Businesses that choose to leverage advanced communications to compensate for workforce reduction and macro-economic challenges are better able to maintain internal productivity and customer satisfaction levels. Risk Mitigation/Risk Sharing: Businesses tend to become particularly risk-averse during an economic downturn. While suspending or postponing new communications investments can help conserve cash, it s not a viable long-term strategy. A more sustainable approach involves sharing the risk with a trusted partner. Risk mitigation is important in favorable economic conditions as well, when growing R&D investments drive more accelerated technology advancements. Finally, companies should not forego redundancy and disasterrecovery capabilities, even in an economic downturn. Focus on Core Competencies: Businesses grow more rapidly and improve their bottom line by focusing on their core competencies. As communications architectures become increasingly complex, partnering with a trusted communications expert can ensure that the company s infrastructure is properly deployed and efficiently managed. Economies of Scale: As businesses must increasingly support a virtual workplace, their communications infrastructures must evolve. They must be cost-effective for small sites and scale during periods of rapid growth or cuts; easily support new users on a uniform set of features; deliver a common dial plan and a consistent customer interface; and easily be extended to external partners, customers and suppliers. Future-Proofing Investments: The accelerating pace of technology evolution is driving the need to future-proof investments in communications and IT infrastructure and that requires services and applications that are based on open standards. SIP-based, SOA platforms and SIP-based services integrate with a wide range of endpoints and other SIPbased applications, offering flexibility and investment protection. PREMISES-BASED VERSUS HOSTED COMMUNICATIONS: WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOU? There are two distinct business models for deploying enterprise communications: a premises-based infrastructure versus a hosted service. Historically, businesses around the world have favored premises-based implementations. The U.S. and Canada boast some of the highest adoption rates for hosted telephony, and yet the segment represents just over 6

8 15 percent of installed business lines in those markets. Several factors have contributed to this uneven distribution and will continue to play a role in the future; the move to IP telephony and UC will, however, change the nature of these factors and their impact on communications investment decisions. Supply-Side Factors Functionality: Historically, hosted services have offered more limited functionality compared with premises-based solutions. Although TDM Centrex supports most key PBX features, such as abbreviated dialing, call forward, call park, call transfer, DID, DOD and music-onhold, businesses are frequently drawn to PBXs for their superior functionality. With the advent of hosted IP telephony, however, more comprehensive service bundles (including messaging, presence, conferencing and other applications) are making the hosted offerings more appealing than alternative premises-based solutions. Contract Terms: Centrex and other hosted services deliver greater flexibility, especially in terms of capacity adjustments at times of downsizing or rapid growth. Centrex contracts typically last two years, allowing customers to more frequently change solutions or providers based on new requirements. Marketing and Awareness: The advent of IP telephony has further boosted PBX penetration as PBX vendors have been faster to market with advanced IP telephony platforms and have marketed them more aggressively than hosted services providers. Incumbent service providers have been slow to upgrade their communications infrastructure to VoIP and have only cautiously pursued IP communications offerings for fear of cannibalizing their existing Centrex and other legacy services. Service providers are, however, becoming more confident in marketing their next-generation services as they ramp up their cloud architectures and IP communications capabilities. Demand-Side Factors Security: Historically, telecom managers have considered multi-tenant, outsourced platforms to be less secure than premises-based systems, and IP telephony has raised even more concerns in that area. As security technologies rapidly improve for hosted solutions, we expect this concern to dissipate. Control: Similarly, concerns about control continue to favor PBX implementations, in spite of the fact that advanced, hosted IP telephony offerings provide in-house staff with greater control than traditional Centrex services. For example, graphical management interfaces allow IT/telecom managers to perform moves, adds, and changes (MACs) quickly and conveniently without having to contact the service provider or pay for a technician to visit the site. These interfaces also allow managers to configure some features and settings on the go, based on user needs. Businesses also tend to believe that they have greater flexibility and control over features and capabilities with a premises-based solution, since they can purchase or develop those internally as the need arises. In reality, the increasing complexity of communications architectures favors an outsourced solution, since a service provider is motivated to more

9 rapidly upgrade and enhance the service offering. TCO Analysis: The most compelling factor in choosing hosted or premises-based communications is the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the two scenarios. Of course, TCO varies widely, depending on a company s existing infrastructure, number of sites, number of users (total and per site), specific application requirements, and available telecom staff. For enterprises with a few larger sites, a premises-based solution typically offers a better TCO over a longer period of time. To a large degree, that s because businesses often extend the life of their communications solutions well beyond the amortization period, at which point the asset has no book value - and therefore, no associated cost. Furthermore, with only a break-fix maintenance contract in place, support costs can also be reduced. Of course, this approach involves a significant amount of risk and can prove quite costly if an outdated solution begins to malfunction on a regular or system-wide basis. Alternatively, Centrex and hosted IP telephony have been adopted by businesses that choose not to maintain in-house support staff and instead outsource their communications. Staff reductions, therefore, result in immediate and ongoing cost savings for these customers. It should be noted that TDM Centrex scenarios may involve some additional costs if a technician needs to be dispatched to the site on occasion; however, hosted IP telephony eliminates this cost burden as well due to more flexible network monitoring and management solutions. Further, hosted services, and especially hosted IP telephony, provide significant TCO benefits to small branches and small sites within large organizations. Businesses choose hosted services for their remote locations in order to lower the costs of adding incremental capacity and to deliver uniform capabilities across geographically dispersed users. Figure 2: Two Approaches to Unified Communications Two Approaches to Unified Communications Premises-Based Solutions Pros: Favorable TCO for businesses with few large sites Security Control Sometimes, broader feature set Possibility for faster upgrades for enterprises with few sites Cons: Upfront software/hardware cost Integration hassle Cost & level of professional services Cost of maintenance & upgrades Risk of sunk cost in unproven technology Hosted Services/SaaS Pros: Flexibility Lower risk Multi-site integration Lower TCO for mix of large and/or small branch sites Leverage third-party expertise Single point of contact OPEX efficiencies: staffing, converged access & long-distance/on-net VoIP More economical redundancy Cons: Higher long-term TCO in some cases Basic business feature set Service support demark A trusted partner with a secure, scalable, and flexible solution is key! 8

10 The move to IP telephony is causing a paradigm shift in both the hosted and premises-based telephony markets. IPT is driving a huge wave of infrastructure replacement in the PBX market, but limited awareness has prevented advanced hosted IP telephony and UC services from gaining greater traction. That s unfortunate, because they offer significant advantages for many organizations. We highlight some of the specific benefits of hosted IP telephony below. MAKING THE CASE FOR HOSTED IP TELEPHONY AND UC SERVICES The term hosted IP telephony refers to multi-tenant, business IP communications services supported by an advanced architecture consisting of softswitches and application servers residing at a service provider s data center. Hosted IP telephony is also frequently referred to as IP Centrex or hosted IP PBX services, but these terms can be misleading: the first suggests too many similarities with TDM Centrex, and the latter can be confused with single-tenant solutions hosted by third parties on behalf of a single customer. As a hosted service, hosted IP telephony shares key characteristics with other Software as a Service (SaaS) and Communications as a Service (CaaS) offerings. As a multi-tenant, datacenter solution utilizing IP infrastructure, it is also a cloud communications service, offering the flexibility and cost efficiencies of cloud architectures. As businesses seek to leverage the cloud architecture for more cost-effective utilization of computing resources, they are also considering cloud communications or CaaS solutions for similar benefits flexibility, cost efficiencies, and scalability. Unlike typical public-cloud services, however, private-cloud, multi-tenanted services offer greater security and carrier-grade reliability. Service providers that also manage the access network can guarantee quality of service and offer better SLAs than overlay service providers, such as Google or Skype, that have no control over the Internet connection. CAPEX Savings: Hosted IP telephony reduces or eliminates CAPEX, which is a significant advantage for small businesses, organizations in certain verticals (such as education and government), and businesses with limited access to CAPEX funding. (Businesses should keep in mind, however, that although the main telephony platform is owned and hosted by a service provider, the organization may need to invest in a LAN upgrade, IP phones, gateways or IADs.) Just by moving the call control and feature platform into the cloud, businesses can save $300 to $500 per line (seat). Furthermore, they can choose to keep their TDM phones and deploy a gateway between the service provider network and the endpoints. Similarly, businesses can investigate phone leasing options, reducing CAPEX by another $150 to $200 on average per phone. Additionally, hosted IP telephony solutions can deliver contact center capabilities more economically than premises-based implementations. In the latter scenario, high-volume contact center traffic can consume large amounts of capacity, requiring businesses to overprovision and thus incur considerable inefficiencies. Alternatively, hosted architectures are more scalable, and therefore more cost-efficient. 9

11 Flexibility, Scalability and Risk Sharing: Hosted services offer greater scalability and flexibility on several fronts. Businesses using hosted services can more easily discontinue unused lines and adjust OPEX on demand, whereas a premises-based solution results in unused capacity and sunk costs. Terminating unused lines can result in cost savings measured in terms of monthly services fees ($20 to $50 per line on average), or in terms of maintenance and in-house telecom management staff costs, which typically amount to thousands of U.S. dollars per month for even the smallest sites. Hosted services also have advantages for companies with uncertain growth prospects. In a premises-based implementation, new servers are often required to support even a small number of new users, whereas hosted lines can be added one at a time. Finally, the flexibility to prevent lock-in with a specific vendor or solution, and thus reduce switching costs, helps businesses ensure that their communications infrastructure evolves with their needs and avoid technology obsolescence. Ability to Focus on Core Competencies and Reallocate Resources: Hosted services help free up resources for core business activities, since most infrastructure management is handled by the service provider. The ability to reallocate staff to new tasks and eliminate the cost of hiring, training and retraining telecom support personnel can be measured in hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars per year. Converged Access: A hosted IP telephony offering allows customers to converge their voice and data access lines and save between $300 and $1,200 per T1 line per month. Many businesses choose to keep several converged lines for redundancy, but in those cases, the incremental cost is usually justified by the additional capability. Inexpensive Long Distance: Typically, hosted IP telephony offerings include competitively priced long-distance plans, since the service providers can leverage their VoIP infrastructure for inexpensive call transport and termination. While SMBs typically prefer preset monthly allowances (so-called buckets of minutes ) because of the convenience and predictability, large businesses usually prefer to be charged based on actual usage, since they can negotiate competitive per-minute rates for their large call-traffic volumes. Integrated Management and Self-Administered MACs: One of the most compelling benefits of IP telephony is the ability to use a Web interface to configure and manage endpoints, applications, and settings. Doing so gives end users greater control of their communications and reduces the cost of MACs, saving the business $100 to $300 per hour to dispatch technicians to perform the task. Broader Array of Features, Application Integration: Another area of significant differentiation for hosted IP telephony is the feature set and the integration capabilities supported by most hosted platforms. In addition to the core PBX functionality, hosted IP telephony services include voic or unified messaging, an auto attendant, basic audio conferencing, IVR and call center functionality, call recording, and a soft client. Further, hosted communications providers can deliver fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) capabilities more effectively and economically to business customers. In a premises-based 10

12 implementation, some additional equipment such as gateways may be required, resulting in additional costs and integration hassles, whereas in a hosted scenario, the service provider can more easily turn a mobile device into a hosted IP telephony extension, at a fraction of the cost. Bundled features run at about $25 to $50 per user per month; others are offered for an incremental fee. Packaged IP communications capabilities also eliminate the time, money and effort required to integrate disparate applications deployed on premises. Business Continuity: Service providers typically deploy redundant architectures in several NOCs to avoid disruptive network failures and service unavailability. Thus, unlike premisesbased implementations, hosted services offer redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities at no additional cost to the customer. Further, hosted communications can be used as a business continuity solution to a premises-based implementation as capacity and capabilities can be provisioned rapidly and on demand, should anything go wrong with the premisesbased equipment. IDENTIFYING THE BEST-CASE SCENARIOS FOR DEPLOYING HOSTED IP TELEPHONY Some of the most critical factors to consider when determining the ROI of a hosted IP telephony implementation include the company s existing infrastructure, future technology roadmap, the size and geographic location of individual business sites, and CAPEX versus OPEX needs and preferences. Non-Existent or Amortized Infrastructure: Typically, greenfield implementations offer the most favorable conditions for deploying hosted IP telephony, since there is no legacy infrastructure to consider. Such scenarios are rare, but businesses with amortized telephony equipment or expiring Centrex contracts are also well-positioned to consider hosted IP telephony as a replacement for their existing infrastructure. Such businesses can most economically and rapidly leverage the benefits of an end-to-end IP communications environment. Rapid or Unpredictable Growth: Businesses experiencing rapid growth should consider deploying hosted IP telephony for new employees, adding capacity on demand. While integration with existing technologies may present some challenges for a premises-based solution, deploying hosted IP telephony to select groups first can serve as a migration strategy for the entire organization. If such businesses are growing primarily by adding small branches and remote workers (a common scenario today), hosted services offer a costeffective growth strategy. Test and Trial New Technologies at Reduced Risk: Businesses interested in deploying new capabilities without the risk of a major capital investment can first test new technologies on a hosted basis. For example, businesses considering an end-to-end UC solution (voice, presence, IM and conferencing) can trial it with individual branches or distinct teams across locations. 11

13 Small Businesses and Branch Offices: To date, hosted IP telephony has been most popular among SMBs and smaller sites within large enterprises. Mainly, that s because hosted services can easily scale down to small numbers of users, especially compared with premises-based systems, which are most economical for sites with more than 50 users. Hosted services also allow small businesses/sites to eliminate technology support staff and focus on core competencies. Hosted IP telephony has gained significant traction among small consulting and professional services firms, doctor s offices and real estate agencies, and is rapidly gaining traction among larger businesses with multiple small sites. Geographically Dispersed Organizations: Among medium and large businesses, those with geographically dispersed sites can benefit the most from hosted IP telephony services. As organizations become increasingly virtual, the majority of new users are remote. Typically, remote sites don t have the internal resources to manage a communications system and are too small to justify the investment in a premises-based platform; yet, they also need to integrate with other locations. Hosted IP telephony or UC services offer the most costeffective way to deliver communications to such organizations. Hosted services also let businesses deliver different features to different users or departments and bill individual sites or departments separately, if required. Industries that have seen significant benefits in this area include financial services, retail, real estate, legal, accounting, and other professional services firms, as well as government and educational organizations. Further, enterprises with a mix of PBX and hosted services implementations can use a hosted IP telephony offering, along with IP trunking between sites to deliver integrated features, such as a consistent dial plan, across both premises-based and hosted users. In a premises-based scenario, each time an enterprise adds a new site, it has to set up the translations/routes for the new site. With a hosted approach, the service provider would handle this for the enterprise while also maximizing on-net routing to minimize longdistance calling costs. Centrex Users: Companies that have deployed Centrex services favor hosted services for a number of reasons, including a preference for OPEX over CAPEX, their geographically dispersed nature, and fluctuations in capacity requirements. Government and educational organizations have favored TDM Centrex, and they are likely to benefit from hosted IP telephony services, which deliver the benefits of Centrex as well as the advantages of IP telephony. Hybrid TDM and IP-hosted services supported by some carrier architectures can deliver a low-risk, cost-effective migration path to end-to-end IP communications solutions. Similarly, some architectures also allow businesses to mix TDM and IP endpoints in the same business group, which further simplifies migration to IP communications. CONCLUSION The growth of the Internet, broadband connectivity, IP telephony, and UC has dramatically accelerated the pace of technological innovation, requiring greater expertise from businesses looking to enhance their competitive edge. In the meantime, shortened macro- 12

14 economic cycles demand greater flexibility, speed to market, risk mitigation, economies of scale, focus on core competencies, and the need to future-proof technology investments. While premises-based communications offer some benefits, such as greater control, hosted IP telephony follows the trend toward cloud computing and excels in terms of flexibility, risk avoidance, and economic scalability for certain types of organizations. Hosted IP telephony platforms have come a long way during the past 10 years; today, they are able to offer a broad array of advanced features and capabilities, along with the more economical integration with other communications and business process applications. Traditional Centrex users, such as government, education and retail organizations, as well as most small businesses and a variety of geographically dispersed organizations, can benefit the most from hosted IP telephony and UC services. Enterprises with a mix of PBX and hosted sites can choose to migrate at once or in stages, depending on their existing infrastructure and technology roadmaps. Rigorous ROI and TCO analyses can facilitate the choice of a next-generation communications infrastructure and its successful implementation. 13

15 CONTACT US Silicon Valley 331 E. Evelyn Ave. Suite 100 Mountain View, CA Tel Fax San Antonio 550 West Interstate 10, Suite 400, San Antonio, Texas Tel Fax Auckland Bangkok Beijing Bengaluru Bogotá Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Colombo Delhi / NCR Dhaka Dubai Frankfurt Hong Kong Istanbul Jakarta Kolkata Kuala Lumpur London Mexico City Milan Moscow Mumbai Manhattan Oxford Paris Rockville Centre San Antonio São Paulo Seoul Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Sophia Antipolis Sydney Taipei Tel Aviv Tokyo Toronto Warsaw ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN London 4, Grosvenor Gardens, London SWIW ODH,UK Tel 44(0) Fax 44(0) GoFrost myfrost@frost.com the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. leverages 49 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit 14