2016 North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Growth Excellence Leadership Award

Transcription

1 2016 North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Growth Excellence Leadership Award 2016 NORTH AMERICAN VoIP ACCESS AND SIP TRUNKING SERVICES GROWTH EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP AWARD 2016

2 Contents Background and Company Performance... 2 Industry Challenges... 2 Growth Performance and Customer Impact... 2 Conclusion... 5 Significance of Growth Excellence Leadership... 6 Understanding Growth Excellence Leadership... 6 Key Benchmarking Criteria... 7 Best Practice Award Analysis for Windstream... 7 Decision Support Scorecard... 7 Growth Performance... 8 Customer Impact... 8 Decision Support Matrix... 9 The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

3 Background and Company Performance Industry Challenges Businesses have a wealth of choices when it comes to their unified communications solutions and services; Frost & Sullivan notes that this creates unique challenges for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) access and session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking services providers. First and foremost, businesses are increasingly savvy about the flexibility and advanced features that VoIP solutions add to their enterprise platforms and seek out service providers that offer specific functionality to meet their needs. In addition, as businesses become increasingly more comfortable with leveraging VoIP access and SIP trunking services as their primary access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), expectations for providers to accelerate the pace of provisioning services also increase. Finally, Frost & Sullivan points out that continued growth in the VoIP access and SIP trunking services market is a particular challenge for service providers. The market is flush with already established market participants, as well as newer entrants bringing evolving business models and unique approaches to the market. Frost & Sullivan defines growth leadership as evidence of a provider s ability to differentiate and offer a strong value proposition in a highly competitive environment. Such a position enables a provider to develop a substantial customer base and thus ensure sustainable growth going forward. Additionally, a steady level of growth enables a provider to refine and optimize its operations and customer on-boarding processes - turning provisioning new customers into a streamlined and repeatable process. Growth Performance and Customer Impact Windstream stands out among service providers with its ability to grow rapidly in the challenging VoIP access and SIP trunking market. Frost & Sullivan independent analysis reveals that the company has achieved remarkable growth rates through strategy and portfolio excellence, a superior customer experience, and a strong brand. Growth Strategy Windstream s growth in the VoIP access and SIP trunking market has been driven by its ability to innovate and continually enhance its solutions portfolio. A pioneer in the nextgeneration communications services market, it has gradually expanded its VoIP offerings over the years through organic growth and judicious acquisitions. Today, Windstream leverages a diverse portfolio of networking, communications and data products to serve the needs of consumers and a broad spectrum of business customers. In 2015, the company reorganized itself into three distinct units Consumer, Enterprise, and Carrier allowing each business unit to focus on its respective customer segment. As such, Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

4 the Enterprise business unit at Windstream focuses its attention primarily on mid-market and larger enterprises. For larger customers, Windstream s primary voice offerings include VoIP trunking services for businesses with legacy time division multiplexing (TDM) private branch exchange (PBX), or non-sip IP PBX system and SIP trunking services for SIP-based IP PBX and onpremises unified communications platforms. In addition, Windstream offers unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solutions based on Avaya and Mitel UC platforms (hosted within Windstream s data centers). Frost & Sullivan appreciates how Windstream can approach smaller businesses in multiple ways. The Enterprise business unit can redirect small businesses to the dedicated Consumer or Small Business units within Windstream. Alternatively, the provider can offer its BroadWorks-based hosted IP telephony solution or a managed service based on its Allworx product - a proprietary on-premises IP PBX platform it gained in the Paetec acquisition. Either option provides small to mid-size business customers with a featurerich alternative to standard analog lines. With a full complement of business-grade solutions, Windstream caters to businesses of nearly any size and need, which allows the company to sustain organic growth. Above-Market Growth Windstream s portfolio of VoIP access and SIP trunking services is extremely successful in the market, securing the company a top position over the past several years - with almost twenty percent of total market revenue. Frost & Sullivan monitors how the market remains highly fragmented, with many established and next-generation providers vying for the customer s attention. Frost & Sullivan believes that Windstream s rank as the second largest provider in terms of revenue is a clear indication of its ability to thrive in spite of increasing competitive pressures. Through both organic growth and a well-executed merger and acquisition strategy, Windstream has maintained a steady growth rate for the past three years. The company reported a leading compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1 percent for the previous three years, comparing favorably against industry-average growth rates and those of Windstream s nearest competitors for the same three-year time period. Growth Diversification Windstream s success in the VoIP access and SIP trunking services market has been derived from a mix of organic growth and one of the most successful acquisition strategies in the industry. The most notable acquisition for Windstream was Paetec Communications in late 2011, which combined two companies with an already impressive track record in the VoIP and SIP trunking market. The company s ability to maintain solid growth rates Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

5 while integrating new products and staff into its organization is an important distinction. While its other competitors leverage M&A to simply acquire new customers, Windstream more effectively incorporates the best pieces of its acquisitions - including product offerings, staff, and even executives, throughout the organization. Continued growth, however, will require leveraging these assets to acquire new customers. To that end, Windstream has performed a thorough assessment of its strategic assets throughout its national network. With a complete inventory in hand, the provider will be able to optimize and streamline operations, as well as identify underutilized areas of the network. For example, Windstream can now determine on-network multi-tenant buildings where it is serving a single customer. Armed with this knowledge, Windstream s sales teams can aggressively target the other tenants with the clear understanding that network access will be readily available. Ultimately, Frost & Sullivan agrees that Windstream s effective company integration strategy has enabled the provider to become a highly competitive market participant. It has also provided Windstream with a path to long-term organic growth. Share of Wallet Windstream s VoIP access and SIP trunking services create significant pull-through for its MPLS and data services. Windstream only provides its VoIP trunking services over its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and data networks. In fact, the company uses this data/voice bundle as a competitive advantage, offering customers a set amount of bandwidth that they can leverage for their entire voice, Internet, and data network needs. When not in use for voice traffic, an enterprise site s connection is available for faster downloads or other data uses. Windstream s bundling of voice and data services not only enhances the average revenue per user (ARPU), but also offers the customer the convenience of a single invoice for the combined telecommunications services. With its broad solutions portfolio, Windstream also offers a one-stop shop for a variety of next-generation services beyond VoIP access, SIP trunking and MPLS. For example, customers can deploy Windstream s hosted IP telephony and UCaaS services in some branches or smaller business sites, while keeping their premises-based solutions in others. Windstream also provides fully managed premises-based solutions through its IP Simple offering by leveraging the Allworx platform. Customer Purchase Experience Windstream s competitive strategy focuses on selling the benefits of unified communications - rather than selling specific services to its customers. Frost & Sullivan points out that this is a fundamentally different approach from that of many of its other competitors in the VoIP access and SIP trunking services market. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

6 By selling customers on the concept of unified communications, and through its ability to provide customers with different deployment options, Windstream is able to design solutions that are tailored to each customer, rather than simply being disparate components of an enterprise s unified communications architecture. A custom-solution approach also positions Windstream to address growing demand for hybrid architectures in the enterprise communications market. By leveraging its full range of products and solutions, Windstream is able to deliver tailored communications solutions to its customers, whether on-premises or in the cloud, while providing a common user experience. Windstream directs significant effort on pre-sales engineering to ensure that the products and services it provides meet customers specific needs. This approach has proven much more effective than a boilerplate menu of services and helps ensure customer loyalty and retention, as well as provides opportunities for attachment of additional services going forward. Brand Equity In terms of branding, Windstream is a true success story in the consolidation that is happening in the VoIP access and SIP trunking services market. Over the past five years, Windstream has acquired both smaller, regional competitors, as well as significant market participants such as Paetec, and in the process, replaced the original brands with its own. Customers gained in these acquisitions have been immediately made part of Windstream. This approach has helped Windstream transition into a competitive service provider with a nationwide footprint and become a key consideration on both customer evaluation lists and on competitors radars. Conclusion Windstream has successfully leveraged an aggressive acquisition strategy as a long-term growth engine in the extremely competitive VoIP access and SIP trunking services market. By effectively incorporating the best practices, people and products from its acquisitions, Windstream is well positioned to leverage the combined network and voice assets to maintain its position as a market leader. With its strong overall performance, Windstream has earned the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Leadership Award. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

7 Significance of Growth Excellence Leadership Growth Excellence Leadership is about inspiring customers to purchase from a company, and then to return time and again. Companies that excel in driving growth strive to be best-in-class in three key areas: meeting customer demand, fostering brand loyalty, and carving out a unique, sustainable market niche. Understanding Growth Excellence Leadership Companies that creatively and profitably deliver value to customers ultimately set up their businesses for long term, rapid growth. This is what Growth Excellence Leadership is all about: growth through customer focus, fostering a virtuous cycle of improvement and success. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

8 Key Benchmarking Criteria For the Growth Excellence Leadership Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated two key factors Growth Performance and Customer Impact according to the criteria identified below. Growth Performance Criterion 1: Growth Strategy Criterion 2: Above-Market Growth Criterion 3: Share of Wallet Criterion 4: Growth Diversification Criterion 5: Growth Sustainability Customer Impact Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience Criterion 5: Brand Equity Best Practice Award Analysis for Windstream Decision Support Scorecard To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation; ratings guidelines are illustrated below. RATINGS GUIDELINES The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Growth Performance and Customer Impact (i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for each criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

9 The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3. Measurement of 1 10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent) Growth Excellence Leadership Growth Performance Customer Impact Average Rating Windstream Competitor Competitor Growth Performance Criterion 1: Growth Strategy Requirement: Executive team has a shared vision for the organization s future growth, and has created and implemented a strategy that is consistent with that vision Criterion 2: Above-Market Growth Requirement: Company s growth rate exceeds the industry s year-over-year growth rate Criterion 3: Share of Wallet Requirement: Customers allocate a greater percentage of their total spend to purchasing products or services produced by the company Criterion 4: Growth Diversification Requirements: Company is equally able to pursue organic (e.g., distribution channel optimization, new product innovation) or inorganic (e.g., acquisitions, partnerships) growth opportunities consistent with the long-term objectives of the organization Criterion 5: Growth Sustainability Requirement: Company has consistently sought out opportunities for new growth, enabling the organization to build on its base, and sustain growth over the long-term Customer Impact Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar offerings in the market Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company s product or service, and have a positive experience throughout the life of the product or service Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

10 Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality Criterion 5: Brand Equity Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty Decision Support Matrix Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard, analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at best-in-class levels. DECISION SUPPORT MATRIX FOR GROWTH EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP AWARD High Windstream Competitor 2 Customer Impact Competitor 3 Low Low Growth Performance High Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

11 The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Frost & Sullivan s 360-degree research methodology represents the analytical rigor of our research process. It offers a 360- degree-view of industry challenges, trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies. Too often, companies make important growth decisions based on a narrow understanding of their environment, leading to errors of both omission and commission. Successful growth strategies are founded on a thorough understanding of market, technical, economic, financial, customer, best practices, and demographic analyses. The integration of these research disciplines into the 360- degree research methodology provides an evaluation platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels. 360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN THE CHAOS Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

12 Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices Frost & Sullivan Awards follow a 10-step process to evaluate Award candidates and assess their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the Awards are based on close adherence to this process. STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT 1 Monitor, target, and screen Identify Award recipient candidates from around the globe Conduct in-depth industry research Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all bestpractice criteria 2 Perform 360-degree research Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners Assess candidates fit with best-practice criteria Rank all candidates Matrix positioning all candidates performance relative to one another 3 Invite thought leadership in best practices Perform in-depth examination of all candidates Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all candidates Identify any information gaps Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates 4 Initiate research director review Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives on candidates performance Update candidate profiles Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper 5 Assemble panel of industry experts Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders Share findings Strengthen cases for candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates Refined list of prioritized Award candidates 6 Conduct global industry review Build consensus on Award candidates eligibility Hold global team meeting to review all candidates Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all eligible candidates Final list of eligible Award candidates, representing success stories worldwide 7 Perform quality check Develop official Award consideration materials Perform final performance benchmarking activities Write nominations Perform quality review High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees successes 8 Reconnect with panel of industry experts Finalize the selection of the best-practice Award recipient Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria 9 Communicate recognition Inform Award recipient of Award recognition Present Award to the CEO Inspire the organization for continued success Celebrate the recipient s performance Announcement of Award and plan for how recipient can use the Award to enhance the brand 10 Take strategic action Upon licensing, company may share Award news with stakeholders and customers Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess Award s role in future strategic planning Widespread awareness of recipient s Award status among investors, media personnel, and employees Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

13 About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, 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. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth