Today, many businesses are in the process of a complicated digital transformation (DX), moving into the cloud, discovering new software, and exploring disruptive technology like AI and analytics. Of course, these transformations don't have a one-size-fits-all pathway for success. Small to large enterprises need to find their own route to delight their customers, outshine the competition and adhere to their budgetary requirements.Connected MamConnect
Connect Managed Services, a leader in the managed service environment for communication and contact centre services, offers the flexibility that today's organisations need, through a diverse range of vendor-agnostic services. Using unique automation and monitoring tools, combined with the freedom to mix and match solutions from the vendors that suit their clients, Connect Managed Services allows you to choose your path to the cloud.
We sat down with the CTO of Connect Managed Services, Martin Cross, to find out more.
Tell Us About Yourself and Connect Managed Services
Martin has been in the telecommunications and UC industry for a long time.
"I joined Nortel in 1997, and they bought a company that was providing managed service solutions to defence businesses. I liked the model of what they were doing there, but I wanted to expand beyond defence into the enterprise space."
"With Nortel, I grew an enterprise version of the managed service offering within the company, starting from nothing, and developing to a £25 million turnover business."
When Nortel started experiencing problems in 2000, Martin jumped out of the organisation and started his own company, consulting with other businesses who wanted to learn how to deliver managed services projects. One of his clients was a company called Connect Communications, who gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.
"Eventually, we built the business into a multi-vendor service that works with Avaya, Cisco, Amazon, Genesys, Microsoft, and all the big players. This means that we can support some of the biggest brands, including Barclays Bank, BP, and Johnson and Johnson with their digital transformation projects."
What Makes Connect Managed Services Different?
Connect Managed Services offers an innovative approach to digital transformation for their customers, based on a programme that they call "Stabilise, Enhance and Transform". The plan creates a seamless journey away from disjoined legacy-based technology, into enhanced and flexible cloud solutions intended to both improve customer experience and increase service levels.
"We start bystabilising the business, taking over the management of a client's contact centre or telephony stack, and supporting it with our unique automation and monitoring tools. From there, we can start to enhance the estate with a range of best-of-breed solutions, ideal for cutting down costs and improving performance. Then, our vendor agnostic solution means that we can take your estate out of the legacy format and into Gartner's best of breed cloud solutions at your own pace."
As a vendor-agnostic managed service provider, Connect Managed Services allows their customers to work with any business they want, with a model that delivers long-term relationships to customers.
Martin told me that from a technology perspective, the sheer scope of what