GTT gave partners expanded access to its digital platform this month, aiming to keep them engaged throughout the customer lifecycle rather than just at the point of sale.
The network services provider added multi-location quoting and order management capabilities to its EnvisionDX portal. Technology services distributors, who work closely with the technology advisor community, co-designed the improvements.
“We've sat with the TSDs over the last four to five months, letting them iterate with us,” Chris Jones, GTT National VP of Americas Partner Channels, told Channel Dive.
As network carriers introduce digital portals and APIs to simplify the convoluted telecom sales process for partners, GTT intends to go a step further. Jones said automated quoting has become table stakes for vendors and partners, but a gap exists after partners close a sale.
“How do you get from signed contract to actually circuit-installed and then the continuation? A lot of the tools just stop on the sales side, and it almost treats the TA like all they do is sell and they actually don't manage a customer relationship,” Jones said.
The agency model relies on telco providers to perform truck rolls and manage installations. After a deal is sold, TAs and their customers are often at the mercy of vendor project management teams. TAs are often left out of the loop and have to fight to stay on customer email chains.
“The TA community is constantly fighting for relevance and fighting for being thought of in the buy-flow experience,” Jones said. “I think the suppliers that are really forward-thinking and truly value the channel are the suppliers that are building the partner into their future plans.”
Telco’s digital push
Carriers, particularly those like AT&T, Comcast and Lumen that operate their own networks, have come a long way in simplifying their operations for partners. But that’s not saying much.
Mass consolidation among the carriers created a convoluted mess of disparate systems for quoting and billing — to say nothing of confusing. Insider terminology remains entrenched across the industry
“We use weird language, we use convoluted processes, we use convoluted systems. Some of what we do is because it started that way 50 years ago,” Jones said.
Vendors and TSDs relied heavily on manual labor and a series of email handoffs to process a deal from quote to installation.
“When I started in the channel, it was: send an email, send a spreadsheet. It was: 'Here are the locations with maybe accurate addresses, and give me a quote for 17 different speed variations of all of the different locations,’” Jones said.
Real-time quoting capabilities have become must-haves for vendors that want to work with the channel, and third-party platforms like Cablefinder and Connectbase have helped spur mass adoption. Vendors like GTT have placed APIs inside TSD platforms so TAs can minimize the number of portals they use.
“The ability to generate accurate quotes in real time eliminates one of the biggest obstacles to closing new business and allows us to serve customers more efficiently,” said Allison Hammond, VP of Operations, Avant and one of the partners that co-designed GTT’s latest update.
GTT and the channel
GTT straddles a unique line between incumbent local exchange carriers that possess their own facilities, and network aggregators that resell connectivity from the ILECs.
GTT, like the aggregators, resells last-mile connectivity from various providers across the globe, but the company also owns assets with a proprietary IP backbone that is now the third largest in the world. Moreover, Jones said the company’s digital tools are designed to help it manage complexity for customers with distributed sites. GTT said it is using generative AI to validate information for multi-site customers in real time.
“The real complexity for the customer is not the last mile. The industry has made the last mile complex,” Jones said. “The real complexity for the customer is endpoints and multiple locations. Where are their customers? Where is their data? What's their endpoint software? What's on the edge?”
GTT in December 2024 added former Lumen channel leader Sara Seegers to oversee indirect sales strategy. Jones, AT&T’s TSD channel leader, joined the next month. Hiring the two ILEC vets was the start of an aggressive push into the TSD channel, where the company wanted to expand its foundation. Net sales increased 15% year-over-year, according to GTT. The company is also diversifying its indirect strategy by appointing leaders for managed service providers, system integrators and broadline distributors.
“It's almost like a rolling thunder investment in indirect,” Jones said.
GTT is not alone in making a platform push, but the proof will be in the pudding.
“A lot of people are going to be talking about portals and platforms and those sort of things,” Jones said. “Who's got smoke and mirrors, and who's really doing it? And who's really co-developing it with their partners, and how they plan to go to market for the next 10 years?”
