As cloud-based applications catch on in terms of both popularity and availability, the users who rely on them are expecting easier and more reliable access from any remote work situation they operate in.

Simultaneously, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology is solidifying its place as the leading solution for deploying and managing cloud-enabled network environments. Small, medium, and enterprise-level organizations alike are seeing the value in partnering with a qualified SD-WAN provider to enhance and simplify their cloud application and managed software processes.

Identifying and selecting the right partner for your managed SD-WAN needs is no simple matter, however. It’s crucial for organizations to have an intimate knowledge of their existing network architectures in order to find the best fit for their goals.

Not every provider has the expertise to smoothly transform a legacy Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network into a cloud-powered hybrid or SD-WAN architecture, regardless of the industry or vertical the client occupies. This requires a provider to work closely with the client’s IT teams to identify vulnerabilities, map out the existing network environment, and meticulously plot out a transition plan.

The right SD-WAN partner must also bring a critical eye and modern approach to your organization’s security situation. When designing and deploying an SD-WAN environment for your enterprise, a Security Service Edge (SSE) solution should be layered throughout the architecture of the managed service. In short, your SD-WAN provider should fully and comprehensively assess your existing network to not only optimize bandwidth but to safeguard data and applications as well, counseling you on where to layer on additional security measures when needed.

Additionally, a managed SD-WAN solution provider should offer a suite of services that achieve the end goal of freeing up your IT personnel and resources to focus less on mundane daily tasks and more on critical strategic business initiatives. A properly implemented SD-WAN environment can achieve this, but only if the provider works alongside your team throughout the entire deployment process by monitoring, maintaining, and updating the environment as necessary to ensure a smooth transition.

It’s a common misconception that after migrating to a Software as a Service (SaaS) SD-WAN model, organizations lose direct control over their network. This isn’t the case for experienced and proven SD-WAN providers, which partner closely with clients to co-manage the new network environment. In this manner, a truly collaborative SD-WAN solution combines the strengths and expertise of both client and provider to achieve the client’s long-term goals.

Contrary to some popular perceptions, SD-WAN is not a magic button that solves every networking difficulty with the press of a button, even when users are extensively trained and experienced in the operation of SD-WAN networking solutions. That’s why a qualified and trusted partner is so important to effect an orderly migration from legacy MPLS networking to a cloud-enabled SD-WAN environment while giving your organization a greater degree of flexibility and control over your network.

That’s where CBTS comes in. Whether your strategic goal is to cut down on operating expenses or greatly increase application uptime, CBTS will synergize with your IT infrastructure to formulate a customized SD-WAN solution that is tailor-made for your specific circumstances and needs. CBTS can also easily factor in and balance additional features like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) as needed.

SD-WAN is defining both the present and future of enterprise networking and is creating exciting new opportunities, but it takes an expert guide to navigate these turbulent waters safely. Choose your partner carefully to get the most out of this cutting-edge technology.

Contact us for more information on finding the right SD-WAN provider for your organization.

Legacy networks, and the businesses that rely on them, are running out of juice. For the most part, these outdated network environments are simply not equipped to meet the high demand that exists today for reliable, full-spectrum communication capabilities. The spike in remote work situations during the COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the demand for modern networking technology that enables seamless and user-friendly collaboration.

Network as a Service (NaaS) has emerged as a transformative solution to the flagging effectiveness of most legacy networks. NaaS works by leveraging the programming and connectivity power of the cloud to provide managed, cloud-based networking capabilities as a comprehensive service and a simple transport method.

Joe Putnik, chief innovation officer at CBTS, recently sat down with CIO Review to discuss new advances and developments in NaaS, which won CIO Review’s Product of the Year award.

When combined with other revolutionary solutions such as Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) and Hosted Unified Communications (UC) and implemented by a trusted vending partner, NaaS is capable of completely reinventing any enterprise’s networking architecture. Indeed, reinvention is crucial at a time when organizations are settling into a semi-permanent state of remote operation in the face of the COVID crisis.

However, networking solutions are only effective when enabled by the correct hardware. That’s where Cisco Meraki comes in. A collection of scalable and secure network platforms for the future-focused enterprise, Meraki offers intuitive cloud integration, auto-provisioning, VPN, and other valuable capabilities. As an experienced partner for enterprise-level organizations, CBTS pairs the Cisco Meraki platform with its array of managed SD-WAN, Hosted Unified Communications, and NaaS services to deliver unparalleled results for clients.

CBTS has implemented its NaaS for more than 600 clients and more than 5,000 locations since it began offering the solution in 2016 and has achieved this milestone by partnering with other leaders in the market, including Cisco and Dell/VMware. CBTS is able to deploy solutions from these partner firms over any transport, from Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) to 4G LTE. This flexibility makes CBTS an attractive provider for organizations of any size that are seeking a future-ready network architecture.

The CBTS NaaS solution arose from a need for a fully-managed, streamlined, and holistic approach to secure connectivity. Customers in multiple industries were seeking a method to address both their Wi-Fi and firewall concerns, which NaaS is purpose-built to solve. NaaS is also designed to be easily scaled for growth, a major benefit for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), especially those with a need to expand their networks to multiple locations or facilities.

From day one, the NaaS approach has been driven by the goal to simplify the lives and day-to-day processes of every client, regardless of the vertical they occupied or the size of their business. However, implementing a solution is only part of the equation. To ensure success for their clients, CBTS takes the initiative to establish a monitoring environment that allows for continuous system auditing, patching, and improvements to deliver the best experience possible for the client. CBTS accomplishes this by partnering with software company ServiceNow and creating automated monitoring processes that help clients proactively maintain their network environments and databases in the long term.

Commitment, flexibility, and collaboration are the keystones of the NaaS service that CBTS employs for all of its clients. By utilizing the latest technology available and anticipating the needs of its customers, CBTS stays ahead of the curve and consistently delivers intuitive, effective, and future-forward managed solutions for organizations of every size.

Contact us for more information on how CBTS can enable your network infrastructure to be smarter and simpler.

Team collaboration is evolving quickly as companies strive to maintain smooth operations and meaningful interactions, whether working from home or utilizing traditional office environments.

Service providers, master agents, partners, and customers alike are exploring new tools and channel options with a multitude of questions about the future of communication. To tackle these questions and help you navigate the solutions, CBTS will host a three-part webcast series during which our experts will break down Microsoft Teams in the Big Picture.

Through three engaging discussions, this series will explore the most pressing issues and opportunities surrounding collaboration tools today. Below is an overview of what we’ll cover.

Webcast Series 3.1: Comparing collaboration platforms

In the first installment of this webcast series, the team of CBTS experts will compare major collaboration platforms including Cisco Webex Teams and Microsoft Teams. By examining the benefits and downsides of each platform, this webcast will explore how different collaboration tools integrate with Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) to provide a seamless experience from the desktop to the cloud.

The first webcast will feature insights from CBTS experts including Justin Rice, Senior Solutions Architect; Matt Douglass, Senior Director of Solution Engineering; and Alex Broome, Senior Sales Engineer.

Secure your spot now for this webcast, scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Webcast Series 3.2: Taking a technical deep dive

In the second session of this Expert Breakdown series, we’ll take a technical deep dive into Cisco Webex Teams, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, and UCaaS.

We’ll evaluate how Direct Routing connects Microsoft Teams to SIP trunks and third-party voice applications. Then, we’ll highlight the game-changing advantages of combining the Cisco Webex Teams toolset with Cisco UCaaS integrations from CBTS.

Join our duo of technical experts—Chris Pope, Director of Solution Design, and Matt Douglass, Senior Director of Solution Engineering—to take a closer look at these integration issues.

Reserve your virtual seat today for this webcast, scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Webcast Series 3.3: Exploring work-from-home collaboration

The final webcast of the series will explore how companies can use remote collaboration tools to excel in today’s new work-from-home environment. Through a live panel discussion moderated by CBTS Channel Chief Rob Messmer, several cloud experts will analyze how collaboration tools like UCaaS and SD-WAN can elevate remote work productivity like never before.

A panel of experts—featuring Cisco Cloud Calling Specialist Bryan Wilson, Director of Cloud Networking Jon Lloyd, and Senior Director of Solution Engineering Matt Douglass—will confront the biggest questions, challenges, and opportunities surrounding remote collaboration. By the end of the conversation, your business will be better equipped to make the most of working from home.

Tune in to participate in the live Q&A, scheduled for Wednesday, September 30 at 1 p.m. EDT.

Navigating all the different platforms and potential pitfalls of today’s rapidly shifting communications experience can be a challenge, whether you have sophisticated IT resources or a one-person IT department. That’s why CBTS designed this new webcast series to explore Microsoft Teams in the Big Picture and guide companies through the maze of collaboration tools impacting operations in every industry.

Join our three-part webcast series to find answers to your biggest collaboration questions.

Register for Webcast Series 3.1

Register for Webcast Series 3.2

Register for Webcast Series 3.3

While the health impact of COVID-19 on the world has been devastating and tragic, the economic impact in the United States has also been profound. As businesses shuttered to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, revenues dropped and jobs were lost, leading to record high unemployment figures across the country.

In this particular state, layoffs and furloughs were occurring at staggeringly rapid rates over a matter of weeks. As a result, calls for assistance and applications for benefits began to flood and overwhelm the state’s Department of Jobs and Family Services (JFS). The JFS office’s contact center normally handles an average of 12,000 calls per day, but that number spiked to more than 1 million calls in a day and eventually settled on approximately 800,000 calls per day.

Additional issues included busy signals and dropped calls that callers often received when trying to contact the JFS office. End users were also not confident that their claims were being processed even in the event they managed to speak with a JFS agent, due to the lack of benefit status updates.

Fortunately, JFS personnel had anticipated the need to keep up with the drastically increased call volume. The JFS office engaged CBTS to help them manage the overwhelming number of calls to address the various service issues that constituents were facing. CBTS was able to design and implement a solution within a week’s time. The solution included scaling existing call paths, organizing remote call center operations, and designing and configuring a new IVR solution.

Sorting out the chaos

CBTS stepped in with a customized suite of telecommunications solutions to enable JFS agents to cope with the massive call volume they were facing while also improving the user experience for constituents seeking assistance during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the solutions implemented was a self-service system designed to allow JFS applicants to manually check the status of their claims. All of the JFS Unemployment directory numbers were sequestered into separate carrier trunks to increase available bandwidth and reduce strain on the rest of the state agencies. Additionally, the contact center capacity was optimized by 400% to allow for all callers to be answered by automation or an agent.

Remote access licenses for Jabber softphones were also increased and extended to hundreds of additional users, boosting the number of available call center agents. Cisco’s Unified IP Interactive Voice Response (IVR) was deployed at a large scale specifically to answer mass layoffs by major companies.

Another improvement implemented was the redirection of calls away from busy signals to holding messages, which engaged constituents and informed them that their calls would be answered momentarily or offer self-service options to every caller.

Lastly, an extensive effort was made to design and deploy an optimized IVR system to generate responses to benefit inquiry, simplify call tree structures, and create more efficient queue management programs. Moving forward, CBTS will be partnering with the state’s JFS to introduce new functionality that will provide tier one agents with basic caller benefits status info that will assist them in answering initial questions. Callback scheduling will also be used to address more advanced questions that can’t be answered by tier one agents at the time.

CBTS and the state’s JFS planned ahead and collaborated closely to prepare for a pressing issue that would prevent vulnerable citizens from accessing the assistance they needed. The standard reporting and dashboard programs built for this client are part of an ongoing process to optimize solutions in accordance to customer experiences.

Contact a CBTS specialist today for more information on what a customized Cisco collaboration solution can do for your enterprise or government organization

Today I sat down with Tim Linder, Director of Security Solutions at CBTS. Tim has been in the security industry for 17 years so we thought it would be interesting to get his perspective of the changes in cybersecurity over those 17 years and how he’s grown the CBTS security practice.

Introduce yourself.

I started my career in cyber security with a small information security consulting boutique in late 2003…before it was cool to be in the security world. I joined CBTS in 2006 with a vision of building a team that would be based on delivering value-added benefits to our customers. However, I was the entire team focusing on selling solutions and leveraging partner relationships to deliver services. Within the first year of our existence, we were able to develop trusted relationships with our customers and ended up with approximately $7MM in revenue. As years went by, we added more sales and technical resources as well as more vendor partners. We closed out 2019 with $45MM in revenue and 15 employees which is pretty amazing to me.

How did you get into information security?

Let’s just say it wasn’t planned, as IT and IT Security wasn’t anywhere on my radar. My career started off in telecom as a central office implementation engineer. I was in that role for a number of years learning as much as I could about telecom implementation eventually joining the Telecom Staffing business as a salesman. From 2000 to 2002 the telecom bubble hit terrible lows and I found myself needing a different career path. I took a job at a small security boutique in Cincinnati and began to learn about Check Point firewalls and antivirus. After being there for a short time I was sold on the industry, finding it exciting and rewarding all at once. After three years of learning the industry, I was afforded the opportunity to come to CBTS to develop a security practice.

What were the “top of mind” security topics when you first started at CBTS and how does that compare to what you currently hear from customers?

It’s interesting. We are still dealing with some of the same challenges that we faced in 2003 but with some notable differences. Back in the day, hackers were putting out viruses, worms, etc. for notoriety. They wanted everyone to know who was wreaking havoc in the technology world. In our current world, hackers need to remain anonymous because they’re building attacks to make money. Another major change is back in 2003, workers were in the office on their desktop computer. With the emergence of technologies, remote workers grew, devices changed, and security changed with the endpoint. Customers used to throw gear at a problem without thinking of risk. I think now you will find that everyone is most concerned about the risk associated with certain technical business decisions and therefore take a holistic approach with security.

What do you see as the main value your group offers customers?

I really look at our group as super consultative, which allows us to assist customers by understanding all the requirements of a project…meaning business, technical, and financial requirements. We don’t come into any situation or project with preconceived ideas of how we will tackle their issue. A huge positive about my team is that most of them have defended networks in their career. Whether it was with a large Fortune 5 or a small consulting firm, my team has spent time on the customer side which helps them empathize with our customers, making them more relatable. We also have a vast variety of skillsets on the team, and by working together, we bring a broad base of expertise to our customers.

Security professionals are difficult to find – how are you able to grow such a dedicated team?

You’re so right, good security professionals are so difficult to find but we’ve been blessed to have some of the best and brightest in the industry. Some of the folks on the team are folks that I’ve worked with since my career began, some are from when I first started at CBTS with contacts I made in the industry, colleagues of current engineers, or recommendations from our vendor partners. One of the things we focus on here on my team is integrity. Obviously they need the skillset and the desire to learn more. As for keeping them, I’ve really tried to provide a family atmosphere. What that means is that we are there for each other through thick and thin, helping each other with different tasks, issues, in both work and life. The other major reason we keep our talent and attract new is due to their ability to work such diverse projects whether it’s product related or focused on the consulting business. The vast amount of customers we support and diverse situations the customers put us in keeps the job interesting. The engineering crew eats that up for sure.

You’re responsible for vendor relationship, how do you choose which partners you go to market with?

I am responsible for our vendor partnerships which is now up to 70+ security partners, which can be a daunting task sometimes. There are multiple criteria that go into selecting a security partner here at CBTS. Is the company relevant in the industry, do they fit our strategy, is there demand in the industry, are they innovative, could we potentially offer managed services, and good support, to name just a portion of considerations. A number of our partnerships have spawned from relationships we’ve had for years due to the trust built by the sales and engineering folks. IT is a small enough industry but when you narrow it down even further, cyber security is even smaller. As a matter of fact, most trade shows I go to I refer to them as a family reunion because I see everyone I’ve worked with for the last 17 years.

I also look at the mindset of the company and its employees to see if they align with our same “Customer First, Customer Last” mindset. One of our vendors has this as their tagline and I’ve adopted for our team as well as in selecting partners for CBTS. Our partner’s attitude needs to be one of helping our customers and not just selling product. The ones that do this are the most successful here.

With the new work environment, corporate networks edge has expanded – how has that changed security?

The edge really has expanded from data centers to cloud to remote workers. That has driven the need to be more secure than we ever have. We need to make sure that data in the cloud is just as secure as the data in our data center. We also have to make sure that we make that remote user feel as though he/she is sitting in the office from an experience and security perspective. Can we trust that cloud providers and users are doing enough to protect corporate data? I don’t think so, which means we need to continue to be vigilant in securing data without impacting productivity.

Learn how Tim and the other experts at CBTS can help improve your organization’s security posture.

When deciding on a provider, there is so much to consider. Who are the best providers? Can the provider deliver specifically what our customers need? Does the provider comprehend our clients’ brand and areas of growth? Will this provider enhance our relationships with our customers?

So how do you make the right choice?

Four superpowers to look for in a provider

They have a consultative approach.
You need a provider which can educate your customer, is willing to whiteboard, and get down to the business problems. They should facilitate discovery, and figure out the business challenges and innovative solutions. The job is to deliver business outcomes. And technology doesn’t mean anything if it’s not solving a business problem. 

They can stay on task.
A perfect provider can stay laser-focused on the task at hand. If you bring them in for one part of a solution, they stay in their swim lane. There is an established flow that distinguishes job sharing and responsibilities. They respect that role, follow the process, and use their powers to accomplish specific goals–not instill chaos.

They know when to say no.
Sometimes your provider’s solution isn’t always the perfect solution for you and your client. There are a lot of options out there, so when your partner is consulting, they are honest and upfront, especially if their solution isn’t the right one. You need a provider who wants to deliver the right technology, has the right approach and can execute.

They are always responsive.
A reliable provider will respond to e-mails, requests for quotes, and turn around proposals quickly. Surprisingly, this is an area of weakness for many providers. It is also the easiest way to weed out unsuitable providers.

If your provider has these four attributes, they have what it takes to make you a hero in the eyes of your customer. At CBTS, we use our superpowers to equip you with everything you need to swoop in and save the day for your customers. It’s a win, win, win situation.

Three factors that make CBTS a unique channel provider

Cisco as a Service
How many times have you walked into a customer trying to help them solve their business problems to find out that they’re already leaning toward Cisco technology? BAM! Just like that, you are left out, and that business is going to go elsewhere. It’s like kryptonite depriving you of your revenue stream. As an agent working with CBTS you now have an opportunity to rescue that sale.

CBTS offers something unique in the channel market: Cisco as a Service. To become a better channel partner, we elected to embrace Cisco, create a full suite of Cisco UCaaS offerings, offer Network s a Service (NaaS), that delivers Cisco routers, switches, access points, and cameras. So today, if your customer decides Cisco technology is the best way forward to resolve a particular business problem, CBTS can expertly deliver the right Cisco solution, including a budget-friendly Cisco-as-a-Service utility model. ZOOM! We’re there—ready and waiting to deliver.

Big enough to matter, small enough to flex
Our size and ability to allow us to deliver in the most complex environments. We can lift large, multi-location projects over the finish line. We are flexible enough to shift focus instantly in an emergency or when business conditions demand a change in services to keep an organization on track. And, we come with more than one superpower: we have experience and certifications in a variety of technologies needed to meet any challenges as they arise for your customers.

Multi-platform SD-WAN
When CBTS decided to take on SD-WAN we brought in the top brands and built an internal experimental lab with air injection to test for jitter and latency. We ran all applications site-to-site, site-to-data center, and site-to-cloud to put them all to the test. In the end, CBTS chose to align with Viptela, Meraki, and VeloCloud technology for our multi-platform service. Subsequently, we became VeloCloud’s 2019 Partner of the Year in North America.

Behind every good hero is a great provider

At CBTS, we want to be your go-to provider and partner, your technology sidekick who makes you a hero with your customers. We are here to help you deliver business outcomes faster than a speeding bullet, with technology more powerful than a locomotive, and agile networks able to leap a large geographic distance in a single bound.

Look into the future… it’s CBTS… it’s UCaaS.. it’s SD-WAN… it’s YOU!

Yes, you. You are always the hero in our story.

Today’s workforce is spread across branch offices and remote work sites in the United States and throughout the world. That means it is more important than ever for IT leaders to explore Software Defined-Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solutions that can improve enterprise WAN performance.

Employees expect effortless collaboration, regardless of location. They want instant access, on any device, to cloud applications and rich-media files that consume an ever-increasing amount of your bandwidth. And they look to employers to provide it.

CBTS SD-WAN provides unlimited, optimized access across the entire enterprise organization for cloud applications and services while simplifying implementation and allowing for central management of all network activity.

Join CBTS September 26 at the CIO SD-WAN Summit in NYC

Join CBTS on September 26 at the CIO SD-WAN Summit at Morton’s The Steakhouse–Midtown Manhattan in New York City for an executive-level dialogue that will address the future of enterprise networking. Our panel of experts will discuss strategies that combine and integrate SD-WAN, NaaS, and UCaaS to support the constantly evolving requirements of today’s business enterprise.

We will explore the strategic, operational, financial, and technological imperatives that must be addressed to ensure that all critical enterprise networking requirements are met in a flexible, future-proof, and cost-effective manner.

Our panel of experts will discuss the new opportunities created by the integration of emerging technologies into business operations and the networking environment, and how they can be leveraged to accelerate the achievement of critical business objectives.

Attendees will have the opportunity to network with other CIOs and vice presidents in the New York City metropolitan area.

CIO SD-WAN Summit features CBTS expertise

Panel members include:

Joe Putnick
Vice President and Principal Communications Practice
CBTS

Joe specializes in leading high-performance teams that consult, design, and deliver data networking and communications solutions to customers across all industries. Joe has held leadership positions in operations, sales, product development, and management during his tenure with CBTS and has more than 24 years of experience in the networking-telecommunications industry. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Jon Lloyd
Director of Cloud Networking, SD-WAN, and NaaS Solutions
CBTS

Jon has over 12 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing voice communications, connectivity, cloud, and networking strategies for businesses nationwide. He is recognized for his expertise and knowledge and is widely regarded as a thought leader in the SD-WAN marketplace.

Charles Pelton
Contributing Editor
CIO.com

Charles is the former Editor-in-Chief of InformationWeek Magazine. He has run dozens of business and IT roundtables, moderated IT and other business focused panels, and hosted executive conferences for CIO, Computerworld, and other groups. He co-founded Modern Media Partners which focuses, in part, on producing live events and conferences. A business journalist for more than 25 years, Charles has worked as a reporter for Time and USA Today and on events for The Economist and The Wall Street Journal.

CIO SD-WAN Summit to focus on key topics

Our experts will discuss the evolution of the enterprise network in the context of decisions by a growing number of organizations to pursue major digital transformation initiatives and the move away from siloed networks to an integrated SD-WAN, NaaS, and UCaaS strategy.

Our panelists will cover the impact of the rise in SD-WAN on the way enterprise technologists design, develop, and deploy network infrastructures to meet current and emerging business requirements, and the implications of these decisions from the perspectives of leadership, management, and talent requirements.

Finally, they will address the impact of emerging technologies on enterprise network design and how an integrated approach to SD-WAN, NaaS, and UCaaS can lead to real business outcomes; how actionable analytics and real-time visibility can enhance strategic business decisions; and how an integrated SD-WAN, NaaS, and UCaaS solution can enhance capabilities and streamline management through support by a single provider.

Register for the CIO SD-WAN Summit and get the SD-WAN CIO Toolkit.

With more than 21,000 attendees, VMworld 2019 offers opportunities for education and training, as well as insights into current and future trends in digital infrastructure technology and digital transformation.

Through more than 700 sessions, VMworld will address VMware’s vision and roadmap for solutions related to private and public clouds, modern apps, networking and security, digital workspaces, and emerging trends.

Attendees will have the opportunity to network with industry leaders, make connections, get direct experience with training and hands-on labs, and discover new product breakthroughs. To learn more about VMworld and why you should attend, please visit vmware.com.

Building on the CBTS VMware Partner Innovation Award

Participation in the SD-WAN Lounge builds on CBTS being recognized as the Americas 2018 VMware Partner Innovation Award in the VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud Solution category.

The award recognizes the commitment CBTS has in providing outstanding client experiences as we design custom solutions to future-proof our clients’ networks.

Participating in the SD-WAN Lounge provides CBTS with the opportunity to showcase the power of our SD-WAN solutions, learn from our peers, and gain deep insight into emerging industry trends.

SD-WAN: Innovative and market-disrupting technology

SD-WAN, or software-defined wide area network, moves network control to the cloud, making it easier to configure, upgrade, and manage from a single dashboard. This reduces operational costs and complexity and makes SD-WAN accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. The reduced complexity makes SD-WAN an attractive option for small to mid-sized businesses who have smaller IT departments or limited IT support.

About VMware
VMware powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. With cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace offerings, VMware provides a dynamic and efficient digital foundation for over 500,000 companies globally, aided by an ecosystem of 75,000 partners.

Based in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from breakthrough innovations to global impact. For more information, please visit www.vmware.com

VMware, VMware Cloud, VMware SD-WAN, and VeloCloud are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.

About CBTS
CBTS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell (NYSE:CBB) that serves enterprise and midmarket clients in all industries across the United States and Canada. From Unified Communications to Cloud Services and beyond, CBTS combines deep technical expertise with a full suite of flexible technology solutions to drive business outcomes, improve operational efficiency, mitigate risk, and reduce costs for its clients. For more information, please visit www.cbts.com.

Today’s business leaders place ever-increasing demands on enterprise networks from data-driven technologies to gain better insights and make quick, smart decisions to achieve their business goals.

Now, more than ever, enterprise networks require agility, intelligence, scalability, and alignment to unique business segment needs–across public, private, and hybrid clouds.

That’s where SD-WAN excels.

CBTS customizes SD-WAN for clients

Joe Putnick, Vice President and Principal of the Communications Practice at CBTS, recently sat down with CIOReview to discuss the valuable additions SD-WAN brings to the table.

For organizations considering a move from traditional MPLS networks to future-forward software-defined networking, Putnick can’t stress enough the importance of finding a vetted SD-WAN partner to assist with the transition.

CBTS has extensive experience and expertise in providing the digital business, communications, and networking solutions that the modern enterprise requires to stay competitive in today’s ever-advancing technology landscape.

In fact, CBTS was honored with a 2018 VMware Partner Innovation Award in the VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud category. CBTS was also honored with the 2019 SD-WAN Product of the Year Award from CIOReview and greatly appreciates the recognition.

To maximize efficiency with regard to communications, Putnick firmly believes that a one-size-fits-all solution can never measure up to a customized one.

We don’t view SD-WAN as a specific product that can apply to any and every customer. We offer multiple solutions within the SD-WAN portfolio and assist our clients through the entire journey. To us, the people and processes enable the technology, and not the other way around.

Joe Putnick
Vice President and Principal, Communications Practice
CBTS

Through our SD-WAN solution, we are enabling our clients to experience network-wide visibility, reduced barriers to using cloud-based applications and services, and lower total cost of ownership.

What differentiates CBTS from the rest?

To put it best, Putnick says, “Beyond the feature sets of any SD-WAN, we build solutions that center on enriching the end-user experience, reducing complexity, and reducing costs.”

Our goal is to custom-tailor solutions that meet our client’s unique needs. Plus, our SD-WAN solutions are vendor and bandwidth agnostic, meaning they are not married to a particular vendor and can scale in step with your business growth.

Future-proof your network with managed SD-WAN services from CBTS and read the full interview here.

The blizzard of innovation at this year’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Discover 2019 conference is a testament to HPE’s bold technology and business model innovation bets.

CBTS, which is an HPE Platinum partner, was among the conference participants, and Ron Nemecek, Business Alliance Manager for CBTS, participated in a panel discussion. Ron discussed a recent CBTS-HPE collaboration on behalf of a global financial services firm that needed to refresh its data center infrastructure for multiple United Kingdom locations.

CBTS and HPE partnered on a solution that features the latest technology, is sized effectively, and is structured to align the costs of the refresh and new IT infrastructure to the business usage. The solution is delivered via HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity to eliminate the extensive cost of over-provisioning.

It’s a great example of how HPE’s innovation has extended beyond tech products and services into business outcomes for customers, Ron said.

“The new innovation that HPE brings to the marketplace is business solutions and business outcomes that are really desired by our customers, because they only want to pay for what they use moving forward,” Ron said.

“Customers are telling us that CBTS and HPE have listened to what they have been asking for years — getting them out of paying for technology they are not going to use.”

Nemecek said customers are impressed with the GreenLake consumption experience.

“They can’t believe that it is true, and that a company came to them with a partnership to solve the business problem they have had for decades,” Ron said. “That is the innovation that HPE has brought to the marketplace, and they have empowered it through partners with GreenLake 3.0.”

Ron said he sees exponential growth ahead with GreenLake.

“This is what our customers are looking for, and we are going to address their needs,” he said.

Click here to learn how partnering with CBTS drives cutting-edge capabilities.