Tata Communications used its 2014 global analysts’ summit in Hong Kong to showcase some of its contract wins of the past year, and to demonstrate why it should be considered by large enterprises with requirements for international managed network services.
Tata Communications is increasingly credible as a global services provider. Over the last two years, Ovum’s global services deals tracker has shown Tata Communications taking responsibility for bigger and more sophisticated managed network contracts with large enterprise customers outside India.
At its 2014 global analysts’ summit, the Indian operator showcased 10 large enterprise contracts, highlighting several factors that have contributed to its success in persuading companies to place their managed services with it. These included speed of response, service development, systems integrator (SI) partnerships, solutions design, and Ethernet global reach.
The MNC landscape is changing quickly for Tata Communications. It started by serving India-headquartered multinationals and global MNCs with India dependency through offshoring, especially in areas such as US investment banking and technology solutions. Now it has more pan-Asia deals and pan-America deals, including with Mott McDonald, Barclays, and Cargotec.
It should not be a surprise that Tata Communications is making an impression on MNCs. It claims to have the world’s longest global fiber network, with 3,300 PoPs worldwide, and a network of datacenters with 1 million square feet of datacenter and co-location space. Yet it has struggled to develop a compelling managed services story, and enterprises typically reported that they did not get a follow-up after the initial sale and installation of network service.
Tata Communications is now providing the network part of major ICT outsourcing deals. It often acts through SI partners such as TCS and HCL (partnerships with SIs are providing 20% of its business), but is also building substantial global accounts of its own. In one case a €21 million ($26.6 million) deal for managed Ethernet at a global bank represents approximately 25% of network spend in that account.