Verizon Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Award Write Up

18
2017 North American Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Product Line Strategy Leadership Award

Transcript of Verizon Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Award Write Up

Page 1: Verizon Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Award Write Up

2017 North American Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS

Product Line Strategy Leadership Award

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Contents

Background and Company Performance ........................................................................ 3

Industry Challenges .............................................................................................. 3

Product Line Strength and Customer Impact ............................................................ 4

Conclusion......................................................................................................... 12

Significance of Product Line Strategy .......................................................................... 13

Understanding Product Line Strategy Leadership .......................................................... 13

Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................. 14

Best Practices Award Analysis for Verizon .................................................................... 14

Decision Support Scorecard ................................................................................. 14

Product Line Strength ......................................................................................... 15

Customer Impact ............................................................................................... 15

Decision Support Matrix ...................................................................................... 16

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 17

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 18

Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 18

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 18

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Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

A growing number of businesses around the world are launching digital transformation

projects to improve operational efficiencies and better address evolving customer

demands. As part of broader transformational initiatives, businesses are moving various

software workloads to the cloud to become more agile and responsive. Communications

solutions are often a critical part of cloud migration strategies, driving demand for hosted

Internet protocol (IP) telephony and unified communications as a service (UCaaS).

Businesses adopting cloud communications challenge providers with a diverse set of

technology requirements. Business size, among other factors, often determines customer

purchasing criteria and investment priorities. Limited budgets and IT resources dictate

investment decisions among small businesses. Price, bundled offerings, as well as ease of

use and management are top concerns for small businesses with busy, multi-tasking

employees. Medium–size businesses are often budget-conscious, but tend to evaluate

cloud solutions more holistically, from a total cost of ownership (TCO) point of view.

Solution reliability and support also play an important role in medium-business technology

investment decisions.

Cloud solution and provider selection criteria change significantly with larger, distributed

organizations. Such customers typically operate complex multi-vendor communications

environments which require considerable planning and expense to migrate to the cloud.

Large businesses often choose hosted IP telephony and UCaaS solutions that support

customization and flexible integration with existing premises-based and cloud solutions,

and allow the possibility to deploy hybrid cloud/premises-based architectures. They also

often present more stringent security and industry compliance requirements, particularly

in the government, healthcare and financial services industries.

Few hosted IP telephony and UCaaS providers today cater to the full spectrum of business

sizes and communications solution requirements. Over the years, most providers have

focused on certain customer segments in which they can offer the greatest benefits. The

majority of early hosted IP telephony providers have gained significant share in the under-

served small-business customer segment, where the need to reduce CAPEX has driven

strong demand for cloud solutions. A growing number of providers are looking to

penetrate the medium-size and large customer segments to scale operations and improve

customer retention rates. Many providers are also developing solutions for specific

customer profiles such as entrepreneurs and highly mobile users who are severing the

cord with desktop communications and using mobile devices as their primary endpoints.

As the North American hosted IP telephony and UCaaS market matures and the

competitive landscape increasingly consolidates, provider portfolio breadth and depth will

become increasingly important. Providers with differentiated offerings for small, medium

and large businesses can grow more rapidly and better leverage varying demand trends in

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different customer segments. Additional services, including session initiation protocol

(SIP) trunking, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), as well as professional and managed

services enable providers with robust UCaaS portfolios to deliver even greater value to

their customers.

Product Line Strength and Customer Impact

Verizon stands out among competitors with its broad hosted IP telephony and UCaaS

portfolio catering to the diverse North American business market. A pioneer in the hosted

communications and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) space, Verizon constantly evolves

its next-generation services portfolio to address ever-changing customer demands.

Through a visionary strategy and effective execution it has established itself among the

top four North American hosted IP telephony and UCaaS providers in terms of installed

users.

Breadth of Product Line

Verizon was one of the first telecom carriers in North America to launch VoIP services in

the early 2000s and has since then expanded its product line to satisfy different customer

segments’ distinct communications requirements. Verizon’s original Hosted Internet

Protocol Centrex (HIPC) offering gained significant traction over the years and enabled

Verizon to develop considerable VoIP and hosted communications expertise. Verizon HIPC

leverages the provider’s access network services and significant engineering resources to

deliver highly reliable hosted solutions for businesses migrating to the cloud.

Launched in 2012, Virtual Communications Express (VCE) is designed for small and

medium-size businesses (SMBs). Its flexible cloud architecture allows Verizon to deliver

services over the public Internet and to integrate its communications applications with

third-party software such as Google G Suite.

Verizon Unified Communications and Collaboration as a Service (UCCaaS) based on the

rich Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) feature set and multi-instance architecture

caters to mid-market and large-enterprise customers demanding greater security and

customization. Dedicated hosted solutions leveraging Avaya and Microsoft Skype for

Business infrastructure provide additional options to businesses with more stringent

requirements that are looking for custom-tailored communications solutions managed by

an expert third party.

Most recently launched, Verizon One TalkSM is a truly innovative mobile UCaaS solution

delivered by the Verizon Wireless division. Uniquely positioned as a mobile-first offering,

One Talk is designed for highly mobile professionals and is suited for businesses that have

already adopted mobile-only communications or are planning to do so in the future.

A broad voice, data and video services portfolio including SIP trunking, web collaboration

(e.g., Cisco WebEx and Spark), MPLS, wireline and mobile communications, as well as

managed and professional services complement and enhance the value of Verizon hosted

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IP telephony and UCaaS offerings. Overall, Verizon is strongly positioned with one of the

most comprehensive business services portfolios in the North American market.

Scalability and Features

Business technology investment criteria vary in terms of communications and

collaboration feature sets, security levels, terminals, and types of architecture. Most

providers have traditionally focused on certain customer segments and their specific

requirements. In fact, the majority of hosted IP telephony solutions available today have

been designed to appeal to small and medium-size businesses. In spite of the large

number of market participants, choices have been limited over the past decade,

restraining market adoption. Not so with Verizon.

Verizon’s diverse hosted IP telephony and UCaaS services portfolio allows customers to

choose the type of solution that best fits their needs. From the simple, intuitive design of

Verizon One Talk to the comprehensive applications stack of Cisco-based UCCaaS, the

provider’s offerings comprise compelling feature sets tailored for different customer and

user types. Each solution is positioned to address specific customer objectives and pain

points without compromise.

Verizon One Talk bridges the gap between mobile devices and business-grade telephony

services. One Talk enables users to access UC services on their mobile devices, an office

desk phone or a combination of the two, based on their preferences, tasks and

environments. For Verizon Wireless customers, One Talk also features integration with the

mobile device’s native dialer, allowing users to easily make business calls without the

need to download a soft client and launch an app each time they dial a number. For

businesses with flexible bring your own device (BYOD) policies, employees can also utilize

their personal device, regardless of mobile carrier, and access the same set of UC features

with a simple app download. For users with both mobile and desktop phones, One Talk

provides a truly integrated mobile and office experience, with one-number reach across

both devices. Office-bound employees can choose from a broad selection of desk phones,

ranging from entry-level models with basic functionality to premium video-enabled

devices. For highly mobile users, One Talk provides a mobile-only experience that can be

tied to the business line rather than a mobile number. When needed, seasonal and

temporary workers can also be assigned a business number that functions alongside their

existing mobile number.

HIPC is Verizon’s most mature product for the hosted IP telephony and UCaaS market.

The cost-effective solution has resonated well with small and medium-size businesses, but

can support customers of nearly any scale. It delivers a range of capabilities such as

private branch exchange (PBX), voice and unified messaging, auto attendant, presence,

conferencing, Web-based portal access, and more. Typically bundled with Verizon MPLS or

Verizon Internet Service, HIPC offers high availability, reliability, and quality of service

(QoS).

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VCE was launched in response to customer demand for greater simplicity and speed in

service provisioning and management. Based on BroadSoft’s latest platform and its most

advanced capabilities, VCE targets primarily the mid-market. Though similar in

functionality to HIPC, VCE offers greater customer value through simplified and

accelerated service deployment. Customers can subscribe to the service and have it

operational within five to seven business days with minimal involvement of Verizon

engineers or support staff.

A set of self-provisioning and other tools reduces implementation costs for both Verizon

and customers deploying VCE. Although the service was designed for plug-and-play

installation, customers can turn to dedicated Verizon support staff for assistance. VCE

offers additional benefits including an enhanced customer portal and integrations with

popular third-party solutions such as Google G Suite. Google G Suite productivity

applications users can download a VCE plugin from the G Suite Marketplace and enable

click-to-call from within Gmail, and Google Calendar. Furthermore, Verizon allows VCE

customers to deploy the service “over the top”—over any broadband connection. A probe

installed at the customer’s site enables Verizon to monitor the quality of the broadband

connection and take corrective action ensuring maximum service quality. This capability is

particularly valuable to clients with existing broadband contracts with other providers or

those that wish to shop around for the best price.

Designed specifically with large, distributed organizations in mind, Cisco HCS-based

UCCaaS enables Verizon to target the high end of the market which has been most

hesitant to move its voice infrastructure to the cloud. The multi-instance, virtualized UC

platform allows multiple businesses to share the same hardware infrastructure to provide

Verizon and customers with significant cost savings. Dedicated software instances, on the

other hand, address customer security concerns and enable Verizon to deliver greater

customization feature, functionality and billing customization by business site or

department. The UCCaaS offering allows Verizon to cost-effectively migrate customers

with existing investments in Cisco infrastructure and devices to cloud services. Such

businesses can continue to use their existing endpoints with the new service and deploy

hybrid (cloud and premises-based) architectures as a temporary or permanent solution.

Customers can also take advantage of tighter integrations with other Cisco cloud

applications such as WebEx, Jabber, Spark and TelePresence, as well as integrations with

a large variety of third-party premises-based platforms and applications.

Verizon hosted and managed services support both Microsoft Lync 2013 and Skype for

Business Server 2015 platforms in private cloud deployments. The offerings deliver a

broad set of capabilities including IM, presence, point-to-point and multiparty audio, video

and web conferencing, collaboration, PSTN dial-in and dial-out, enterprise voice, and PBX

and application integration. Verizon enables integration with Office 365, Exchange Unified

Messaging, SharePoint, Skype for Business Online as well as third-party solutions.

Across Verizon’s hosted IP telephony and UCaaS solutions, businesses have a choice of

feature sets, architectures (dedicated, multi-instance or multi-tenant), connectivity

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(private lines with MPLS or public broadband), endpoints (mobile or desktop phones,

mobile or desktop soft clients), and more. All services are either available globally or

support international users as part of US deployments. Overall, Verizon’s hosted IP

telephony and UCaaS portfolio scales to address the entire spectrum of North American

businesses.

Technology Leverage

Verizon leverages industry-leading platforms and technology partnerships to support its

robust hosted IP telephony and UCaaS portfolio. Verizon HIPC, VCE and One Talk are all

based on BroadSoft BroadWorks, the industry’s most widely deployed multi-tenant

platform. Through a comprehensive UCC feature set, carrier-grade quality, reliability, and

security, and a choice of architecture and deployment models, BroadWorks provides

service providers and end customers with a compelling alternative to legacy telco services

and premises-based solutions. Several tightly integrated platform network elements

enable high levels of service reliability. As a standards-based platform using common

protocols (such as SIP) and open interfaces, BroadSoft enables Verizon and third-party

application developers to quickly and easily launch new services and applications, and

thus promptly respond to evolving customer needs. BroadSoft system functionality is

distributed across multiple servers for optimized performance and to meet IP multimedia

subsystem (IMS) specifications.

BroadSoft’s extensive communications and collaboration feature set includes:

• Rich business telephony including extension dialing, call park, and hunt groups

• Voicemail and unified messaging

• Attendant and auto attendant

• Multi-channel contact center

• Audio, web and video conferencing

• Mobility (single business number service for incoming and outgoing calls on mobile

devices)

• Enterprise instant messaging (IM)/ chat and presence

• Collaboration (file sharing, desktop sharing)

BroadSoft’s platform also supports integration with third-party business applications,

including leading customer relationship management (CRM) (Salesforce, Sugar CRM, etc.),

messaging (Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, IBM Notes, etc.), and vertical business applications

(eAgent, Clio, etc.). Available APIs allow service providers, customers and third-party

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technology developers to integrate BroadSoft technology-based services with various

custom applications for ultimate flexibility and value.

Verizon UCCaaS is based on HCS, Cisco’s flagship solution for the hosted IP telephony and

UCaaS industry. The robust feature set enables Cisco partners such as Verizon to support

continually evolving customer communications needs. At the heart of HCS is a virtualized,

multi-instance version of Cisco’s leading IP telephony solution, Unified Communications

Manager (UCM). A mature and proven platform, Cisco UCM is established as one of the

most advanced call-control platforms in the market. Like UCM, HCS supports Cisco Unity

Connection (for voice and unified messaging), Cisco’s entire endpoint portfolio including IP

phones, TelePresence and Jabber (a UC client application for Windows, iOS, Android, and

Blackberry, which provides presence, IM, voice, HD video, voice messaging, desktop

sharing and conferencing), Cisco Unified Mobility (for Nokia, iOS, and Android clients),

Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, and Cisco Unified Enterprise Attendant Console. Cisco also

offers Contact Center for HCS, as well as enhanced mobility, including VPN-less access for

Jabber users and native mobility features such as single-number reach and clientless

network-based fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) options.

Cisco Spark provides additional options for UCaaS customers to add advanced messaging

and collaboration capabilities to their HCS-based services. Spark Hybrid services help

ensure tight integration and strong synergies between Spark and other Cisco technology

investments. More specifically, Hybrid Call Services integrate customers’ existing Cisco call

control solutions with the Cisco Spark service. Thus businesses can use the Cisco Spark

app as a mobile soft client for voice and video calling, enable instant desktop sharing for

Cisco Spark users on the same call, and access call history from on-premises phones

through the Cisco Spark client. Hybrid Calendar and Hybrid Directory services are also

available.

Partnerships with Avaya, Microsoft and other technology vendors enable Verizon to deliver

dedicated hosted services, as well as premises-based solutions to business customers.

Price/Performance Value

Verizon’s hosted IP telephony and UCaaS solutions provide compelling feature sets at

competitive prices tailored for the respective customer segments. With their extensive

functionality and high reliability Verizon’s services deliver excellent value to businesses

moving their communications to the cloud.

Pricing of Verizon HIPC and dedicated hosted solutions (based on Avaya or Microsoft

infrastructure, for example) depends on the specific solution design, as these

implementations typically involve custom engineering. Verizon’s other hosted IP telephony

solutions are offered at standard pricing ranges and varying discounts based on volume

and other factors.

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Verizon One Talk only includes the most essential set of business telephony, voice

messaging and basic video calling functionality in the standard package, rather than

attempting to deliver every application in the unified communications stack. An all-

inclusive bundle with just a few a-la-carte features enables effortless purchasing and

provisioning. Priced at $25 per user per month, Verizon One Talk is a compelling solution

for mobile professionals.

Verizon offers two types of VCE feature bundles based on two user types as follows:

• Standard User provides basic telephony features such as voicemail, call forwarding,

3-way calling, caller ID, etc., plus access to a Web-based interface for additional

enhanced features such as scheduled call forwarding and Call Blast (an incoming

call rings a number of devices simultaneously, also known as “simultaneous

ring). Standard user bundles also require purchase of sufficient trunks to support

the expected call volume. A Standard User seat is priced at $13 per user per

month (excluding calling minutes).

• Premier User provides all the capabilities of Standard User, plus: a Mobile client ,

tablet client and a Softphone client. In addition, instant messaging enables

Premier Users to chat with other Premier Users, see the status of other Premier

Users (i.e., Busy, Available, On a call, In a meeting), or share what is displayed on

their desktop through a web browser. Premier Users also have a dedicated instant

meeting audio conferencing bridge, as well as the ability to do video conferencing

via the clients. A Premier User seat is priced at $35 per user per month (including

unlimited local and domestic long distance calling minutes).

Both options are available with bundled phones with a minimum three-year commitment.

Verizon UCCaaS is available with a similar pricing structure with bundles designed to fit

the following user profiles:

• Essential (call control)

• Caller (Essential + presence/IM (Jabber) with telephony integration (includes

Expressway)

• Information Worker (Caller + voicemail)

• Knowledge Worker (Information Worker + one more endpoint)

• Power User (full feature set)

UCCaaS prices and discounts vary based on customer size and features deployed. User

seats can be priced as low as $7 per user per month (Essential User) or $15 per user per

month (Power User), excluding calling minutes. In the mid-to-large enterprise customer

segment, roll-out plans and number of locations are key factors impacting price. In

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addition, in a large user-group contract, HCS is typically part of a total solution including

network connectivity and voice services. Public sector customers can take advantage of an

additional 15 percent discount on user seat prices.

Overall, Verizon services prices compare favorably to competitor offerings and provide a

range of options to adopting customers.

Customer Purchase Experience

Verizon provides convenient purchase options for its hosted IP telephony and UCaaS

solutions. HIPC is primarily marketed and sold through Verizon direct sales staff as it

requires a certain degree of customization and involvement of an expert sales

engineer/architect. The approach enables Verizon to retain full ownership of HIPC

deployments and ensure greater service quality.

VCE, on the other hand, was designed as a plug-and-play solution that enables more

efficient sales and provisioning. It is marketed by phone and online channels as well as

Verizon’s large channel partner network. The majority of VCE resellers are traditional

telecom value-added resellers (VARs) and agents with considerable expertise in managing

voice services and deliver additional value to businesses deploying Verizon solutions.

Verizon UCCaaS is a more complex solution and is therefore marketed primarily through

Verizon’s direct salesforce. Typically, UCCaaS implementations involve customization and

integration with other customer technologies and solutions, which requires the

involvement of a qualified Verizon sales person and engineer. Also, because of the more

comprehensive portfolio of Cisco solutions marketed along with HCS, including Cisco

Jabber and WebEx, Verizon UCCaaS requires a more consultative approach whereby

qualified sales agents take into consideration prospective customers’ business objectives

and specific technology preferences. UC specialists, emerging technology consultants, and

product design and implementation experts typically take part in UCCaaS sales and

implementation.

Verizon UCCaaS services are available in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the provider is in

the process of extending its services through partners. It has made significant

investments in back-end systems and processes to enable efficient ordering, quotes, and

provisioning in different currencies and contracting models in various regions of the world.

Verizon Customer Success and Adoption Services deliver considerable value to more

complex hosted IP telephony and UCaaS deployments. Established in June 2016, the

Customer Success and Adoption Services team provides user education and training

services as well as usage analytics to ensure broader service adoption and more effective

utilization throughout the customer organization. These value-added services are currently

delivered free of charge and have been very well received by businesses adopting Verizon

hosted IP telephony and UCaaS solutions.

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Provided by Verizon Wireless and tailored for entrepreneurs and small businesses, Verizon

One Talk is marketed as a low touch solution, which is distinct from all other Verizon

hosted IP telephony solutions. Unlike competitors looking to enable mobile device support

as an add-on to their hosted solution deployments, Verizon is positioning One Talk as

means of bringing a layer of important business telephony features to existing mobile

devices.

As a service offered by Verizon Wireless, rather than its large customer-focused Enterprise

Solutions division, small businesses can get information and subscribe to One Talk at

Verizon retail outlets. Through high visibility in its 1,600 retail stores, Verizon has the

opportunity to present One Talk to customers in a new and unique way that is difficult for

competitors to replicate. Beyond retail, small businesses can also work with one of

Verizon’s 1,800 business-to-business (B2B) sales representatives, visit one of more than

300 SMB-focused stores, or contact any of Verizon’s 2,400 channel agents.

Beyond Verizon’s own devices, the One Talk mobile app extends support to other Android

and iOS mobile devices. Users can access One Talk on Verizon’s network, competitor

wireless networks or WiFi, on their own device, with dual personas (personal and

business) on BYO devices. At a billing level, One Talk user subscriptions are treated nearly

the same as wireless subscribers. One Talk numbers are assigned from a Verizon Wireless

number pool, making it easier to migrate to a mobile-only option if a customer needs a

change. Additionally, Verizon merges One Talk users and wireless lines onto a single bill.

Not only does this make it convenient for customers, it can also raise small businesses

into a higher-level account plan that provides better corporate discounts.

For new customers, the three-step purchase process is a similar experience to ordering

wireless service. First, Verizon works with the customer to define an overall corporate plan

based on the total number of lines. Next, customers choose what devices (smartphones,

desk phones, or a combination of both) will be assigned to each user. Finally, optional

features such as auto attendants and hunt groups are applied. Existing Verizon Wireless

customers can simply add One Talk to their current corporate plan, purchase desk phones,

if needed, and quickly be off and running. In this way, One Talk is a departure from how

many hosted UC services are offered to the market today.

Brand Equity

Verizon is truly a household brand in North America. With a long track record in delivering

a diverse portfolio of feature-rich, reliable and secure communications solutions to both

residential and business customers, Verizon has gained a leading mindshare among

investment decision makers. Verizon’s strong brand enables the provider to more easily

secure a spot on customers’ hosted IP telephony and UCaaS evaluation lists and often

impacts final purchasing decisions.

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Conclusion

With One Talk, VCE, HIPC, and UCCaaS, Verizon addresses the needs of very small to very

large organizations. It can deliver a cost-effective package for those looking for only basic

functionality as well as a feature-rich UCaaS solution for businesses where

communications are mission-critical. Also important, Verizon can cost-effectively bundle

hosted solutions with its MPLS, broadband or SIP trunking services to ensure superior

service quality and reliability.

With its strong overall performance, Verizon has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2017 Product

Line Strategy Award.

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Significance of Product Line Strategy

Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from a

company and then making the decision to return time and again. A full, comprehensive

product line that addresses numerous customer needs and preferences is, therefore, a

critical ingredient to any company’s long-term retention efforts. To achieve these dual

goals (customer value and product line strength), an organization must be best-in-class in

three key areas: understanding demand, nurturing the brand, and differentiating from the

competition.

Understanding Product Line Strategy Leadership

As discussed above, driving demand, strengthening brand, and differentiating from the

competition all play a critical role in delivering unique value to customers. This three-fold

focus, however, must ideally be complemented by an equally rigorous focus on building a

superior and comprehensive product line.

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Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Product Line Strategy Leadership Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently

evaluated two key factors—Product Line Strength and Customer Impact—according to the

criteria identified below.

Product Line Strength

Criterion 1: Breadth

Criterion 2: Scalability

Criterion 3: Technology Leverage

Criterion 4: Features

Criterion 5: Supply Chain Reliability

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 Practices Award Analysis for Verizon

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 Product Line Strength and Customer

Impact (i.e., These are the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the

definitions for each criterion 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.

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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

participants as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3.

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)

Product Line Strategy

Product Line Strength

Customer Impact Average Rating

Verizon 9.9 9.7 9.8

Competitor 2 9.9 9.3 9.6

Competitor 3 9.1 8.9 9.0

Product Line Strength

Criterion 1: Breadth

Requirement: Product line addresses the full range of customer needs and applications.

Criterion 2: Scalability

Requirement: Product line offers products at a variety of price points and functionality

levels.

Criterion 3: Technology Leverage

Requirement: Demonstrated commitment to incorporating leading-edge technologies into

product offerings results in greater product performance and value.

Criterion 4: Features

Requirement: Products offer a comprehensive suite of features to serve customers at

multiple levels of functionality, ease of use, and applications.

Criterion 5: Supply Chain Reliability

Requirement: There is sufficient control over the supply chain to ensure availability of key

components and thereby the availability of products in the product line.

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 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.

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality.

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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 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.

High

Low

Low High

Customer Impact

Product Line Strength

Verizon

Competitor 2

Competitor 3

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Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching,

Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices

Frost & Sullivan analysts 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 best-practice 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 of 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 recipient

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 is able to 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

Page 18: Verizon Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Award Write Up

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2017 18 “We Accelerate Growth”

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

participants and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels.

About Frost & Sullivan

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360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN

THE CHAOS