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CommTel is a leading specialist technology integrator with a global footprint. Its relationship with Juniper Networks highlights the value of having a close working relationship between vendor and channel partner, particularly when tackling challenging vertical sectors.
CommTel specialises in the transport, utilities and mining sectors. For organisations in these sectors, technology is critical for everything from grid resilience to safety – for example, CommTel provides the communication systems that enable organisations to monitor train networks and air traffic control.
Each of the sectors that CommTel supports is undergoing massive disruption. For example, as noted by EY, the utilities sector is experiencing massive upheaval with everything from the impact of renewables being brought onto the grid to the changing expectations of customers in a post-digital era. For these businesses, the approach to IT needs to be strategic for companies to adapt and thrive through disruption. “Survival for utilities depends on their ability to develop new capabilities, different business models and a mindset centred around agility and collaboration,” the EY report notes.
As Kulbhushan Kul, CommTel Specialist Manager – Presales, said in an exclusive interview with ARN, the key to CommTel’s success over the years has been its ability to form long-term partnerships with its customers. “We focus on understanding the requirements of our customers, and then building a true partnership with them,” he said. “It’s not just about building something for them and then leaving them alone. We seek to establish a journey for the customer, and that’s been CommTel’s strength and why we’ve been able to retain customers over the last 20 years.”
The benefits of partnering with Juniper
Juniper, which was recently rated highest by Gartner in its magic quadrant for enterprise wired and wireless LAN for both completeness of vision and ability to execute, has been a close partner to CommTel in delivering to these sectors over many years. For CommTel, Juniper’s ability to deliver mission and business-critical environments with resilient and robust networking technologies has been critical.
One important quality of Juniper, Kul said in the interview with ARN, was its ability to really listen to the customer’s needs, and develop tailored solutions that address them. “We can provide feedback to Juniper, and highlight to the Juniper sales and technical teams where a solution might not directly meet the requirements of the customer, and they’ll evolve and bring that functionality into the product portfolio,” Kul said. “It’s a real positive part of the partnership that Juniper will listen quite closely and sit with us and try to understand what the actual customer requirement is and then feed it back to their R & D teams.”
This commitment to R & D has benefitted CommTel in taking transformation and new technology solutions to their customers too, Kul added. With technology evolving at a great rate, having a vendor partner that continues to occupy the leadership position is a major competitive advantage. “The main reason to introduce Juniper into all our customer environments is that Juniper invests a lot of R&D investment into the product portfolio,” Kul said. “I would say that Juniper has launched so many new innovative products and technologies that are specifically designed to provide the more visibility and robustness in the network as well.”
Due to the strength of the partnership, CommTel is now able to look for opportunities in other sectors. It has identified education and healthcare, as well as enterprise business, as opportunities where its capabilities in Juniper, supported by Juniper’s own expertise in delivering to those sectors, will put it in good stead.
The close relationship between Juniper and CommTel, over many years, highlights the value of true partnership in the channel. With technology now being the leading solution to many business challenges, customers need solutions that are tailored to their circumstances. This can only be achieved via a solutions, rather than transactional, approach to IT, and a long-term view to each customer by all parties.
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