From a modest regional start-up 20 years ago Zen Internet has risen in stature multifold, and according to Stephen Warburton, Managing Director for Channel Partners, an internal restructure, infrastructure projects and heavy investments in portal development signal a new high watermark in partner engagement and channel expansion.
Hard to believe now, but 20 years ago the big question on the lips of many entrepreneurs looking for the next big opportunity was, 'will the Internet take-off?'. One such visionary was Zen's Chief Executive Richard Tang who acted with conviction and used his life savings to set up the company in 1995 as a provider of dial-up services to local businesses in the north west.
During the course of 20 years Zen has grown into a £50 million turnover business - through recommendations rather than acquisitions - and is forecasting significant growth at seven per cent this year to £54 million. Its headcount of 400 staff cater for 63,000 customers and 500 channel partners, with the channel contributing 30 per cent of Zen's overall revenues. "I see our channel business growing by up to 50 per cent over the next three to five years by sticking to the formula that has driven our growth for the last 15 years," said Warburton. "Our focus will be on providing a premium and personal service that partners can rely on."
This growth will, in no small part, be facilitated by an organisational revamp of the company that is now sub-divided into three distinct business divisions - Small Business and Residential, Corporate Mid-Market and Channel Partners. Each is headed up by a Managing Director and management team with dedicated resources for sales and marketing, operations, product and systems. "The restructure enables faster decision making and allows us to more deeply understand the needs of our customers and partners," said Warburton. "We can respond quickly to their suggestions and work more closely with them to shape the future."
Another driver for growth is the widening spread of Zen's exchange footprint following an investment of circa £3.5 million in 2013 to install its own equipment in 250 UK exchanges supporting copper broadband, fibre broadband and Ethernet. "This gives Zen greater control over the end-to-end service and allows us to offer more competitive pricing," stated Warburton.
Zen offers dealers, resellers and wholesale partners a portfolio of data, voice and hosting services. "We are clearly moving to a position where channel partners rightly expect to buy data and voice services from one provider as we shift to an all IP world," commented Warburton. "We have built a strong reputation as a data provider and we are looking to build a similar high profile for voice, investing heavily in this area to make sure we are a credible choice for partners who are looking to consolidate their supply chain."
In terms of customer engagement and solution selling the transition to IP has had a significant impact on Zen and its channel partners. "The way we sell, deliver and support services is changing," commented Warburton. "It's an opportunity, particularly for data resellers, but also a threat. To meet this challenge we plan to bring to market later this year exciting developments in our voice portfolio."
Also topping Zen's current agenda is the ongoing development of partner portals that will help the company live up to its mantra of being easy to do business with. "All of our activity is geared around that goal," commented Warburton. "Heavy investments in our portals will give partners the tools to self-serve rather than having to call our teams to action requests. This will become an increasingly important factor when resellers are looking for a partner to work with. We have been collaborating closely with our partners, involving them in focus groups and trials."
According to Warburton, Zen's portal investment will be a key differentiator and its stand-out attributes are largely based on a stream of fresh ideas for new feature enhancements. "It can be a challenge prioritising which new features to develop first, but we collaborate with our partners to shape our roadmap," explained Warburton. "It is critical we give our partners the tools to manage their services online and we will continue to invest in this area."
He said Zen will also continue to expand its portfolio, focusing on depth as much as breadth of service, ensuring the firm is able to respond to technology changes and offer partners choice, flexibility and value. "It's important for resellers to be clear about where they add value to minimise the risk of a customer consolidating the supply chain and moving all of their services under one provider," commented Warburton. "If they add sufficient value their services will be retained.
Right technology fit
"It is also important for partners to recommend the right technology for their customer's needs. Sometimes we can all get swept along by technology hype, but it's critical for the industry to be clear about how technology will add business benefits. We must be confident that the technology will cope with the demands of a company in terms of technological maturity and stability."
Warburton's interest in the relationship between IT and business showed an early appearance and was to define his career path. Like many people working in comms he 'fell' into the industry and landed on his feet at Zen after studying Business and Computing at university. "I've always had an interest in IT and how it could be used in business," explained Warburton. "The majority of my career has been spent at Zen. I've seen the industry change from the Internet being a niche service mainly for technical users to a critical service in nearly every home and business. In essence, a fourth utility."