Fusion Media Networks Managing Director Lee Norvall has gained a reputation for turning clarity of vision into strategic reality. Here's his story...
Pushing the boundaries - both mental and physical - has become second nature to Norvall. Not so long ago he undertook a part-time physics and astronomy course and graduated at UCL, and he is a keen Thai boxer. Norvall also gets his kicks from boxing clever in the comms space, applying his flair for total application to the task in hand, which in 2004 was to realise his vision of creating an alternative business broadband provider in the form of Fusion.
"I identified a huge opportunity for, and alternative to, business broadband provision using BT Wholesale and set about building broadband access services to the businesses markets using LLU," he said. "From this base infrastructure we introduced a range of managed Ethernet, MPLS/VPLS network and security solutions. Coupled with our colocation services we can now provide a true private cloud, IaaS and PaaS solutions."
Norvall kicked off his career working in development and networking for the hotel and leisure industry in 1992 after leaving college. In 1998 he started his first company called Lavron Technologies targeting the same industry. Lavron was one of the first ISPs to implement BT IPstream. Fast forward to eight years after Fusion was established and Knight Ventures helped arrange the funding for a MBO of Fusion from Pearson Group. Knight's syndicate of investors also provide strategic advice on growing the business.
Fusion's network partners include BT Wholesale, Openreach, TalkTalk, Virgin, EU Networks, Zayo, Level 3 and SSE. "Fusion has made a significant investment in creating a large UK access network infrastructure, aggregating all carriers to offer a next generation platform with over 12,000 points of presence," added Norvall. "The key opportunity was to invest in the latest infrastructure rather than relying on less competitive legacy systems. Our self-healing network is fully managed and proactively monitored. Using the latest technologies and equipment allows us to provision and support the network quickly and efficiently without the limitations of legacy standards. Ownership of the network allows us to control quality and have absolute visibility."
In November last year Fusion unveiled its latest Virtual Data Centre (VDC) solution which it says brings enterprise-grade on demand cloud services within reach of SMEs. "Our Virtual Data Centre is a white label platform on which to develop and upsell a whole raft of business solutions and services, offering an effective approach to simplifying IT infrastructure and reducing costs," said Norvall. "With drag and drop simplicity and onscreen server imaging, business applications and network resources can be provisioned, backed-up or restored in minutes at the click of a button. There's no need for new equipment, network engineering or infrastructure build and maintenance. You simply set up and pay for server resources and business services as they're required."
Norvall aims to keep evolving Fusion's product sets while at the same time growing the company's channel presence, increasing staff headcount to support growth. "For the year ahead we are strengthening our infrastructure and offering resellers more products and resources from our VDC cloud platform, enabling them to build their own highly available managed services," added Norvall. "Our aim is to build individual relationships rather than be a mass supplier. We do this with a transparent, uncomplicated service, quality products and a constantly evolving portfolio to meet the changing needs of channel partners."
According to Norvall, Fusion operates one of the largest UK Ethernet access network, enabling it to get geographically closer to customers while offering an end-to end service from its VDC cloud platform to the desktop, which means SLAs are guaranteed end-to-end. In conjunction with Ethernet connectivity, Fusion's fully Managed Security Services are key to any business and they address the escalating threat of cybercrime.
"It's a competitive market and ambitious resellers need access to support services that give them the edge," said Norvall. "Providers like Fusion supply resellers with the network, security and cloud platforms backed up with the support required to do business in the fast lane. We offer a true partnership to resellers and aim for long-term relationships with a bespoke service that make every partner special."
Norvall has worked with Sean Pearman, Head of Indirect Channel, for eight years and he continues to be a 'great source of support'. "And with input from our Non-Executive Director Steve Burges and Knight Ventures we gain the strategic strength to generate ongoing growth and expansion in this exciting industry," Norvall added. "There is no other sector like comms which is constantly evolving, and it's motivating to see other companies building their businesses using our products."•