As Epsilon Telecommunications transitions from a network firm into a software specialist delivering connectivity services, going digital and equipping the company with the right skills and mindset is key to its roll out strategy, explains CEO Jerzy Szlosarek.
Epsilon has made a long-term investment in its proposition and partnering strategy, and an equal measure of commitment has been placed on making the business fit for the future. Processes are being improved, employees educated, customers integrated and better supported, and the back-end rebuilt to manage high volume on-demand transactions. "We are not constrained by legacy cycles if we give our customers a platform model and position our connectivity solution as an application," stated Szlosarek.
Epsilon has circa 120 staff and maintains double digit year-on-year growth. The company has come a long way since it was launched in early 2003 in London by a group of entrepreneurs including co-founder Szlosarek. Epsilon is still 100 per cent privately owned and has subsidiaries in Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK. "From the outset our business plan was to offer a simple connectivity product in the voice market which was known as eConnect," stated Szlosarek. "It was one of the first products of its kind and enabled carriers to interconnect more easily for carrying voice traffic."
Epsilon has witnessed three milestones since beginning its journey. The connectivity product, eConnect, filled a gap in the market for customers who wanted a simple connectivity solution that could reduce lead times, remove risk from the commercial framework and provide a high level of customer service satisfaction. This connectivity product grew well for a number of years and enabled Epsilon to build over 45 PoPs across Europe.
"We then saw an opportunity to integrate colocation business as part of the interconnection, allowing us to operate a colocation and physical data centre environment," said Szlosarek. "It was about giving customers a combined colocation and interconnect solution. This was a turning point because we got into a much broader skill set and capability, and also acquired assets in Asia. We then opened in global markets and ramped up our brand which allowed us to attract a large number of customers and connections."
Having built a standard product in a global market Epsilon is now well into its third phase which is the transformation of the telecommunication business into a cloud-centric network - an interconnection for customers to simplify global connectivity while also having access to high quality infrastructure and preparing for the digital economy.
"The cloud phenomenon is changing the landscape and how we manage our media, communication and applications," commented Szlosarek. "The main change we see is more push coming from OTT services and the IT sector. New operators such as AWS and Microsoft are growing. We need to think about how we can adapt to the cloud and embrace IT to transform our systems and processes in our back-end as we transition from a telecoms business towards Platform as a Service (PaaS). Our current priority is to grow as a PaaS service provider. We are beginning to see customers take up services through our software portals and APIs."
As a provider of global connectivity solutions Epsilon is already leveraging software to provide a simple way for customers to build global connectivity infrastructures immediately. "We are transitioning more towards APIs, allowing our customers to have direct control over our resources," noted Szlosarek. "We are becoming an OTT network provider, positioning our applications and connectivity to the cloud market giving SaaS companies access to a global connectivity solution, while addressing traditional carriers, data centres and the managed services segments by providing more efficient, leaner and scalable services."
Epsilon is focused on the whole connectivity experience and is closely following the IoT/M2M story, evaluating the possibility of integrating solutions for such applications. "For now, we are focusing on the cloud access piece, providing support for real-time communications and simplifying connectivity into the last mile," confirmed Szlosarek. "The next step may be IoT and M2M enablement, but there are currently no clear solutions."
Epsilon also offers a white labelling service for its platform, enabling customers to reach new markets. "As a result, our customers are realising new opportunities and business models for themselves," added Szlosarek. "That allows us to innovate and build network and software solutions while enabling our customers to be more successful in their markets. The landscape is shifting and we are talking about partnering for success, working together through an application-centric model, while enabling new opportunities through white labelling.
"Resellers and SIs play a valuable part in the ecosystem, and we will form much stronger relationships with them. Resellers should embrace the power of the cloud and platform services to enhance their own capabilities. White labelling and platforms create a more dynamic and intimate customer experience. But the journey starts with understanding cloud and how it creates opportunities for customers." •