ChannelVision Magazine

VIRTUAL REALITY a journey to migrate their critical internal business applications to the cloud, such as ERP, billing, account - ing and CRM. And, in - creasingly these same businesses are looking to deliver their own services with in - creasing online presence. Enterprises are increasingly realizing that the pub - lic internet is insufficient to meet the demands of better performance that is secure, predictable and agile. SDI platforms such as Console Connect are providing new levels of speed and agility in the underlying WAN infrastructure, enabling the same level of flexibility in the network that busi - nesses now demand from their cloud applications. Console Connect takes the pain out of network provisioning and management. It delivers global network- as-a-service on-demand, by introducing automation that allows network engi - neers to set up circuits in seconds and dynamically adjust capacity of connec - tions between and among sites, data centers, clouds and applications easily and quickly. This can be managed via a simple online app or it can be inte - grated with business applications and automated via an API. CV: What is the role that PCCW Global’s core fiber network plays in its overall SDI strategy. MH: One of the key differentiators of the Console Connect SDI fabric is the underlying PCCW Global transmis - sion and IP network which sits at its core. PCCW Global owns and manag - es one of the most diverse global fiber networks in the world upon which it operates a leading global IP and MPLS network that spans more than 3,000 cities across 160-plus countries. This delivers significant economies of scale, high-speed performance and flexibility, and allows the Console Connect plat - form to provide uncontended service across its fabric with assured quality of service and the ability to scale and flex high-speed connectivity on-demand. CV: In your opinion, what separates PCCW Global from other providers in this space now?Why do customers value doing business with PCCW Global? MH: What separates PCCW Global from other providers in this space is the depth and breadth of our network combined with the ease of use of our Console Connect platform. With an extensive and resilient network infrastructure across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, we currently meet the international connectivity needs of en - terprise and wholesale users in most cities around the world. Combine this physical network with the simplicity of the automated Console Connect plat - form and you now have connections to more than 200 carriers in 120-plus data centers worldwide, and counting. All the major hyperscale cloud provid - ers are directly integrated into the plat - form, and we are building increasing numbers of interconnects each week to data centers, other SDN fabrics and SaaS partners. One of our customers, ESL Gam - ing, summed it up best: “As a trusted partner for over three years, PCCW Global has delivered critical IT infra - structure for both ESL One and IEM events. We partner with PCCW Global because of their truly global coverage and capability in providing resilient and ultra-low latency IP networks.” CV: In a recent interview with ChannelVision , PCCW Global president, Americas Ronnie Klingner described Console Connect as a core foundation for PCCW Global going forward, delivering new levels of agility, control and self-service. Please expand on this and describe your vision for the SDI platform and Console Connect.What does this platform mean for the company as a whole?Why is it so important for customers? MH: As the foundation of PCCW Global’s international digital plat - form, Console Connect is directly related to the development of ad- ditional products and services – in - cluding many future applications that will leverage our IPX network and our global IoT platform. We are continually incorporating additional SDN/NFV products and developing increased automation of customer management, billing and network management capabilities. The Console Connect Platform de - livers customers a new level of agility and control to self-serve and manage their network and communications ser - vices on-demand because that is what our users asked for. The true power of agility is realized when as a technology company with a substantial network asset we are able to respond rapidly to the evolving business requirements of our users and deliver value to them as quickly as possible – often within our two-week agile sprint cycles. The Console Connect Platform is important for our customers because more business value is being deliv - ered outside the enterprise data cen - ter. Whether they are migrating an ERP to SaaS or adopting IaaS from a public cloud provider, our customers need a partner that has the breadth of network to support them globally, the depth of experience to manage a global network and the software development capability to keep pace with the rapidly evolving cloud and SaaS landscape. PCCW Global is that partner for our customers. CV: I understand that the SAFe methodology is now widely integrated across PCCW Global. Please talk about the company’s new, agile mindset and how this is driving positive results. What are some of the changes that you’ve seen at PCCW Global since adopting this strategy? MH: A comprehensive transforma - tion touches every facet of the orga - nization, including people, process, strategy, structure and technology. The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) has enabled us to restructure with a focus on execution that drives continuous Marc Halbfinger, PCCW Global CEO 24 CHANNEL VISION | March - April, 2020