Why the New Verizon/BT Joint Venture Should Get the Attention of Every Enterprise Customer

Last Monday, Verizon and BT unexpectedly announced a joint venture that would combine their international enterprise operations. The new business is expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, representing roughly $4 billion in combined annual revenue. Their enterprise customers were the last to know. The proposed Verizon/BT joint venture raises an important question for enterprise customers with multinational operations: is this proposed JV simply a new international platform, or is it a signal that Verizon is effectively exiting parts of the enterprise network market?  The Verizon/BT JV will undoubtedly create real confusion around supplier competition, account ownership, contracting entities, pricing leverage, service accountability, and long-term network strategy.  And of course, tie-ups between two competing network providers have a notable history of failure. In this 14-minute episode of Staying Connected, Tony Mangino is joined by TC2's Brent Knight and Ben Fox to discuss what the Verizon/BT joint venture means for multinational enterprise customers, why Verizon's commitment to the enterprise-market is a question worth asking and how enterprise customers can protect their sourcing strategy, contract posture, pricing position and operational control during the transition window. If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Strategic Sourcing webpage.