Evolve, enhance, repeat or become obsolete. That’s the way technology advances in the ever-changing world we live in. Today’s companies need to provide constant innovation to ensure they stay relevant to consumers. During a recent NewCo session, participants had the opportunity to hear from Mykola Konrad—Vice President, Product Management and Marketing—on how Sonus made the shift from a “has been” telco to a “NewCo” security-focused company.
Chapter 1: Make Long Distance Affordable for Consumers
Over the last 20 years, Sonus has thrived by reinventing itself along the way, explained Konrad. Sonus started by changing the way voice was sent over networks. At the time, the Internet wasn’t reliable and few service providers believed that Sonus would be able to do it. But then they got lucky—Global Crossing, a leading competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), needed a disruptive technology to help lower their network costs and provide phone service at a cheaper rate. After solidifying their partnership, the big players started to notice. Soon AT&T, Verizon, and others followed suit, making long distance significantly cheaper.
Chapter 2: Secure Real-time Communications in the Cloud
As the market started moving to IP, companies became vulnerable to DDOS attacks. They increasingly needed security solutions to help protect all of their unified communications (UC)—not only voice calling but also audio, video, file sharing, messaging, and more. Sonus recognized the need and was in a perfect position to become the leading vendor to help secure real-time communications in the cloud. So, they refocused and changed gears. Along the way, Konrad explained that they learned some valuable lessons:
- Stay positive and get things done
- Focus on corporate culture—Sonus even moved some of its operations to California to get a different view of the world
- Re-train employees—Sonus ensured that their employees remained abreast of the latest security advances
- Secure new partnerships—They explored new relationships (i.e. Palo Alto Networks) in addition to traditional players like Nokia and Lucent
By leveraging new products and funding, Sonus transformed itself as into a security company for IT and Chief Security Officer (CSO) clients. With the company’s new focus, Sonus is well positioned to help organizations secure their networks better than ever before.
