In August, Verizon Business announced a new strategic partnership with HCL Tech for managed network services. HCL Tech will be Verizon Businesses’s primary collaborator for managed network services (MNS) for Verizon’s global enterprise customers. Verizon will be on the front end of new business developments, leading sales, solutions, and customer acquisition, while HCL Tech will lead implementation and support of the new technologies.
It’s a partnership that’s generated lots of excitement, both within Verizon Business and HCL Tech and in the broader world of industry analysts and advisors. I recently sat down with Kyle Malady, Executive VP and CEO of Verizon Business, and C Vijayakumar, who goes by “CVK,” CEO and Managing Director of HCL Tech, to talk about the new partnership.
Both Malady and CVK have had impressive tenures within their industries and companies. Malady began his career as a cell site technician for NYNEX Mobile Communications and has been at Verizon for nearly 35 years. CVK joined HCL Tech nearly 30 years ago; he was a member of the core team that designed and implemented India’s first-ever fully automated trading network at the National Stock Exchange. Verizon had a 2022 revenue of 136.8 billion and services ninety-nine percent of Fortune 500 companies; HCL Tech currently has a market cap of around forty billion.
In our conversation, Malady spoke about how Verizon’s customers face increasingly complex challenges technologically as they’re running their businesses. The company sought out a strategic partner to improve and advance their IT functions. As Malady said, Verizon is known for its reliable networks; the partnership with HCL Tech allows the company to provide optimal services in information technology and operational technology, and this “marriage” of IT and OT will result in increased operational capacities for Verizon’s partners. According to Malady, Verizon and HCL Tech are building a platform on which Verizon customers can manage their technology better and faster. Malady also said that working with HCL Tech is a great opportunity to get out in front of new technologies.
HCL Tech is known for its managed network services (MNS). I asked CVK: how would HCL’s tools improve the services that Verizon’s customers receive?
According to CVK, network readiness is primary as businesses are moving their operations to the cloud. Organizations are working to modernize their networks, whether that’s adopting 5G or moving to software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs). In addition to network modernization, CVK said that Verizon customers will experience improved day-to-day service delivery and a frictionless customer experience as a result of this partnership.
Malady added that Verizon customers will benefit from increased visibility; they’ll be able to see what’s going on with their networks around the world in real-time and manage operations more quickly and efficiently. Malady stated that this capability is especially useful as many organizations run their businesses on these networks; if the network is out, the company is losing money.
HCL Tech has grown its business through strategic partnerships. CVK said that HCL Tech currently has about ten ecosystem partners, and Verizon is now a very important telecom services partner for the organization. The partnership will go live on November 1. CVK said that customers will notice improved capabilities from day one, though there will be three to six months before all of the new technologies are implemented for Verizon’s customers.
Malady said that he’s particularly excited about Verizon’s expanded capabilities in private networks. Malady also stated that prior to his current role, he managed networks; he understands how beneficial it will be for Verizon’s customers to have real-time information on what’s going on with their networks anywhere in the world, and to have the capability to manage those networks.
I couldn’t speak with these two technology leaders without asking about AI. I asked both CVK and Malady: what are the benefits and concerns of new AI technologies?
For his part, CVK is excited about the efficiencies AI can bring to operations. CVK said that AI can bring a thirty percent efficiency to the software development process; right now, HCL Tech is focused on enabling efficiency within every part of Verizon Business technologies and looking at how AI can be deployed across different projects. CVK said that HCL Tech has several clients who are working with their cloud native Generative AI brands to build use cases, which they can then pilot within their organizations and build into a bigger strategy; currently, HCL Tech has about 70 pilot projects around the world. He noted that there’s a lot of promise within these new technologies, but they need to be tested and scaled–all while ensuring that data privacy is paramount.
Malady noted that Verizon has been using AI for a while with the use of network twins, but that generative AI is a new advancement. Verizon’s top priority is data privacy, ensuring that data does not leak to LLMs (large language models). Malady said Verizon is building up its private edge computing and private networks because they want to leverage the architecture and ensure that businesses and CIOs have data sovereignty. Malady noted that he would continue to be “bullish” on advancing Verizon’s private networks technology.
I wanted to know: what other trends will we see proliferating in 2024, outside of the advancement of generative AI?
Malady forecasted three trends for Verizon. He said that Verizon would continue to put out 5G networks with a lot of power, offering continuous wireless access for its users. He also noted that Verizon would focus on modernizing its networks, with continuous wireless access being a core element of that modernization. Finally, Malady said Verizon will continue to build up its private networks.
For his part, CVK forecasts industries adopting and leveraging the power of 5G, from digital manufacturing to operational technology to healthcare to integration. CVK also noted that we’ll see the proliferation of generative AI and quantum computing. Finally, CVK forecasted that sustainability will be key; businesses will be modernizing products and developing new products with a sustainability focus.
The partnership deal is valued at $2.1 billion over the course of six years and goes live on November 1, 2023.
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