01732 759725 36 MANAGED NETWORKS With two acquisitions in three months and the appointment of a new Commercial Director to drive channel sales, managed network solution provider EvolveODM is primed for transformative growth. James Goulding finds out more from Alan Stephenson-Brown and Neil Muttock New opportunities In the last three months, EvolveODM has taken its third big step forward in 10 years with the acquisitions of two businesses and the appointment of a Commercial Director, Neil Muttock, with the aim of expanding its network management footprint from 7,500 locations to 15,000 within the next three years. The acquisitions of managed IT services provider GB3 in November 2022 and B2B mobile telephony provider 4G Voice and Data in January 2023 take EvolveODM closer to its goal of being able to offer customers a full service offering and a one-stop-shop for connectivity, with significant cross-sell opportunities between all three customer bases. “GB3 offer managed IT services but they don’t provide managed network connectivity, which most of their customer base wants, and we had customers asking us if we could provide managed IT services, so the two businesses coming together is a great benefit for both businesses and both sets of customers,” says Stephenson-Brown. “It’s the same with 4G Voice and Data. We haven’t provided mobile phone services to customers on the connectivity side (bar a backup M2M SIM offering), so it’s a great opportunity to provide those services to our existing customer base, while meeting demand for SD-WAN and networking services from 4G customers, a lot of which are in new sectors for us like construction and manufacturing.” Full fibre In addition to these opportunities, Neil Muttock, previously Account Director at TalkTalk Wholesale, is focussing on growing Evolve’s existing connectivity services, with a particular focus on expanding its full fibre offering to meet the needs of customers who might require higher speeds for Guest Wi-Fi or online kiosks for food orders. He is adding to the relationships Evolve has with 50 network infrastructure providers around the globe, including Talk Talk Wholesale Services and BT Wholesale, by working with alternative network providers (Alt-Nets) to offer more choice and to speed up the provision of full fibre services to customers in areas not covered by the major players. So far, Evolve has signed up four Alt-Nets that have networks in London and rural areas, including the NorthWest, enabling it to offer a choice of fibre speeds, from 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit, from different carriers. Stephenson-Brown points out that with the addition of 4G Voice and Data, Evolve has the opportunity to offer customers 5G Since it was founded in 2005 to provide connectivity and Guest WiFi to multi-site retail and hospitality businesses, end-toend managed network solution provider EvolveODM (Evolve) has undergone a number of step-changes in its growth and development. One of these was in 2013 when Directors Alan Stephenson-Brown and his son Ryan joined the business, adding managed network services to the company’s product offering and giving it a new growth engine that today generates 70% of the company’s business (when the value of bundled Evolve services, such as connectivity, are factored in). “We spring-boarded Evolve from predominantly doing Guest Wi-Fi and connectivity to also offering a fully managed network solution that now includes services like a Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) and not just basic connectivity but managed connectivity,” explains Alan Stephenson-Brown. “Today, the three mainstays of our product portfolio are our SD-WAN and managed network solution; connectivity services; and Guest Wi-Fi. Some customers will just take one of these services, but the vast majority take all three.” Another big step-change for the Wiganbased company occurred in February 2019, with the recruitment of fellow Director Rob Brown, who has used his significant experience in large corporate entities to transform the company’s operations to meet the high service and support standards demanded by customers in the retail, hospitality, leisure, fuel and food-to-go sectors, including brands and franchises like KFC, Starbucks, ESSO, BP and Leon. Stephenson-Brown estimates that 70% of the company’s business is ‘operationally focused’, so gaining expertise in operations, from order fulfilment to customer support, has been vital for the company’s growth and provided a solid platform for the ongoing expansion of the business (see box copy). Primed for growth So far, Evolve has signed up four Alt-Nets that have networks in London and rural areas, including the North-West, enabling it to offer a choice of fibre speeds, from 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit, from different carriers
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