In a pivotal sequence in the film Gladiator, the formidable Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by the iron-jawed Russell Crowe, finds himself and his fellow gladiators surrounded by javelin-throwing charioteers in the Roman Coliseum. His advice to them is “Whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together, do you understand?”
If they don’t collaborate they will die. Organisations dealing with natural disasters or other emergency situations know all too well the importance of collaborating. The remarkable case of the Chilean miners is a recent example of how a mining company and the navy worked together to send an escape capsule down 2300 feet to save the lives of the 33 miners.
Collaborating in a crisis to save life and limb is a given. But surely it makes sense to collaborate in the business-as-usual scenario which we face every day. It shouldn’t need a major crisis to bring managers in diverse organisation together to solve problems. The impulse should be second nature.
Many of the executives who have recently steered their organisations away from turbulent economic waters and fierce financial storms have done so by creating collaborative communities of interest with suppliers and in some cases with former competitors.
In the telecoms sector, collaboration through cordial interconnect arrangements between operators has always existed. As the more advanced telecoms operators continue to re-shape their business to become leading players in the provision of new-wave Information Communications Technology (ICT), the need to collaborate with suppliers at each layer of technology becomes even more important.
As a telecoms operator moves up the ICT value stack from transport-layer technology, through the in-building network and into the application layer, the importance of tying it all together with a unified service wrapper for the end user becomes crucial.
Which is why managers who build collaborative communities of interest will be the ones still standing when prospective customers visit the coliseum to pick their gladiators.
The key discussion and dilemma in our current industry environment is, what exactly do collaboration and partnering mean? These are much-used words but mean different things to different people.
For suppliers and customers they certainly have different connotations. Consequently getting to a mutual and transparent agenda is a challenge but is also critical to the success of these relationships. We must find ways to depend on each other while remaining cautious of placing the future of our businesses completely in someone else’s hands. We all aspire to this.
Some are more successful than others but clearly going it completely alone is no longer an option. You may be interested to see what my colleague Andrew Dodsworth, GTM director of operations and voice business, had to say about collaboration in a recent interview: “Outsourcing and managed services: Trends and successful approaches for network operators“.
I look forward to discussing this topical subject with you in person the next time we meet!
Best regards,
Colin
Colin Brooks
General manager
BT Telconsult
Biography
Colin has worked in the telecommunications industry for 35 years, 20 of them spent conducting business in more than 60 countries around the world. Starting with a technical / engineering background, Colin has also managed large customer service and operations organisations, including BT’s IPLC business.
More recently Colin managed mergers & acquisitions teams along with the implementation and development of BT’s joint venture assets in Asia Pacific. He has also has led telecoms consulting engagements for BT across all continents of the world.
Currently general manager and a director of BT Telconsult, Colin has global responsibility for all BT telco consulting engagements.
Although his extensive travel is not conducive to regular social activities Colin enjoys playing Golf (badly), supporting his local football team and spending time with his partner Isabelle and two daughters Lucy and Stephanie.
Tags: Collaboration, Competitiveness, Managed Services, Outsourcing, Transformation