By Mike Robuck
Nokia, Verizon make case for culture-based collaboration
Verizon Business Chief Product Officer, Debika Bhattacharya and Nokia boss Pekka Lundmark pointed to the success of a tie-up between the pair to expand the operator’s global reach as evidence of successful collaboration, but the vendor’s CEO cautioned success or failure of partnerships was largely based on culture.
On a keynote yesterday focusing on collaboration between operators, vendors and enterprises, Lundmark said: “If there is enough cultural compatibility in partnerships then there's a good chance to succeed,” he said.
Specifically, the pair highlighted collaborations including global private 5G network deployments and a recent deal to provide a managed private wireless service across the US National Football League (NFL).
Lundmark also addressed his company’s rebranding effort announced earlier in the week at MWC23 Barcelona, stating the partnership with Verizon Business was an example of how the vendor wants to pivot from a consumer facing business to one that focuses on enterprises.
“One of the ways we address the dynamic connectivity market is collaboration with best-in-class partners, bringing together customers and partner ecosystems to create tomorrow’s digital services and applications,” he said. “Products are only side of the equation. We are seeing a growing appetite for new business models. There is this desire for more flexible solution-driven products and services.”
Bhattacharya said from a portfolio standpoint, Verizon Business has shifted towards consumption-based products and services.
“Our customers now want to consume networks the way they consume cloud so we have network-as-a-service where instead of selling components and circuits we’re selling outcomes,” she said. “It’s dynamic. It’s flexible. It’s pay as you go and it’s all about agility.”