Source: Comms Dealer August 2008
The secret, he says, is to take the complexity out of provisioning and focus on delivering a level of service to channel artners that enables them to offer a capability that requires minimum management intervention and so maximises their profitability. "Our scale of operation means that we can offer highly competitive white label prices and managed broadband support that is quite simply the best in its class. As a virtual service provider, a partner does not need to buy dedicated physical LNS or employ specialist IT personnel. Partners can manage their activity efficiently in a business market that's competitive to the point of being cutthroat.
"What makes it so effective is our Managed Online Provisioning System or MOPS. This allows us to set Partners up as ISPs within five days and can be set to update end users automatically on order progress via Partner branded messages. Partners design their own branded broadband packages which can be bundled with pre-configured hardware. Importantly, MOPS enables Partners to analyse faults on the line and raise issues directly with service providers. Lead times are, on average, half the industry norm."
As Griffin celebrates its 15th anniversary, Dawson looks back on a track record that ticks all the boxes for alert adaptability to change. "The company was launched by Adrian Sunderland as a software house and Griffin-built PCs won a high reputation. In 1995 it developed an affinity programme for Derby County, our local football team, and so became an ISP."
From there it was a natural progression to develop MOPS and concentrate on delivering best of breed Quality of Service to third party channel Partners. Continuing growth and the application of increasingly advanced technology led to an MBI three years ago which saw Dawson join along with Andrew Dickinson, Sales and Marketing Director. Sunderland assumed the Chief Technical Officer role which he still holds.
Dawson believes that Griffin is ideally placed to help resellers re-define their business model by easing the transition from selling minutes to selling broadband. "Broadband is a vital business tool with a growing number of essential applications. It has its own complexities - it's a different animal from ISDN and dial up services. Our job is to make its benefits available, through our Partners, to SMEs who, previously, would have required their own considerable IT capability."
A consistent growth pattern has made substantial R&D investment possible. Griffin manages its own national MPLS IP network applied solely to business use and its infrastructure now includes four Carrier Class Data Centres, hundreds of megabits of transit capacity and active peering relationships with most ISPs at LINX, MaNAP and Xchange Point. It has been listed in both the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, which recognise the fastest growing technology companies.
Dawson sees a future where opportunities outweigh threats. "The Internet has grown up and matured, and increasingly sophisticated applications that cut costs and maximise efficiency are increasingly available to SMEs as well as corporates. BT has its 21CN and Cable & Wireless and Tiscali, with whom we also work, have their equivalents. Our objective is to maximise quality of service and offer cast iron SLAs to all our customers."
Three years ago, Griffin had around 50 productive white label Partners and several hundred resellers. Now, there are over 400 Partners and their number is increasing at between 5 and 10 each month. Revenues are targeted to hit the £50m mark within two years "Clearly, we look for Partners who are stable, ambitious and in it for the long haul," says Dawson. "We have an intensive induction programme that not only teaches the proposition but shows how to sell it. Only after this programme has been completed will a reseller's appointment be confirmed.
"A dream scenario would be to be paid as much as possible for as minimal effort as possible. We are aiming for that by training our Partners, helping them with their own branded assistance at initial installation and automating every possible process. Consequently, profits are as undiluted as possible. Every Wednesday we hold a full day training session for Partner personnel to help keep everyone up to speed," said Dawson.