Windstream’s Network First Strategy

During one of the vendor-led breakout sessions, Antti Kankkuen, Infinera’s Vice President, Long Haul Business Group, discussed the company’s WINterstate project and other technology drivers.

The May 17 event started bright and early with hundreds of Windstream employees from engineering, network and field operations, service delivery, and sales engineering arriving for a kick-off keynote. Employees were reminded that they must keep current on industry technologies to help themselves, to help their careers, and to help Windstream in an industry that continues to evolve more and more quickly. This, of course, is the focus and intent behind the TechSeries.

The pace of innovation and competition also means that everything that gets engineered, designed, and implemented in the network must be done with the understanding it will age and eventually be pulled out. Therefore, employees must understand how new technology can be displaced, and how they can help retire old assets and costs, as well as scaling beyond what has been deployed to this point. Doing these things in the most cost- and resource-conscious manner, are keys for future success.

Working in partnership with ISE, Windstream’s first TechSeries Live event attracted a capacity crowd.

The inaugural TechSeries was well-positioned to support that vision and excitement, with 50 technology vendors, not including those who were wait-listed due to "sold-out" capacity, supporting the event with technology booths. This outstanding vendor participation gave frontline employees the enviable opportunity to speak directly with industry experts and get their hands on the latest technology.

Immediately after the keynote address, attendees moved quickly through a series of Supplier Roundtables, in what might best be described as speed-dating with vendors. Participants were divided into small groups and rotated though 11 stations (there were 22 in total) where vendors had 10 minutes to demonstrate their product and how it is used in the Windstream network. Topics varied from consumer fiber and premises installation to network monitoring and software applications. As one vendor stated, "This is great! Where else can I get exposure to over 200 employees for my client in a couple of hours, and enhance the relationships that will make all of us more successful?"

Between sessions, attendees networked and visited with vendors on the exhibit floor.

After the Roundtable sessions, attendees went directly into Windstream-led, closed-door seminars featuring subject matter experts from the Architecture team headed by Art Nichols (Vice President of Architecture). Tyler Parkin (Staff Manager) presented a session on VoIP Core Convergence, while Ajay Govil (Director) provided an overview of MEF CE 2.0 Architecture and Windstream’s new Ethernet architecture. The Programmable Network, focusing on SDN and NFV, was addressed by Joe Harrison (Director). And finally, Tom Schlatter (Director) and Mike Skudin (Senior Principle Engineer) presented IP Evolution for Broadband and Next Generation Broadband Field Trials, respectively. "[These were] very informative sessions," said Rodney Pearce (Senior Engineer).

Vendor-led technology break-out sessions presented by Alpha Technologies, Cisco Systems, Ciena, and Infinera were held during the afternoon. These engaging presentations and Q&A were designed to complement the earlier Windstream-led sessions so attendees could follow themes. Or, if they were trying to maximize learning across layers and technology types, they could still pick-up on the specific benefits for Windstream, and learn about the new technologies being implemented.

Windstream’s Chad Wight (Director, Network Planning) and Mike Hoyt (Senior Vice President, IP Engineering) spent time with the Fujitsu representatives.

"This event was eye-opening," said Al Murawski (Staff Manager). "I’ve been very focused on my area of responsibility the last few years, and the magnitude of change in areas that have not been my focus is simply incredible."

Throughout the afternoon, the exhibit floor was packed with vendors showcasing new methods and best practices for network solutions. Participants took full advantage of the opportunity to talk one-on-one with the vendor reps, and interact hands-on with the equipment.

The TechSeries LIVE event also gave employees a chance to network with fellow team members. In fact, the networking was ranked as a key benefit for many team members, who frequently interact with each other by phone or on conference calls, but rarely see each other due to the nature of Windstream’s dispersed work force. Sarah Sullivan (Senior Engineer) said, "I really enjoyed attending this event, meeting with fellow colleagues, talking with vendors, and learning along the way. It was nice to chat with colleagues that I haven’t seen for years, as well as meeting others in person for the first time."

Attendees had the opportunity to interact with several of Windstream’s senior engineering leaders throughout the event, including, Marty Davidson (Vice President of Voice and Applications), Michael Hoyt (Senior Vice President of IP), and Art Nichols, (Vice President of Architecture), all of whom took time to sit in on various education sessions, walk the exhibit floor, or participate in the Roundtables.

The Supplier Roundtables gave event sponsors one-on-one access to attendees, and a unique opportunity to showcase their products in small-group settings.

Feedback throughout the day showed an overwhelming consensus that the event was a tremendous success and a smart use of Windstream’s resources. "Great event!! My team found this to be very beneficial," said Robert Fuller (Manager). And, from Mary King (Director): "There were several from my team who attended, and there was lots of really good feedback! Really looking forward to seeing this in other locations."

About the Authors:

Karl-Arne Hegewald is Director, Inside Plant Planning and Engineering, Windstream. He has more than 16 years telecommunications experience, and supports the power and environmental engineering teams, the colocation engineering team, and the colocation coordination team, at Windstream. Prior to joining Windstream, he supported strategic planning, transport engineering, and engineering project management teams at one of the big 3 carriers. For more information, please email [email protected] or visit www.windstream.com.

Tammi Williamson Bradley is Communications Consultant, Engineering, for Windstream. She has more than 25 years of experience in writing, public relations, and employee communications. For more information, please email [email protected] or visit www.windstream.com.

About Windstream: Windstream Holdings, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, is a provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, small businesses, enterprise organizations and carrier partners across the US. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber-optic network spanning approximately 125,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com.

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