Challenge

Cincinnati Bell is one of the largest telecom providers in the Midwestern United States. The company delivers landline telephone, fiber-optic Internet, and IPTV to customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Hawaii, and Ohio. As telecom companies face increasing pressure to differentiate their offerings, the company realized that selling business software in addition to their core products would help it compete and generate new revenue.

Cincinnati Bell had the technology and know-how to deliver telecommunications services to its SMB customers. However, they needed a solution that would allow them to get to market quickly with business SaaS while providing a superior customer experience that offered seamless product provisioning and simple invoicing.

Solution

The company launched the AppDirect-powered Cincinnati Bell Business Marketplace to sell leading SaaS solutions, including Microsoft products. With AppDirect, Cincinnati Bell can continue to resell Microsoft as part of its Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) program. AppDirect handles all CSP integrations while the Cincinnati Bell team uses AppDirect's rich product profile capabilities to showcase products in the Marketplace. Moreover, Cincinnati Bell uses AppDirect's white-label customer support solution, AppHelp, to easily meet the support requirements of its Microsoft CSP reseller agreement.

Results

Today, Cincinnati Bell has successfully transformed from a telecommunications provider to a true business partner for its SMB customers, giving it the ability to establish and grow long-term relationships with its base. The company is able to sell business SaaS and telecommunication solutions on one platform. Moreover, with SaaS offerings in its Marketplace, the company now has reach to new businesses outside of its local service areas. To see the Cincinnati Bell Business Marketplace in action, click here.