Data Center POST interview with Jeff Waddell, National Wholesale IT Deployment Executive, Comcast Business

By Contributing Editor Michael Egan

Jeff Waddell serves as the National Wholesale IT Deployment Executive for Comcast Business, a company providing end-to-end solutions that allow businesses to leverage the technologies that fuel a competitive edge and drive business success. As a communications and technology industry veteran with 30 years of indirect channels sales and business development leadership, Jeff is recognized as the architect of several industry-leading channel programs. Jeff has also earned a reputation for successfully managing both wholesale and indirect sales channels for technical products in the U.S. and abroad.

As ITW 2019 approaches, Jeff sat down with Data Center POST to discuss Comcast Business’s solutions and what the company is looking to achieve at this year’s conference.

Data Center POST, Michael Egan (DCP-ME) Question: What does Comcast Business do and what problems are you solving?

Comcast Business, Jeff Waddell (CB-JW) Answer: Comcast Business specializes in IT deployment and managed services. We provide end-to-end solutions that allow today’s wholesale and their enterprises to leverage the increasingly network- and internet-dependent technologies that fuel competition and empower business outcomes. IT deployment services offer critical support to help quickly and accurately assess, deploy, troubleshoot and remediate network infrastructure, equipment, and connected devices. We do everything from WAN and LAN assessment and professional installation to professional technician services and beyond. All our services are designed to minimize downtime, improve repair time, simplify distributed IT support, extend your resources and supply a host of other benefits to help companies focus on their core business.

DCP-ME Q: What do you attribute to Comcast’s success?

CB-JW A: Comcast’s significant investment in IT deployment, along with its rigorous program to only staff certified and highly qualified technicians nationally and only under a W-2, is what makes us successful. This ensures that Comcast has the “best of breed” technical talent, and we are quickly becoming the leader in true certified technical coverage in all U.S. markets, along with all major cities and all secondary and tertiary markets.

DCP-ME Q: What milestones did you achieve in the past year and how will these developments help Comcast Business keep up with the demands of the quickly growing and ever-changing telecommunications industry?

CB-JW A: Comcast IT deployment has now fully integrated and launched the highest certification program for technicians in the U.S. As a result, Comcast IT Deployment has become a top leader for successful national deployment in its class.

DCP-ME Q: What are you most looking forward to accomplishing over the next year? The next 3-5 years?

CB-JW A: We look forward to being the default carrier for all IT deployment and managed service needs for the national wholesale, federal and enterprise business sectors. Comcast “unbranded” trucks and strict NDAs provide a guarantee that our wholesale customers can rest assured that their brand and interest is held at the highest level of transparency, which is a prerequisite of outsourcing for our partners.

DCP-ME Q: What do you think is the greatest challenge in the industry and how are you working to overcome it?

CB-JW A: The greatest challenge has been establishing a 100% reliable, certified and drug tested technical staff that is contracted nationally. Most IT deployment companies will default to the lowest bidder for these services, but the additional cost and failure rates due to unqualified, un-certified and un-drug tested contractors can actually double the cost of IT deployment and break fix. Comcast terminated all contractors who could not pass the rigorous certification process and drug testing criteria. In addition, all technicians are under a W2 and operate as a single unit nationally for deployment projects. The “Angies List” of hiring technicians has seen it days. You get what you pay for, and the risk and cost of failure is too great to choose the least expensive un-certified technicians, especially in remote locations

DCP-ME Q: What new developments are on the horizon for Comcast?

CB-JW A: We’re looking forward to even more significant investment in creating the highest-rated and most densely covered IT deployment network in the U.S., and we’re excited to expand into international locations in the future.

DCP-ME Q: What would you like to accomplish at ITW 2019?

CB-JW A: At this year’s ITW, we want to establish a clear understanding that Comcast IT deployment and managed services wholesale agreements are now being offered to any and all existing carrier accounts and international carriers that are in need of robust and quality IT deployment in the United States for their domestic U.S. locations.

Comcast IT deployment will be available to meet and answer any questions regarding the IT Deployment MSA we are offering to the Wholesale and Federal Government sector.

DCP-ME: Thanks so much for sharing all this great information about Comcast Business with our readers, Jeff.

Jeff and the Comcast Business team will be attending ITW 2019 in Atlanta from June 23-26, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency and Marriott Marquis hotels. If you would like to meet with the company, please submit a request here: https://meetme.internationaltelecomsweek.com.  For more information about Comcast Business, please visit www.business.comcast.com