Data Center POST recently spoke with Gina Nomellini, Chief Marketing Officer of GTT Communications, Inc (GTT). In this Q&A, Ms. Nomellini discusses how GTT won the ACG 2016 “Growth Company of the Year” award. We also explored topics such as keeping pace with the global cloud networking industry and upcoming developments for GTT.
GTT’s global Tier 1 IP network connects to any location in the world and with any application in the cloud. Their cloud networking services provide a better way for multinational clients to reach the cloud. GTT is headquartered in the Washington, D.C., metro area and has offices in London, Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Phoenix, Frankfurt, Cagliari, Pittsburgh, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Belfast
Q and A with Data Center Post’s Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu
Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: We understand that GTT was named “Growth Company of the Year” at the 2016 ACG Corporate Growth Awards. Congratulations! How did GTT achieve this?
GTT, Gina Nomellini (GTT-GN) Answer: The ACG National Capital Corporate Growth Awards recognize enterprises in the Washington, D.C., metro area business community that have exhibited excellence in corporate growth over the past year. GTT has experienced dynamic growth and financial success since it was founded, but 2015 was particularly significant. Over the past year, GTT has expanded its services portfolio and increased the size and reach of its network, entering into new markets throughout the world.
In 2015, GTT increased its revenue by 78.1% to $369.3 million and adjusted EBITDA rose by 113.6% to $77.0 million. This is unprecedented growth for any company, but it is especially notable in this competitive market sector.
GTT’s substantial growth was fueled by organic sales and strategic acquisitions. GTT completed two major acquisitions in 2015: the acquisition of MegaPath’s managed services business and the acquisition of One Source Networks. The MegaPath addition expanded GTT’s portfolio of managed services and security solutions, while One Source Networks added voice and Unified Communications to GTT’s growing list of services. Both transactions added deep talent to GTT’s sales force, contributing to the 25% growth of the organization and helping to fuel overall organic growth in 2015. By year end 2015, GTT’s global employee base grew by 90% from the prior year.
DCP-KX Q: How does GTT keep pace with the global cloud networking industry?
GTT-GN A: GTT is a global company with employees and offices located around the world. Additionally, we partner with over 2,000 local, last mile providers to augment our network reach in various markets across the globe. Having a local presence on five continents provides GTT with first-hand knowledge of what is happening in our industry in all major markets.
To stay in touch with our clients, we conduct an annual survey to gauge our customers’ satisfaction with services and support, and to better understand their networking needs now and into the future. This survey has provided invaluable insight and shaped our product and service roadmap. Our sales and support teams also actively engage with our clients on a daily basis to ensure that GTT delivers on our commitment of providing exceptional client experience by living our core values of simplicity, speed and agility.
GTT actively participates in industry events and takes a thought leadership approach in producing and sharing information and content through our social media channels and website. The combination of local market presence, conducting client surveys, participating in industry events and acting as a thought leader gives the company the information we need to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry.
DCP-KX Q: What upcoming developments can you share with our readers?
GTT-GN A: Through rapid growth, business evolution and focused strategy, we have quickly established ourselves as a leader in the industry, competing head-to-head with the world’s largest communications companies. GTT has emerged as the challenger brand in the marketplace with a successful growth strategy to:
- Expand cloud networking services to multinational clients
- Extend secure network connectivity to any location in the world and any application in the cloud
- Deliver outstanding client experience by living the company’s core values of simplicity, speed and agility
To deliver on this strategy, GTT has recently expanded its network into new geographies including Sydney, Dubai and Doha. We’re actively working to add network presence in Latin America, and we continue to add nodes in the U.S. and Europe.
We are also expanding our connectivity to cloud service providers around the world. This enables our clients to reach all of their cloud-based applications through a single network connection to GTT, regardless of where they are located.
Finally, we continue to build out our portfolio of global voice and Unified Communications and managed services. From new reporting capabilities to advanced feature functionality to expanded geographic coverage, we continue to evolve our product portfolio to meet the needs of our clients.
Readers, if you would like to learn more about GTT, please visit http://gtt.net/.
