Adam Turner

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Vodafone plc wanted to realise economies of scale by offering the same business products and services in each of the markets in which it operated. The Group function was not popular with local markets. It had identified some of its most successful local market products and recruited develop and launch these in its other international operators. I had developed and launched, in the UK, an ambitious portfolio of voice products based around Fixed Mobile Convergence… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Vodafone plc wanted to realise economies of scale by offering the same business products and services in each of the markets in which it operated. The Group function was not popular with local markets. It had identified some of its most successful local market products and recruited develop and launch these in its other international operators. I had developed and launched, in the UK, an ambitious portfolio of voice products based around Fixed Mobile Convergence.

TASKS
► I was recruited into the Vodafone Group function and tasked with building a team to launch the Fixed Mobile Convergence proposition globally.
► I convened a meeting of the European local market Product Managers to outline the product, the propositions, the development required and the benefits and also to gather local market intelligence. Through developing strong relationships in each Vodafone Operating Company, I persuaded them to join the programme.
► My team developed a product development blueprint and outline programme plan, which was shared with each country.
► I met with the senior stakeholders in Group and the local countries to gather support for my programme.
► I convened a meeting of the European local market Product Managers to outline the product, the propositions, the development required and the benefits and also to gather local market intelligence. My team worked closely with each local team to ensure timescales were met.
► I held monthly workshops with the local markets to track progress and share best practise. Subsequently operators from APAC also joined.

RESULTS
► Through developing strong relationships in each company, I persuaded them to join the programme. 6 countries participated in the global launch and a further 10 launched in the subsequent year.
► The proposition generated revenues in excess of £1.5bn per annum. Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
The department for Multimedia, Culture and Sport was looking to improve broadband speeds in rural areas and had a sizeable budget to achieve this. Arqiva was working with a key infrastructure provider to bid for some of the regional projects. The proposal was to use a Fixed Wireless network based on LTE to deliver fast broadband speeds to remote rural locations.

TASKS
► I was hired to programme manage the entire project. Arqiva had no experience of operating a… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
The department for Multimedia, Culture and Sport was looking to improve broadband speeds in rural areas and had a sizeable budget to achieve this. Arqiva was working with a key infrastructure provider to bid for some of the regional projects. The proposal was to use a Fixed Wireless network based on LTE to deliver fast broadband speeds to remote rural locations.

TASKS
► I was hired to programme manage the entire project. Arqiva had no experience of operating a mobile network and so there was a steep learning curve.
► We also needed to build the business case to justify the investment in procuring and operating a mobile network.
► I produced a detailed programme plan to outline the steps for identifying the opportunity in each region and producing the business case. I then manged the programme including the work of 2 consultancies with whom we were working on the business case.
► I developed a programme to ensure the organisation was capable of implementing and managing a mobile network. This required close working with many different departments, several of whom were nervous about a new technology.
► I developed and managed an RFP process to procure a mobile network, which was required to be available in 5 months.

RESULTS
► The business case was developed and approved by the Board. Responses from 5 network vendors were evaluated and a contract was prepared for the successful bidder. The operations plan was agreed to support the implementation of an LTE network.
► The project was suspended pending contract awards by the DCMS but all was ready to move ahead from an organisational and commercial perspective. Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Vodafone wanted to expand the footprint of its business products offering into its Partner Markets – operators in which they held no equity. Initial sales activities had developed some interest but there had be a lack of follow-up with the international product team to deliver products into the markets. Stronger engagement within the partners and the internal product teams was required. In addition, timescales for product delivery were regularly missed.

TASKS
►… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Vodafone wanted to expand the footprint of its business products offering into its Partner Markets – operators in which they held no equity. Initial sales activities had developed some interest but there had be a lack of follow-up with the international product team to deliver products into the markets. Stronger engagement within the partners and the internal product teams was required. In addition, timescales for product delivery were regularly missed.

TASKS
► I was challenged with increasing revenue through selling and delivering business products into Partner Markets – markets where there was no equity stake.
► I delivered sales presentation to key executives, including C-Level, within the Partner Markets. These presentations focused on three key subjects: what was the product being sold, the benefits in providing it to their customers and an outline plan of the steps and timescales to get to launch.
► I worked with the international product teams to produce work packages to enable partners to deliver products to market and ensure successful launches.
► I chaired regular review meetings between the key delivery teams, including Supply Chain, Legal, Technology, Product Management, IT & vendors to ensure key tasks were on track.
► I developed strong communications with international product teams to ensure I was presenting the latest product features and roadmaps and with the deployment teams to ensure the timescales for launch were achievable.

RESULT
► Revenues from my partners in EMEA and APAC increased through new product launches by €100m in 12 months.
► Product delivery rates increased by 300%. Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Net2Edge was a spin out from Transition Networks that focused on the Carrier Ethernet access device market by building on its successes in adjacent markets. The target customers needed to change from Enterprises to Service Providers. The company had negligible awareness amongst service providers.

TASKS
► The key activities were to raise brand awareness and generate leads.
► I created a digital presence focusing on a website supported by a LinkedIn company… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Net2Edge was a spin out from Transition Networks that focused on the Carrier Ethernet access device market by building on its successes in adjacent markets. The target customers needed to change from Enterprises to Service Providers. The company had negligible awareness amongst service providers.

TASKS
► The key activities were to raise brand awareness and generate leads.
► I created a digital presence focusing on a website supported by a LinkedIn company page.
► I developed thought leadership and produced White Papers, I hired a freelance PR Manager who ensured articles were published in industry publications and secured my participation in press briefings.
► I commissioned a video around one of the key propositions, which was hosted on the website and on YouTube. The video was also used as part of a video card, which could be sent to senior decision makers in Service Providers.
► I took on the voluntary role as UK Marketing Co-Chair with MEF, the industry association and attended their quarterly meetings to raise awareness of the company amongst the Carrier Ethernet community.
► The Net2Edge salesperson in APAC had existing contacts in Service Providers – I developed standard presentation material and supporting collateral to facilitate his meetings.
► I developed the Net2Edge Partner Programme and launched it in APAC.
► I sponsored selected industry events and spoke at conferences and moderated panels both on behalf of Net2Edge and also on behalf of MEF. Net2Edge participated in a Proof of Concept (PoC) Showcase at MEF17.

RESULTS
► At the last MEF Quarterly meeting reference was made to content used in the Net2Edge PoC showcase and our unique propositions and it was clear that Net2Edge had become a recognised brand and respected comapny in the market.
► Seven Service Providers in APAC, 2 in CALA and 2 in EMEA requested our products to be involved in Proof of Concept’s and lab tests. Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
A long-established UK company (Patapsco) had been acquired by Transition Networks a US-based group and part of Communications Systems Inc. (CSI). The Patapsco owners had recently departed. At the time the company designed and manufactured in-house its own electronic hardware products. The lack of accurate sales forecasting created challenges in ensuring stock existed to fulfil orders. Often products were manufactured on receipt of an order. The process that had been… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
A long-established UK company (Patapsco) had been acquired by Transition Networks a US-based group and part of Communications Systems Inc. (CSI). The Patapsco owners had recently departed. At the time the company designed and manufactured in-house its own electronic hardware products. The lack of accurate sales forecasting created challenges in ensuring stock existed to fulfil orders. Often products were manufactured on receipt of an order. The process that had been adopted was to fulfil customer orders on a first in first out basis. Transition Networks was under pressure to hit revenue targets following a challenging period.

TASKS
► I was recruited to maximise quarterly revenues, retain staff and key customers following an inevitable period of uncertainty during the acquisition.
► I worked with the team to create a workflow so that we knew how long each product took to manufacture and test and then to apply this to all orders so that we knew how long it would take to fulfil them.
► I ensured customer delivery dates had some slack in them to enable juggling of priorities. I then changed the focus so that manufacturing was focused on fulfilling complete orders before the end of the quarter thus ensuring optimal billings and all orders shipped on time
► I also managed stakeholders and worked with a major customer to establish a global support contract– the first of its kind in Transition Network or CSI. I also acted as their Senior Leadership Team sponsor in the event of any issues

RESULT
► Revenues increased by 10% despite the product being uncompetitive priced.
► Quarterly review meetings were established with the key customer that ensured a strong ongoing relationship and increased order of 15% the following year.
► Staff retention was 100% Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
A UK Product Group had been formed in Vodafone UK to focus on product management and development for the corporate and business customers. I was recruited to Head up the group and inherited a team of 3 product managers. There were several similar projects with different stages all with varying degrees of progress. These were consuming a lot of engineering effort across the organisation – the business cases were unclear. Many of my suppliers were in contact with other… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
A UK Product Group had been formed in Vodafone UK to focus on product management and development for the corporate and business customers. I was recruited to Head up the group and inherited a team of 3 product managers. There were several similar projects with different stages all with varying degrees of progress. These were consuming a lot of engineering effort across the organisation – the business cases were unclear. Many of my suppliers were in contact with other companies in the Group and I was keen to share my strategy and our experiences with other companies in the Group and to see what their experiences were and whether we could learn and benefit from anything.

TASKS
► I was tasked with restoring our Enterprise Market leadership position, ensuring all projects had robust business cases and maximising productivity.
► I led a cross-functional team to develop a new strategy for enterprise voice products.
► The strategy had wide-ranging impacts on the UK organisation and I utilised my stakeholder management skills to ensure the support of the Strategy Director, Operations Director, COO and CEO.
► I also established a UK led European workshop for our European Subsidiaries corporate voice Product Managers. This became a regular European Forum, which I was elected to chair, for sharing market information and best practise.

RESULTS
► Established and chaired a Global Forum of group company product and marketing managers to realise cost savings through sharing of best practise, product designs, business cases and reducing duplication.
► One project alone saved 15 man years of effort.
► I was headhunted to lead a major initiative for Vodafone Group. Show less

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
I was asked by a global telecoms company to improve the performance of its multi-cultural global 3rd line support desk for its Microsoft Office 365 service offering. The number of service requests and escalations made directly to Microsoft far exceeded contractual targets and in some cases did not follow the agreed processes.

TASKS
► I was challenged with improving the support processes and establishing SLAs between the local market 2nd line support teams and… Show more

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
I was asked by a global telecoms company to improve the performance of its multi-cultural global 3rd line support desk for its Microsoft Office 365 service offering. The number of service requests and escalations made directly to Microsoft far exceeded contractual targets and in some cases did not follow the agreed processes.

TASKS
► I was challenged with improving the support processes and establishing SLAs between the local market 2nd line support teams and the global 3rd line support desk. In addition, I was asked to improve the on-boarding process for new markets.
► I established weekly meetings with Microsoft to understand the service requests they had received, to monitor progress of ongoing issues, identify any patterns to the tickets and those that could have been resolved without involving Microsoft.
► I held weekly calls with the global support team to review the service requests and ensure training was delivered, where necessary, to ensure issues could be resolved by themselves.
► I also established a monthly meeting with the local market’s support teams and the global support desk to report on progress, resolve issues and ensure any local training needs were met.
► I produced an onboarding process for new markets to ensure clarity on roles and responsibilities and that necessary tools and training were delivered.
► I revised the support processes, established SLAs and defined KPIs, which I then reported on monthly.

RESULTS
► After 4 months the number of tickets raised to the 3rd line support team had reduced by 39% despite a 67% growth in the customer base.
► The number of service requests made directly to Microsoft reduced by 69% and escalations reduced by 42%. Show less