I spoke to Brian Beutler, CEO of Alianza, about how he is viewing the service provider space and where the company is right now following the recent Metaswitch acquisition.
Q & A
David Dungay: Brian, earlier we heard some compelling data from Cavell indicating that around 75% of customers are looking to consolidate their provider relationships. How does this trend influence the service provider landscape?
Brian Beutler: This is a huge shift and a key reason why we acquired the Metaswitch business. Service providers already manage core infrastructure, including broadband, security, Wi-Fi management, and basic unified communications and voice services. When enterprises want to simplify their vendor ecosystem, service providers naturally emerge as the logical choice. They remain the constant, delivering essential broadband services. Now, with Alianza, we see a significant opportunity to extend these relationships into AI and industry-specific solutions that drive new revenue streams.
David Dungay: There was a statement made on stage earlier by Sam Wilson, 8×8’s CEO. He said service providers will never be true application providers—they will always remain network operators. Do you agree with that statement?
Brian Beutler: I’d say I both agree and disagree. Historically, service providers haven’t focused on application development. However, they excel at application delivery. Today, 95% of global market traffic runs on service providers’ networks. Even after 20 years of competition from over-the-top (OTT) providers, those companies still only account for 5% of global market share. That tells us something important: service providers are indispensable.
While service providers may not build applications from scratch, they have an unmatched ability to distribute them at scale. That’s where Alianza comes in. We help service providers deliver cutting-edge, AI-powered, vertical-specific applications to create new revenue opportunities. So, rather than a competitive battle with OTTs, we see this as a symbiotic relationship.
David Dungay: So, Alianza isn’t just selling services on top of provider networks, but rather enhancing the capabilities of service providers themselves?
Brian Beutler: Exactly. That’s a crucial difference. Unlike OTT providers that simply ride on top of service provider networks, we empower service providers by enhancing their core offerings. We provide tools that drive innovation through their networks, enabling them to compete in new ways and generate fresh revenue streams.
David Dungay: With Alianza’s recent acquisition, what phase is the company in now?
Brian Beutler: Right now, we’re in what we call the “One Company” phase. The focus is on integrating our teams, aligning with our new colleagues from Microsoft, and engaging with our expanded customer base. We’re in listening mode—our priority is to connect with our customers and co-create the future with them. Over the next few weeks, we’ll have spoken with over 150 of our top customers, and our long-term goal is to engage every single one of our customers.
Alianza has always been committed to innovation alongside our customers. Now, with a footprint spanning 1,000 operators across 81 countries—including all of the top 20 tier-one providers—we have a massive opportunity to help them monetize their networks in new ways.
David Dungay: How big of a role does AI and voice technology play in these new opportunities?
Brian Beutler: AI and voice are at the core of everything we’re working on. We believe this intersection represents the biggest shift in the communications industry since the transition from analog to digital and the rise of VoIP. Now, we’re moving from digital to AI-powered voice and applications. This transition will be at least ten times bigger than what we’ve seen with UCaaS and CPaaS combined.
David Dungay: One last question—Cisco has announced plans to end its perpetual license model for Broadsoft partners, only to extend it by another five years. What’s your take on that decision?
Brian Beutler: Cisco made the right call in extending BroadSoft’s lifecycle for their service provider customers. However, there’s a broader lesson to be learned from the Microsoft-Metaswitch experiment: big tech often struggles to effectively serve service providers. Providers want dedicated partners who are focused on their success—not competitors.
Cisco still has channel conflicts, particularly with WebEx competing against service providers in the enterprise space. I don’t see Cisco as a long-term enabler of service provider growth. The fact that they’re no longer investing in BroadSoft’s R&D sends a clear signal. Service providers relying on BroadSoft today are already looking for alternatives, and we know this firsthand from our conversations with them. They need a partner that is actively investing in AI and verticalized solutions, and that’s exactly what Alianza is offering.
David Dungay: It sounds like an exciting time for Alianza and for service providers. Thanks for sharing your insights, Brian.
Brian Beutler: Absolutely. We’re looking forward to working with service providers to shape the future together.
The Next Step
Beutler has a strong conviction in his vision for service providers and he genuinely believes Alianza are in the best position to deliver it. With their laser-sharp focus on verticalized solutions and how they innovate through AI, Alianza are going to need to bring some serious solutions to the table for service providers.
I asked Matthew Townend, MD of Cavell, what he thought Beutler and the team need to do in order to succeed in their quest. You can view that interview here.
Dave Michels, Founder of TalkingPointz recently spoke to me about the Alianza acquisition of Metaswitch and suggested we could see a swing in momentum away from the OTT providers and in favour of service providers. He cited three major reasons for his analysis.
Market Maturity: Service providers thrive in mature markets. Customers buying from service providers focus on functionality—like dial tone and voicemail—rather than brand loyalty. Now that Microsoft, Cisco, and others are scaling back their aggressive global branding efforts and pivoting towards AI, the demand for basic telecom services is returning to providers.
Sovereignty and Data Privacy: With increasing concerns over data sovereignty, many companies prefer not to rely on American cloud providers, especially in Europe and other regions with strict data regulations. Similarly, U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns over foreign tech companies like TikTok. This geopolitical shift benefits service providers, which are often local and trusted within their regions.
Antitrust Issues: The European Union has scrutinized Microsoft’s bundling of Teams, raising antitrust concerns. Microsoft is likely to reduce its aggressive expansion in this area, which could further open the door for service providers to regain market share.
Will we see the swing Michels talks about? This market moves slowly so it will take time for things to play out. However, the need for innovation is now and in a world where everyone is focused on AI, the service provider space needs to come to the table with answers that solve customer problems, and can satisfy customer support requirements in the modern world.
