GTT CEO Rick Calder Discusses Synergies, Integration of Interoute Deal
GTT Communications is starting to tie up the loose ends of its $2.3 billion deal to acquire Interoute, which was first announced in February.
In an interview with FierceTelecom, GTT CEO Rick Calder said that the first phase of the Integration with Interoute would be completed before the end of August.
"We announced internally to the organization that when we closed on May 31st that it would take us 90 days to do the organizational integration," Calder said. "So we think we are very well along on that as we've created a leadership team structure and we've expanded our leadership in our European divisions."
With Interoute in hand, GTT has formed into five divisions: Americas, Carrier, U.K., Europe and SMB. The Americas and Carrier divisions serve enterprise and carrier clients in North America while the U.K. and Europe divisions serve both enterprise and carrier clients in their respective territories. Earlier this month, GTT announced the presidents of the U.K. and European divisions.
With the addition of Interoute, Calder said there were about 3,500 current employees at GTT, but there will be a sizable reduction of the headcount going forward.
"We've really gone through everyone within the organization, our organization and their legacy organization," Calder said. "There's always natural redundancy or overlaps when you put two companies together of this size. We really try to continue to upgrade the so-called DNA of the firm and make sure that we pick the best possible go-forward organizations between the two businesses."
Calder said there were three key elements of the integration of Interoute: organization, systems and network. With the organization aspect set to finish up this month, Calder said GTT was starting to see SG&A (selling, general and administrative expense) cost synergies and synergies driven by the network integration.
"With SG&A there's the fact that we both pay our auditors. We both pay accountants. We both have overlapping systems. We have some overlapping rent," Calder said. "It's all of the things that we used to have two of that now for many of them we now need only one, or least a bigger version of only one. We're well along on that and we expect those synergies to come very quickly.
"The last synergy is network and I think we're quite well along on that as well. We were very asset heavy in the Atlantic and part of the U.S. in terms of long-haul network. Now we can utilize assets across both networks. They (Interoute) were obviously very significantly asset intensive in Europe. There were a lot of assets that we would then have to purchase or lease from others. We have already collapsed most of that onto each other's backbones."
Calder said GTT has blended in some of Interoute's Tier 2 backbone traffic onto its Tier 1 backbone, which means GTT gains more points of presence and pays less to third parties since it's now able to use its own assets.
"When we announced the deal we said we expected synergy realization over the first three or four quarters and if anything, I think we're ahead of pace in completing all of that activity," Calder said.
Cultural transformation
Calder said that since GTT had previously done business with Interoute—along with him having spent time with Interoute CEO Gareth Williams—there hasn't been a culture clash.
"I think we always shared very similar cultural outlooks in that we were smaller firms that have attacked the incumbent telco monopolies— you know, BT, AT&T, Verizon, Orange, pick your favorite incumbent— and as a function of that, we have a scrappier, smaller company attitude of David vs. Goliath," he said. "They (Interoute) use different words or terms, but they have same cultural values that we talk about constantly internally and those are: simplicity, speed and agility. Simplicity means we are easy to do business with, speed is fast and responsive. Agility is strive to say 'yes,' particularly to your clients. As I like to say, it's really the opposite of doing business with the incumbent (provider).
"They have 22 offices across Europe and I went to pretty much all of them. I had a great time telling people we are together an even stronger disrupter to the incumbents and we have the ability to liberate clients from their clutches. I told them to join our banner, which we think is a better place to be."
Source: fiercetelecom
Latest Jobs
-
- Microsoft Security Operations Analyst | Bracknell | SC Clearable | SC-200
- Reading
- N/A
-
Senior SOC Analyst Level 2 / 3. Microsoft Security stack | SC Clearable Location: Hybrid remote | Berkshire SC-200 Senior SOC Analyst Level 2 / 3 to join a specialist Managed Security Services business. You will be responsible for advanced threat hunting / triage, incident response etc with a strong focus on the Microsoft Security Stack. Key Responsibilities: Lead and resolve complex security incidents / escalations Conduct advanced threat hunting using the Microsoft Security Stack. Build, optimise and maintain workbooks, rules, analytics etc. Correlate data across Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure Defender and Sentinel. Perform root cause analysis and post-incident reporting. Aid in mentoring and upskilling Level 1 and 2 SOC analysts. Required Skills & Experience: The ability to achieve UK Security Clearance (SC) - existing clearance ideal. (Sorry no visa applications) Must have current experience working with a SOC environment Key experience must also include, but not be limited to Development and tuning of custom analytic rules. Workbook creation and dashboarding. Automation using Playbooks and SOAR integration. Kusto Query Language (KQL).
-
- Service Architect- DACH regions
- Germany
- Upto €110,000 plus bonus and benefits
-
Lead Service Architect with the authority and experience to take control of complex, multi-million-euro outsourcing bids. This role is about leading the Service/ solutioning effort, bringing structure to chaos, and driving the entire bid team to deliver winning proposals. The company area a global managed services business working with enterprise and public sector clients, across Cloud, End-User Computing, Digital Workplace, Service Desk, and Network Infrastructure. What You’ll Do: Lead Service/ solution design from qualification to contract. Control bid teams — architects, pricing, delivery, and SMEs. Break down RFPs/RFIs into actionable, costed, client-ready solutions. Present internally and to clients at decision-maker level. Run solution workshops, own the architecture, and shape the financial model. You’ll Need: Experience working as a Service architect, Service Manager or Customer Success Manager R Gravitas to lead and drive teams through high-stakes bids. Deep knowledge of managed services delivery and commercial models. Strong technical grasp: Cloud, Security, EUC, Unified Comms, Service Desk, and more. Experience leading deals across onshore, offshore, and hybrid delivery models.
-
- Deal Architect- DACH region
- Germany
- Upto €110,000 plus bonus and benefits
-
Lead Deal Architect with the authority and experience to take control of complex, multi-million-euro outsourcing bids. This role is about leading the solutioning/ Service effort, bringing structure to chaos, and driving the entire bid team to deliver winning proposals. The company is a global managed services business providing solutions to enterprise and public sector clients, across Cloud, End-User Computing, Digital Workplace, Service Desk, and Network Infrastructure. What You’ll Do: Lead the deal from qualification to contract. Control bid teams — architects, pricing, delivery, and SMEs. Break down RFPs/RFIs into actionable, costed, client-ready solutions. Present internally and to clients at decision-maker level. Run solution workshops, own the architecture, and shape the financial model. Be responsible for the service Wrap and ensuring the Service meets clients requirements You’ll Need: A back ground with IT Services Experience in a similar type of role, for example: Deal, Service, or Solution Architect in ICT outsourcing. Gravitas to lead and drive teams through high-stakes bids. Deep knowledge of managed services delivery and commercial models. Strong technical knowledge: Cloud, Security, EUC, Unified Comms, Service Desk, and more. Experience leading deals across onshore, offshore, and hybrid delivery models.
-
- Pre Sales Lead- IT Services
- Germany
- Upto €100,000 plus benefits
-
As the Pre-Sales Lead (Sales Engineer/ Solution Architect) you will drive large-scale ICT managed services and outsourcing deals (from €0.5M to €20M+). You'll work directly with Business Development and clients to design high-impact solutions across Cloud (Azure, IaaS, SaaS, PaaS), EUC, Unified Comms, Security (SIEM, PAM), Networks, and Smart Workplaces. What You’ll Do: Lead the end-to-end pre-sales cycle — from RFI/RFP to contract. Design innovative, client-specific solutions with technical & commercial impact. Present at CxO level and steer proposal strategies & financial models. Collaborate closely with Portfolio, Service Desk, Field, and Digital Workplace teams. Support deal shaping with strong knowledge of ITIL, SIAM, Automation, and cost analysis. What You’ll Bring: Have strong experience in pre-sales or solution architecture. Experience with €M+ managed service deals. Deep technical expertise in modern ICT stack and enterprise IT services. Strong German (C1) and English communication skills. Certifications: ITIL v3/v4 required; SIAM, ISO20000 desirable.