Staying Connected

Hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft, Google and Meta continue to make significant infrastructure investments in ultra-high capacity subsea cables.   This new generation of connectivity provides a compelling alternative to telco-provided circuits with the added potential benefit of direct integration with enterprise-grade cloud computing, edge and connectivity services.   In this 9-minute podcast, Deb...

Verizon is preparing to cut over 13,000 jobs — about 15% of its U.S. workforce — in a restructuring plan intended to reduce costs under its new CEO Dan Schulman. In this 7-minute podcast, Brent Knight from TC2 joins Tony Mangino to discuss the anticipated impact of the layoffs and what enterprise customers should be doing now to prepare.   If you would like to learn more about our experience in th...

When doing a deal, invariably we get the "whose paper" question.   That is, should the enterprise start contract negotiations using its own paper or the vendor's paper?   The answer is…that depends. In this 10-minute podcast, Laura McDonald , a partner at LB3, joins Tony Mangino to discuss the best contractual starting point for your deal accounting for leverage, deal size, timing and resource con...

Lumen is once again raising rates for out-of-term services, with some customers now facing increases as high as 30% to 40%.   These changes put enterprise clients in a tough spot, often forcing them to choose between costly renewals or seeking alternatives in a competitive market.   In this 6-minute podcast, Theresa Knutson from TC2 joins Tony Mangino to break down what's driving these price hikes...

The struggle between the aviation and wireless industries regarding the use of the lower C-Band ultimately led to regulatory and technical mitigations to prevent interference issues, after narrowly avoiding regulatory gridlock . In this 8-minute podcast, Steve Rosen from LB3 joins Tony Mangino to discuss how these same players are collaborating to prevent similar interference issues before new 5G...

In the early hours of Monday, October 20th, AWS experienced a DNS resolution failure that had a cascading effect on business and consumer applications across the internet. In this 7-minute podcast, Deb Boehling from LB3 joins Tony Mangino to discuss what happened and specific cloud diversification strategies that enterprise customers should consider. If you would like to learn more about our exper...

Green networking, carbon accounting, and energy-efficient hardware are becoming increasingly important for enterprises seeking to comply with ESG regulations and drive competitive advantage. In this 9-minute podcast, Tony Mangino and Julie Gardner from TC2 discuss why WAN sustainability should be on every CIO and procurement leader's radar and how to include measurable sustainability requirements...

AI is a key driver of innovation in the Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) space, significantly improving agent efficiency and customer experience.  However, when the rate of technology change outpaces the applicable legal frameworks, uncertainties and opportunities for disputes arise. In this 11-minute podcast, LB3 partner Laura McDonald joins Tony Mangino for an update on AI driven legal develo...

Pre-RFP activities are sometimes treated as optional, when in fact they're among the most strategic actions a sourcing team can take. If you want a high-quality RFP, the work starts long before it's published. In this 9-minute podcast, TC2 Managing Director Larry York joins Tony Mangino to discuss how to leverage three key pre-RFP activities in order to maximize the outcome of your next sourcing e...

Against the backdrop of the ongoing struggle with the Verizon outsourcing to HCL, enterprise customers are being forced to rethink their supplier support models and partners.  In this 7-minute podcast, Theresa Knutson and Brent Knight from TC2 join Tony Mangino to discuss what customers can actually do to manage, escalate, and potentially fix support issues with their strategic network suppliers....

Verizon recently notified its customers that it was sunsetting certain legacy voice services beginning on November 1, 2025.  In this 5-minute podcast, TC2's Theresa Knutson  joins Tony Mangino to explain the significant cost increases that are now hitting customer invoices in advance of the anticipated sunset date. If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit ou...

It's been over two years now since Verizon and HCL announced their strategic partnership, which included Verizon retaining its sales function, solutioning, and customer acquisitions, and HCL taking over post-sale implementations and ongoing customer support.  In this 9-minute podcast, Theresa Knutson and Brent Knight from TC2 join Tony Mangino to discuss how the strategic partnership is impacting...

Taxes, fees, and government surcharges on enterprise wireless services are at a record high, comprising upwards of 30% of the average taxable portion of a typical monthly bill.  In this 8-minute podcast, Frank Zagrodnik and Tony Mangino from TC2 do a deep dive on the fine print of your wireless bill to discuss the taxes, surcharges, and fees that have a material impact on your enterprise mobility...

If your organization still has legacy Verizon voice, non-IP IVR, or access services in your inventory, changes are coming — and they're coming on a fixed timetable. Verizon has put out formal notice that these services are being retired, and customers need to move to alternatives well before the withdrawal date. In this 7-minute podcast, Bryan Carriker and Tony Mangino from TC2 discuss the recent...

Arista's VeloCloud SD-WAN acquisition marks a major shift in the enterprise networking space, giving Arista a mature and cloud-native SD-WAN platform to complement its strengths in data center and cloud networking.   For enterprise customers, the move could mean faster innovation, improved support, and stronger WAN-to-cloud integration.   However, customers should be aware of potential risks with...

Regulatory pressure related to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is growing. While federal ESG rules in the U.S. remain fragmented, states like California are pushing forward with tough climate disclosure laws. Meanwhile, the EU is advancing sweeping directives like CSRD and CS3D, imposing new reporting and due diligence requirements across global supply chains. In this 10-minute podcast...

Inevitably, many negotiations are not part of a competitive process and are simply a negotiation with a single vendor.   And often that vendor is fully aware that it's not facing any true competition for the services and products under negotiation. In this 11-minute podcast, TC2 Managing Director Ben Fox and Tony Mangino discuss tactics and approaches to conduct an effective sole-source negotiatio...

Understanding Cisco Enterprise Agreements can be complex but with the right approach, enterprises can navigate these contracts effectively.   Key strategies involve mapping the contract landscape and ensuring financial protections against underperformance. In this 7-minute podcast, LB3 partner Marc Lindsey and Tony Mangino discuss how enterprises can move from complexity to clarity when negotiatin...

In mid-May, two of the largest cable companies in the US, Charter and Cox, entered into an agreement to merge in a deal valued at over $34 billion.   Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close sometime in the latter half of 2026.   In this 5-minute podcast, TC2's Keith Cook joins Tony Mangino to discuss the merger and potential impact on enterprise customers.   If you would like to...

In mid-April AT&T updated the General Terms and Conditions in their online Service Guide, which apply to pretty much all its wireline services, to allow them much broader leeway to migrate services as part of what they call a "Technology Migration".   This is on top of an earlier AT&T Service Guide change that resulted in material cost increases on certain key components of their SIP Trunking serv...

Recent technology advancements and changes in the regulatory environment have made Private 5G a more attractive technology for enterprise applications, including "Wi-Fi" for industrial, educational, and corporate campuses and numerous IoT (Internet of Things) applications. In this 8-minute podcast, David Lee of TC2 and Steve Rosen of LB3 join Tony Mangino to discuss the state of the market for Pri...

The commitment to sustainability initiatives, such as net-zero emissions targets and renewable energy consumption measures, is moving from the corporate boardroom into the decision-making process for selecting strategic ICT service suppliers. In this 8-minute podcast, TC2 Director Tony Mangino joins LB3 Partner Deb Boehling to discuss the challenges of quantifying and evaluating the "soft benefits...

As Cisco has grown from a network device OEM to a multifaceted software supplier across networking, UC, security services, observability tools, and a plethora of other products, enterprises' relationships with Cisco have become correspondingly complex.   Add to this, a deep-rooted pattern at Cisco of targeting price increases, and any negotiation with Cisco quickly becomes very challenging. In thi...

In 2025, we anticipate the continued enterprise migration to Contact Center as a Service ("CCaaS") solutions. Customers are facing the difficulty of keeping good contact center agents, the end-of-life status of existing equipment and software, and the shift by providers from on-prem to cloud-based offerings with effective AI use cases.  In this 8-minute episode of Staying Connected, Julie Gardner...

Big changes in Washington have created big changes in the regulatory environment for ICT services—which may impact the ICT products and services that enterprise customers buy to run their businesses and, importantly, how much they must pay for them.   What are the impacts of big, proposed tariffs on the costs of ICT?   What's going to happen to USF and how much will enterprise customers have to pa...