Research House View of EarthLink IT Services Anything But Frosty

It’s nice to be noticed, so EarthLink must be positively glowing over a recent report from Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) that gushes over the ISPs transformation of its IT services.

The report, “From a Residential ISP to a Business Communications & IT Services Provider - Analyzing EarthLink's Transformation Strategy,” was penned by analyst Roopa Honnachari.

Topping Honnachari’s analysis is EarthLink’s hearty embrace of managed services.

 “From predominantly being a residential Internet Service Provider (ISP) in 2010 to positioning itself as a leading managed services provider in the business communications and IT services market in 2013, EarthLink has come a long way,” analyzed Roopashree (Roopa) Honnachari,Program Manager, Business Communication Services, Stratecast and Frost & Sullivan. “The company's efforts have been focused on growing its growth retail products that include Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Virtual Private Network (VPN), Hosted VoIP, and IT services. This direction is consistent with Frost & Sullivan research that indicates that a hybrid model appeals to customers that are looking to leverage the cost benefits of the shared cloud model, without fully giving up control or security associated with other environments.”

Frost & Sullivan’s analyst Roopa Honnachari

EarthLink says this is what it had in mind all along.

“Over the past several years, we have strategically focused on supporting the growing needs of companies as they seek to virtualize their businesses,” said EarthLink Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Michael D. Toplisek. “As we complete the rollout of our new next-generation data centers and further expand our robust IT services portfolio, EarthLink is truly an end-to-end provider, with a unique package of networking assets, cloud services, and managed services wrapped in a consultative approach that delivers more value to our customers.”

EarthLink’s Michael D. Toplisek