Aussie Broadband is using APIs to bring partners closer

Seamless service integration for MSPs and their customers

Broadband partnerships have long been about reselling connectivity products and services, but Aussie Broadband’s newly minted strategic vision will take the concept a step further by transforming it into an API-driven telco that lets partners integrate directly with its systems.

That architectural change means that, rather than relying on Aussie Broadband to provide customer and service details, managed service providers (MSPs) will be able to pull live data about the company’s network performance straight from its systems for their own use.

This might, for example, provide for detailed data about network performance across particular segments, or allow the commissioning and configuration of new services with clear visibility as the job progresses.

It’s an increasingly common telco vision that will bring Aussie Broadband in line with the growing popularity of what Gartner, for one, has called the ‘composable business’ – not a monolith built from the ground up, but an adaptable business made from interchangeable building blocks.

“We’ve built the API calls so that MSPs can integrate their systems directly with us,” explains Aaron O’Keeffe, Group Executive - Business, Enterprise & Government, with Aussie Broadband. “This makes the experiences for their customers as seamless as dealing directly with Aussie Broadband or NBN.”

“What happens in the middle is just a mystery,” he continued, “and it just works – with no swivel-chairing or phone calls. This very API-driven approach is what we’re doing for partners moving forward as well.”

Pursuing new business with the new Aussie Broadband

Implementation of extensive API-based instrumentation and integration is one part of an aggressive effort by Aussie Broadband to support its more than 1500 wholesale providers and MSP partners with a broader range of business products that are extensible and highly customisable.

Much of this growth comes as Aussie revisits its strategy in the wake of its $344 million acquisition of Brisbane-based Over the Wire, which delivered the popular telco an additional 16,000 business customers taking 700,000 active voice services, and a portfolio of cloud and security services.

This acquisition reinforced Aussie Broadband’s own service portfolio, helping it grow to over 1800 employees – yet with Over the Wire now fully assimilated into the company, Aussie Broadband is looking to consolidate its gains to date and further strengthen its business.

That includes the impending introduction of a host of new telco services – including both classic telco” services such as NBN, enterprise Ethernet, fixed voice, and mobile data – and an expanding range of value-added services such as payment gateways, and better email and calendar offerings.

“Moving forward, we’re moving to a situation where businesses can acquire more from us and have, hopefully a single head to love – not a single throat to choke,” O’Keeffe laughed. 

Bolstering Aussie’s business focus

The surge in business capabilities will be supported by Aussie Broadband’s newly announced ‘Look to 28’ business strategy, which was announced earlier this year.

That strategy will align the business’s technology offerings around six key pillars – including intrinsic security, strategy and architecture, technology transformation, technology innovation, operational excellence, and delivery excellence.

These pillars will drive a business-focused ethos and technology engagement model that has grown from being based on “cool technology,” newly appointed chief technology officer Brad Parker said in announcing the new strategy, “to one where our business segment leaders view Technology as a trusted partner.”

A broad program of work that will see the company evolving its core network and internal cloud platforms, management of its operational and business support system stacks, and unifying its various voice services – with  what Parker called “utility levels of availability, performance and reliability”.

Ultimately, O’Keeffe said, “it’s really all about delivering an amazing customer experience and our internal systems and IT strategy that evolves with what we want to do for customers.”

“We’ve got an ambition to be the telco people love, and to continue improving what we do every single day so that our customers and partners get the service they deserve.”

If you'd like to learn more about how Aussie Broadband is using APIs to bring partners closer, please visit: https://www.aussiebroadband.com.au/enterprise/