Telstra targeting all industries with SD-WAN, IoT, hybrid cloud, security and managed services push

SD-WAN, hybrid cloud, security, IoT and managed services will form the backbone of Telstra's enterprise technology offerings as the company looks to capitalise on the "huge opportunity" from widespread digitisation.

Addressing shareholders during Telstra investor day, Telstra's head of product and technology Kim Krogh Andersen said that the telco’s enterprise customers have been seeking more advanced solutions outside of connectivity, such as 5G, IoT and artificial intelligence.

“As we look ahead to the needs of enterprises, it is clear now more than ever before, that every business is a technology business,” Andersen said. “Every industry will be digitised in the coming years and it's a huge opportunity.”

Andersen added that Telstra plans to meet these evolving enterprise needs to four layers, enabled by some of its product offerings and strategic partnerships. The layers are connectivity; applications, products and solutions and partners; managed services; and professional services from Telstra Purple.

The initial target industries are government (including emergency services), mining and energy, supply chain and logistics, retail and agribusiness.

“In some areas like SD-WAN, our offering has not been market-leading in the past, but I'm pleased with the development we have seen over the last year. We now have award-winning products and solutions in SD-WAN, hybrid cloud, security, IoT and managed services,” Andersen added.

“This is exactly what we need to capture this opportunity and become the trusted technology and service provider for enterprises.”

The first layer, connectivity, will be based on 5G, NBN, Telstra Fibre and satellites and with a plan to support advanced low latency use cases through the use of API-first architecture.

In the second layer, Telstra will work alongside Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to provide industry-specific applications, products and solutions enabled by AI, IoT, video analytics, augmented reality, virtual reality, digital twin and unified communications.

The third layer will aim to support constant connectivity, security, cloud and edge, IoT and networks through a digital management platform, Telstra Managed Platform.

The fourth layer covers services via the telco’s MSP Telstra Purple. “Our suite of professional service capabilities, combined with different companies with expertise is exactly what is needed to help our customers with their short, medium and long term needs,” Andersen said.