Citibank NA last week signed a five-year, $750 million deal with AT&T Corp. under which the communications giant will run Citibank’s worldwide data network and lead the banking company’s charge into electronic commerce.
The contract is the largest outsourcing deal signed in the financial services sector and also one of the biggest Internet-related services pacts to date. In addition, the deal represents a major breakthrough for AT&T’s service unit, AT&T Solutions, which spent more than a year brokering the win.
“This agreement will serve as a milestone for enterprises to examine network outsourcing more seriously,” said Gartner Group Inc. analyst Ken McGee.
Yankee Group analyst George Logemann agreed that the Citibank contract would dramatically raise industry confidence in network out- sourcing and would inspire many more deals of this sort.
No doubt it would. Citibank’s savings of $250 million over the life of the contract was the stuff of business dreams.
And belief and daring as well—to companies for which “Just Do It”
was a call to glory, not just a marketing phrase.
In embracing network outsourcing in general and extolling AT&T Solutions’ particular expertise, the home crowd was now cheering as one.
As more new contracts came in rapid succession, the partisans broke into a wave:
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FOR RELEASE MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1999 AT&T WINS $400 MILLION CONTRACT FROM ALLIED SIGNAL
FOR RELEASE MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 1999 STATE OF TEXAS NAMES AT&T TO SPEARHEAD TEX-AN 2000
FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1999
AT&T WINS CONTRACT FROM A. G. EDWARDS FOR NEW NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY
FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1999 AT&T WINS $125 MILLION CONTRACT FROM CVS FOR VOICE, DATA, AND MANAGED NETWORKING SERVICES FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1999
DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE SELECTS AT&T FOR GLOBAL NETWORKING
FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1999 AT&T AWARDED CONTRACT FROM GENERAL MOTORS TO DESIGN, BUILD, AND MANAGE GLOBAL IP NETWORK
Rick explains part of what AT&T Solutions has done for GM:
They had a closed inventory system just for dealers, a legacy system, very clunky. It wasn’t designed for the public to use. We said to them, “Why not open it to car buyers by making it Net-based? Let people shop for that purple Blazer anytime they want, not just dur- ing dealers’ business hours. Let them see if it’s somewhere in inven- tory or en route to a dealer or if it’s even been manufactured yet.”
GM now runs a TV commercial in which cars morph as a buyer walks through the lot. They change in size, color, and shape. The message is you can go online now and find any GM car you want, and you’ll get it quickly. That’s all thanks to our taking their legacy system and adapting it to the Net.
In recognition of AT&T Solutions’ overall success, Rick was named the first corporate winner of the Outsourcing World Achievement Award in 1999.
Sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Michael F. Corbett &
Associates, Ltd., the award honored Rick’s and AT&T Solutions’
achievements in making outsourcing a key management tool to increase companies’ competitiveness and shareholder value.
Said Rick, “This award is affirmation of the ascendancy of network- ing in the outsourcing industry and especially of AT&T Solutions’
growing leadership in this highly specialized segment of the market.”
In the same year, the AT&T Solutions Web site, www.attsolutions.
com, won the Gold Award at the San Francisco @d:tech trade show for online marketing and advertising. The award, for “Best Business-to- Business Commerce Web Site,” was bestowed by a judging panel of 19 recognized leaders in the interactive marketing field.
In 1999 Rick also personally racked up an award of another sort: an appointment to the board of trustees of his alma mater, Stevens Insti- tute of Technology.
“Mr. Roscitt brings very important perspective to the board,” said Stevens President Harold J. Raveché, “including that of the rapid global growth of e-business and the strategic use of technology in competitive business practices.”
Responded Rick, “I am particularly interested in using my experi- ence in the business world to help shape a curriculum that will produce undergraduates who are just as proficient and conversant in manage- ment as they are in technology. There is a strong and growing need for graduates of this type.”
Rick put his money behind his passionate words: A month after receiving his appointment he announced a $100,000 AT&T grant to Stevens Tech for the development of a new “E-Business” Bachelor of Science program blending practical application of science and technol- ogy with the study of core business functions such as production, mar- keting, supply-chain management, and customer service.
The innovative curriculum would examine how today’s electroni- cally bonded network of customers, suppliers, and creators of services and products affects business operations and tactical decision making.
Said Raveché, “Businesses today are starving for employees who are fluent in both the language of technology and the language of
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business. Through our newly developed “E-Business” B.S. programs, Stevens has not only crafted a university experience that offers stu- dents unparalleled options and greater earning power but also meets the needs of corporations for whom we have become an increasingly critical resource.”
On the employment note, Rick revealed that AT&T would support the Stevens “e-degree” program by hosting a specific number of stu- dents through four-year work-study programs and would hire gradu- ates of the program.
“These Stevens e-business graduates will be highly sought after,”
Rick said, “because they will not require the traditional time and train- ing to become effective employees.”
Remember Rick railing against static classrooms and chiding book- bound professors who plodded around their brick-and-mortar cam- puses—when their heads weren’t stuck in the sand?
Raveché shared Rick’s dismay. “Academia all too often stays true to its course and methodology in educating its students,” he said. “At Stevens we have listened to the industry leaders and developed a pro- gram to address their concerns.”
Not only was Stevens listening to industry leaders, it was hiring them to teach! Raveché’s plan was to engage corporate “teaching exec- utives” to instruct undergraduates in virtual networking, network appli- cations, Web-enabled financial and consumer services, and technology management.
As we have heard Rick say, “Savvy, well-prepared human capital is very scarce.”
More prone to acting than lamenting, Rick was partnering with aca- demia to turn a scarcity into a rich supply.
This was fast-track education.
This was learning at the speed of light.
This was training at the speed of change.
With its well-stocked, heavy-hitting client roster and a basket of indus- try and academic accolades, AT&T Solutions was a certified home crowd favorite—a local hero without a doubt.
The measure of a truly great team, though, is not just claiming vic- tory on home ground but also winning on the road.
DEBRIEFING
Nothing succeeds like success—but sometimes successful companies become victimsof their own success and end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
AT&T Solutions worried that in being so successful so early it might grow into a heavy, cautious corporate beast. After running at the speed of change, it might slow to a trot. As Rick said, “It’s tough staying true to our founding vision while we’re increasingly beholden to the corporation’s shareholders.”
Fortunately, AT&T Solutions was even more beholden to another stakeholder group: its customers. As we have attempted to make clear in this book, customer intimacy was an AT&T Solutions corporate value from the start. As we know from life, when two parties are intimate they have a tendency to reproduce. By staying bold, nimble, and sharp, AT&T Solutions tightened its bonds with existing customers and added many new ones to its Wall of Wins. In this way, the enterprise repro- duced and multiplied its initial success.
Ask yourself the following questions. Each “yes” answer means that instead of just consolidating old business, you are boldly capitalizing on current success to cultivate new growth.
Is your company multiplying its success? In the process, is it staying lean and hungry for more business? Is it adding muscle instead of just fat?
Do you say “yes” to customers far more than you say “no”?
Do you customize each customer solution instead of following a rule book or a set of precedents based on past success?
Do you regularly refocus your corporate vision and reconfirm your values and culture?
Are you staying down in the trenches with your customers instead of sitting high and dry and aloof?
Do you see a competitor who is set aggressively to attack your turf?
If so, do you have a business plan to meet the assault?
Do you view your existing customer base as your best source of growth? Specifically, are you prepared to do the following?
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• Cross-fertilize and enrich existing business.
• Seek ways to sow, cultivate, and harvest a bumper new business crop.
• Create competitive advantage by exploiting new technologies and managing costs.
• Become even more customer intimate with each account.
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