Analyst talks to...Luis Alvarez

Luis Alvarez is president for EMEA and Latin America of BT Global Services.

Hello Luis. What does your job entail?
My team takes the lead on behalf of BT to serve our customers in a region that includes around 130 countries across the globe. Our role is to ensure we deliver service to our global customers effectively wherever they need it, to deliver profitable growth for the business by selling network IT solutions and to find more opportunities for BT Global Services to do profitable business in countries where we are a strong player.

Why is the Latin American market so important for BT?
The answer is because it's a very important region for our customers.

When you look at the amount of investment most of our customers are putting into the region – companies like Reuters, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble – you realise that they are doing so because Latin America offers so many opportunities. And where our customers go we follow. However, it's not only large multi-site corporates who we need to be able to serve, but also big regional players who are becoming global companies ready to become the multi-site corporates of the emerging world.

Our deal with Comsat International in Latin America was incredibly important for us. The company is a perfect fit with what we wanted to do in the region. For example, Comsat's strong corporate customer base, its highly profitable business and the fact that it gives us presence in 20 countries.

And what about Russia and Central and Eastern Europe?
It's a similar situation. Our customers are expanding and investing in the region and that means we are too. That's why we have recently set up a global servicing centre in Hungary that greatly augments the services we can provide for our customers in the region.

How are you meeting the needs of established customers? What is your strategy?
What we have is a really good understanding of what each of our global customers are doing in their own global markets. This means we can then quickly establish the first level of services – usually related to connectivity – on their behalf.

Then, depending on the country and the requirements of the customer, we are able to provide other services like voice over IP, network related IT services or mobility and remote access, and integrating these services seamlessly. We have a strong presence in a selected number of countries and capabilities to serve our customers in 173 countries directly or through the most adequate partnerships.

Has BT Global Services got its partnership strategy right?
Given that these days, everyone seems to want to partner with BT then I would argue 'yes'. I'm not sure this always used to happen, but now BT has earned the recognition of the whole market. Major vendors continue to phone me up, all sorts of well-known IT companies continually tell me they want to be our partner – even competitors are looking to align forces with us.

It's a fantastic situation to be in. It's like being at a party where everyone wants to dance with you. Sometimes the difficult thing is to choose who you are going to dance with. We have some strong partnerships as the Alliance with HP. The important thing is to track regularly the added value that those relationships bring to our customers and to us and act in consequence.

What international and emerging market opportunities lie ahead for BT Global Services given the current economic climate?

This is a good example of the kind of issue we are discussing with our customers right now. Our view is that emerging markets like Latin America still offer great opportunities for growth. Of course, we are well-positioned given our global presence to provide services in these emerging markets. In the more mature and perhaps stable markets – the opportunity for us is to optimise our operations and to become more efficient in what we do. We will continue to support our customers and in the current situation we spend even more time with them understanding their challenges and ambitions.

What are the major challenges on your immediate agenda?
I need to make sure BT Global Services continues to deliver a high level of service to our customers wherever they are. I also recognise the requirement to improve the profitability and efficiency of the business.

At a more personal level I need to always remember that I have a job that some people would pay money to do. I also must not forget how important BT Global Services has become for so many international customers from all sorts of sectors. They really do rely on us totally and we can never afford to let them down.