The convergence of networking and security in a unified cloud-native service offers enterprises the agility, scalability, and robust security required to overcome growing challenges and thrive in an ever-evolving landscape of enterprise infrastructure.
In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review Asia, Ricky Chau, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at CBC Tech, provided insights into the company's global strategy, specifically outlining how it is growing its offerings and ecosystem to better address customer demands in a rapidly evolving digital era.
Please outline CBC’s footprint across Asia and beyond. Could you detail the availability of its services and its approach to market strategy in various regions worldwide?
CBC Tech was founded 15 years ago with our headquarter in Beijing and international headquarter in Singapore. Our next-generation Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) solution combines SD-WAN, application assurance, cloud-based security, and multi-cloud services on a single fabric to enable application performance for the enterprises without having to build and maintain their own infrastructure.
At present, our network infrastructure covers 40+ cities in China and 50+ cities internationally. Our value proposition is to enable Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) for the global service providers and multinational enterprises to operate in China, facilitate Chinese multinational enterprises to go global.
Our competitive edge stems from our pioneering research and development of our SD-WAN in 2017, followed by the commercial launch of eNet fabric (our patented SD-WAN) in 2019. There are only a few service providers possess their own SD-WAN technology and operate their network infrastructure on a global scale, and CBC Tech stands among them. Our patented SD-WAN enables complete control over our offerings, empowering us with the flexibility and agility to craft bespoke solutions for our customers. Today, with a growing portfolio exceeding 30 patents and ongoing innovations, we consider this a significant competitive advantage that positively impacts our customer experience. For example, CBC Tech's SmartPath technology is transforming network traffic routing and management. Embedded within CBC Tech’s eNet fabric, SmartPath dynamically adjusts networking paths based on traffic performance, revolutionizing how networks operate.
The global expansion of our eNet fabric targets emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, with a primary focus on facilitating Network-as-a-Service for Chinese multinational enterprises to go global. Recently, we announced our strategic partnership with Cirion Technologies in Latin America to provide our customers with an expanded range of sophisticated solutions in Latin America.
How does CBC Tech ensure that business strategies are aligned with customer demands in the rapidly changing technology landscape?
CBC Tech has embarked our journey to transform from a network provider to a tech provider to enable cloud-based networking and security as a service for our customers. We're not just investing in technology and innovation; we are investing in our people, reshaping our culture, and redesigning our processes to realize our vision.
The shift towards cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and remote work has been gaining momentum for some time now. Enterprises are recognizing the benefits of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). SASE offers a converged approach to network and security services, incorporating SD-WAN, Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) through Security Service Edge (SSE) platforms.
To fulfill our customers' SASE requirements, we're enhancing our SD-WAN and Security Service Edge (SSE) portfolio through strategic partnerships with leading tech companies. By seamlessly integrating our partners' SD-WAN and SSE solutions into our eNet fabrics, we enable our customers to tailor their SASE solutions to meet their specific needs. With a robust ecosystem including global tech companies like Zscaler, Fortinet, Versa, VM Ware, Cloudflare, and more, we are offering unparalleled choice of SASE for our customers. Our unique edge lies in our ability to seamlessly integrate and manage multiple SASE vendors on our eNet fabric, delivering a unified experience as a single provider.
At CBC Tech, excellence isn't just a goal—it's our commitment to our customers. Customer centricity is our core value and our customers are at the center of everything we do. Our professional customer-facing and support teams meticulously guide our customer journey, prioritizing speed and agility as our defining traits. Our dedication to excellence is evident in our recent customer survey: a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 64, a Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) of 97, and a Customer Effort Score (CES) of 90, showcasing our commitment to delivering service excellence.
Could you share some examples of CBC Tech's ecosystem partners and showcase instances of successful solution deployments? How have these initiatives impacted digital transformation and contributed to the overall success of your customers?
A Fortune Global 500 company in the wine and spirits industry has recently partnered with CBC Tech to enhance their user experience in China through the implementation of a managed Zscaler Private Service Edge. This customer with a distribution network and key offices across China, encountered persistent issues with unstable connections and sluggish network performance while utilizing Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to access various cloud-based applications outside of China. The network performance through ZTNA is crucial for their remote users, particularly as video conferencing serves as the primary means to connect their global teams and external partners. The implementation of ZTNA, alongside CBC Tech's solutions, significantly mitigated intermittent performance issues, markedly enhancing their user experience. This comprehensive solution not only tackled critical challenges in ensuring stable and secure connectivity for accessing various cloud-based applications but also specifically addressed concerns related to Microsoft 365, including Teams video calls.
This enablement showcases how CBC Tech leverages our eNet fabrics and our tech partner ecosystem to deliver a robust managed SASE solution, effectively addressing the critical business needs and reinforcing our commitment to delivering the best application performance with exceptional customer experience.
What is your vision moving forward?
Our vision is crystal clear: to emerge as the next-gen Network-as-a-Service provider, enabling managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions to our customers. We're committed to transform CBC Tech to a leading tech company through relentless investment in R&D, enhancing our expertise in SASE, upskilling our workforce, expanding our tech ecosystems, and delivering unparalleled customer experiences. With innovation as our compass, we're poised to lead the way in shaping the future of the industry.
