Calix President Michael Weening presenting at ConneXions 21
SOURCE: SmartTech Research
Around 6:30 PM on Sunday, October 17th, over a refreshing adult beverage, I found myself reflecting on what the technology industry had been going through during the past two years. But my brief nostalgic interlude didn’t occur in the safety of my home. It happened at XS, a decidedly lavish nightclub (complete with a surrounding European pool) at the Wynn Hotel and Resort, one of the more glamorous venues in Las Vegas. At the invitation of Calix, I attended ConneXions 21, the company’s first public event after taking a hiatus in 2020. ConneXions is Calix’s premier industry event crafted to support the company’s extensive partner network of Broadband Service Providers (BSP) by focusing on topics like general management, marketing, customer support and network engineering/operations. Through this event, Calix believes it can help BSPs simplify their businesses, energize subscribers, and enhance value in the areas they serve.
Just two years before, attending a vendor event like this during the Consumer Electronics Show or another industry event would not have struck me as unusual. For a few moments, I reveled at seeing large groups of people socialize, laugh and genuinely enjoy themselves. I can’t describe how gratifying it was to see people bumping into others they had not seen in years. And due to the fastidious safety protocols that were implemented, I never felt uncomfortable or unsafe.
At the end of this blog, I’ll provide some commentary on why I believe Calix differentiated itself as a bona fide industry leader with its decision to hold ConneXions 21 in Las Vegas publicly. However, let me focus on a few of the key themes that emerged at the conference.
The BSP’s success is Calix’s success
Keynote after keynote, it was impressive to hear the executive commentary in lockstep with the notion that Calix cannot succeed without the BSP prospering. Given this premise, Calix President Michael Weening commented how important it’s been for the company to transform itself from a networking entity to a planform-based organization based on software, a cloud-driven infrastructure and fast innovation.
Founded in 1999, Calix is a cloud and software platforms company that partners with broadband service providers. The company’s stated mission is empowering BSPs of all sizes to “simplify” their business, “excite” their subscribers and “grow” their value. Most of Calix’s customers are small broadband service providers who have 250,000 or less subscribers. The company just reported $172.2M in revenue for Q321.
The company has spent $1 billion over the past decade to execute this transformation. It’s always been in Calix’s DNA about bringing solutions and capabilities to market that enable BSPs to serve its customers in a collaborative, partnership-oriented manner. Calix believes that platforms are the most powerful and efficient vehicles to help BSPs innovate and deliver the most value to their subscribers in a way that creates stickiness, enhances ARPU and fortifies customer loyalty.
A few examples that underscores Calix’s commitment to the BSP community
Recognizing how important wireless performance speed has become for residential and small business subscribers, Calix announced the first “carrier-class” Wi-Fi 6E Giga Spire BLAST, providing power over ethernet, mesh and temperature-hardened systems. Many of Calix’s BSPs have subscribers who live in regions with challenging weather conditions and have intense use cases with demanding performance requirements. Relatively new to the market, …….