2018 Business Excellence Awards

Best Total ICT Solutions Provider - APAC

CITIC Telecom CPC 

CITIC Telecom CPC supports multinational enterprises the world over by addressing their specific Information and Communication Technology (ICT) requirements with highly scalable tailored solutions built upon the company’s flagship technology suites comprising TrueCONNECT™ private network solutions, TrustCSI™ information security solutions, DataHOUSE™ global unified cloud data center solutions, and SmartCLOUD™ cloud computing solutions. We profile the firm to gain a fascinating insight into this unique array of solutions and how it benefits the firm’s international clientele.

Established in 2001, CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (“CITIC Telecom CPC”), a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883), is a trusted ICT solutions provider with extensive office and infrastructure presence around the world. It serves multinational corporations and other scales of distributed enterprise customers with a range of managed cloud computing, IP networking, information security, and data center products and services.

The strength of CITIC Telecom CPC‘s offerings is underpinned by three key areas of excellence: The company’s comprehensive portfolio of innovative ICT solutions, its extensive self-owned and self-operated global infrastructure of network linkages and world-class ICT facilities, and the company’s staff who possess deep expertise in crucial areas of both technology and business, particularly native business culture and localized language presence across the world, plus strong vertical industry sector expertise.

FLAGSHIP FAMILIES

CITIC Telecom CPC‘s solutions range is generally divided into four flagship product families of managed enterprise solutions: TrueCONNECT™ global enterprise connectivity solutions, TrustCSI™ Information Security Services, SmartCLOUD™ Cloud Computing Solutions, and the DataHOUSE™ Cloud Data Center solution which converges cloud technologies and global unified data center management into an unconventional facility management solution.

The flagship solutions were developed, and continue to be regularly enhanced, using a mix of in-house created and hand-picked best-in-class technologies sourced from world-class vendors, to ensure CITIC Telecom CPC‘s customers can benefit from solutions optimized for their specific markets and business environments.

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

In addition to incorporating the best technologies into its solutions, CITIC Telecom CPC is able to leverage its self-owned and self-operated carrier-grade global infrastructure to maximize customer benefits. By taking advantage of tightly-coupled integration between its solutions and its global connectivity, CITIC Telecom CPC can offer optimal performance and complete flexibility across its entire flagship portfolio. This is particularly important because the solutions are primarily cloud-based, and therefore application reliability, performance, responsiveness, and security are all dependent on network quality.

In total, CITIC Telecom CPC has over 140 points-of-presence (PoPs) in 130 countries, including countries along the “Digital Silk Road” framework of the One Belt One Road mega-project.

Supporting CITIC Telecom CPC’s global network are its world-class ICT facilities specialized in the various areas of cloud computing, network performance and security, and data centers. To date, the company operates over 15 Cloud Service Centers, over 30 Cloud Data Centers, and two dedicated Security Operation Centers. These facilities are staffed round-the-clock by highly trained, industry-certified professionals who ensure the managed solutions offered to CITIC Telecom CPC’s enterprise customers are operating smoothly.

In addition to an international technological footprint, CITIC Telecom CPC has 26 offices worldwide through which its staff work closely with customer contacts in their native languages, mindful of native cultures and local business conditions, using a multidisciplinary consultative approach. Specialized staff also possess strong vertical industry knowledge.

INNOVATION AND QUALITY

Themes of innovation and quality-focus pervade across CITIC Telecom CPC’s products, infrastructure, and staff, with the adoption of best-in-class technologies and best-practices where applicable, including product development, facilities management, and staff training and development. CITIC Telecom CPC is also Hong Kong’s first VPN service provider to achieve multiple ISO certifications, particularly all four ICT-related certifications (ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, ISO 20000 Information Technology Service Management System, ISO 27001 Information Security Management System and ISO 27017 Code of Practice for Information Security Controls for Cloud Services).

Speaking of VPNs, that was the company’s first product, developed and offered in 2001 because founder and CEO Stephen Ho clearly saw it as one of the most relevant tools needed for a growing number of enterprises struggling to link up distributed offices. Traditional connectivity measures were too expensive and too complicated for these smaller, more agile businesses. Instead, CITIC Telecom CPC (then called CPCNet) presented MPLS VPN as an alternate solution, to great market reception.

The early VPN product has now been refined into the TrueCONNECT ™ flagship family of business connectivity solutions, yet the fundamentals of that early success have remained the same. Today Stephen Ho and his team continue to research the market to identify the most pressing needs facing enterprises, and then proceed to develop compelling, yet cost-effective and user-friendly, solutions to address those requirements. 

VISIONARY STRATEGY

CITIC Telecom CPC has been very accurate at envisioning the continued digital transformation of enterprises, and serving their needs as the business evolution unfolds. Following the success with VPNs, the company was also quick to recognize the importance of cloud solutions, and developed what is now the SmartCLOUD™ flagship family (including investing in dedicated bricks and mortar facilities to support the product). The same can be said for managed security solutions and data center solutions, in addition to various other products and services, all of which CITIC Telecom CPC clearly and accurately predicted their emerging relevance and demand.

Two recent examples can further illustrate this point about the company’s ongoing success: The launch of its TrueCONNECT™ Hybrid SD-WAN solution, offering modern enterprises a managed Software Defined WAN solution to accommodate the increasing number of companies who are leveraging a variety of cloud services from different vendors, a situation traditional WANs are not designed to handle. The new SD-WAN solution enables much more efficient and easily reconfigurable WANs to optimize performance and reliability especially when locations or vendors of cloud services change.

The other example is CITIC Telecom CPC’s emphasis on realizing potential from the One Belt One Road vision. The company has proactively taken significant steps toward capturing those opportunities, a highlight being the 2017 acquisition of the telecommunication business of Linx Telecommunications, expanding CITIC Telecom CPC’s global footprint (which already includes Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe) to the Central Asia and Eastern Europe markets, and gives further credence to the company’s goal of connecting the world to the “Digital Silk Road.” The acquired network resources and staffing cover a high-growth potential market (encompassing Russia, Kazakhstan and the “Stan” region, the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe), and include a 470 kilometer submarine fiber network covering the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea which connects Sweden, Finland and Estonia. Also acquired are network operations centers (NOCs) in Moscow and Tallinn, and a Tallinn data center which is Estonia’s largest Internet Exchange (TLL-IX).