Insights

Promoting Industry Connection and Collaboration with Somos Advisory Board Member Nick Sgroi

Apr 13, 2023

From envisioning and building the future of tech, like Gene Lew, VP & Principal Architect (Mobile), Salesforce, to empowering faster and more secure number porting, like Mark Bilton-Smith, CEO, ATL Communication Inc., members of the Somos Advisory Board meet regularly to exchange thought leadership and insight into how to drive innovation and advance global communications.

In the latest installment of our Advisory Board Member spotlight series, we introduce you to Nick Sgroi, SVP & GM of Network Strategy & Product Infrastructure at Bandwidth. From his first toe-dip into telecom selling DSL to ISPs (talk about advancing technology!!), to his present-day executive role at Bandwidth, Nick excels at solving complex problems in a manner that interweaves technology, relationships and partnerships.  And his next mission? Business Messaging

With an impressive 98% open rate, texting is a powerful and proven way for businesses to both engage with customers as well as build brand loyalty. As the saying goes; however, with great power comes great responsibility – which is why it’s requisite that as an industry, the telecom community proactively works towards establishing optimal trust, security and reliability.  While this goal may seem straight-forward, at its core, it presents an interesting quandary –

This is a challenge that Nick Sgroi – along with his team of industry veterans at Bandwidth – work overtime to reconcile. For those not familiar, Bandwidth is a cloud communications platform that owns and operates a network with global reach to 60+ countries. Among their key differentiators is the fact that they offer a bridge that connects carriers and innovative companies looking to utilize business messaging. While this may not be significant to some, through Nick’s eyes, it’s a unique opportunity to see the full potential of the channel and a competitive advantage that sets Bandwidth apart:

“With opportunities for messaging at an all-time high, supporting its growth and understanding its constantly changing use cases presents a challenge that requires collaboration across the industry as well as between providers and carriers. For stakeholders, this means developing and delivering solutions that maintain trust and security, while at the same time don’t create processes that are overly complex and/or costly that can potentially push businesses away from the channel.  I think we need to work together to find solutions that unlock the utmost value to everyone – customers, carrier partners and regulators alike.”

Understanding the far-reaching and long-standing relationship between providers and carriers is something that Nick knows all too well. While in his current role, his focus resides on the business messaging ecosystem, Nick’s expertise in voice services and carrier relations spans decades. From the start of his career in carrier sales, to his present-day executive role in communications advocacy, advancement and innovation, Nick has been able to successfully translate his experience in the voice space into the messaging sphere. Speaking simply – in Nick’s own words –

Although Nick makes the above sound effortless, the breadth of his current accomplishments and future aspirations is hardly a simple feat – it takes a solid strategy, a great deal of patience to execute on said strategy and some guiding principles:           

• Do the right thing – Sacrifice short-term wins for long-term success.
  
   
• Establish trusted relationships with directly connected carriers – When carriers partner to solve industry problems, it’s powerful.
  
   
• Take the time to truly understand your customers’ needs – Listen, learn their business, educate them on what they need to do to be compliant, and if necessary, advocate on their behalf.

The third principle is especially meaningful to Bandwidth and more specifically, Nick. As the business messaging world continues to evolve, it’s critical to empower organizations with the resources and solutions needed to be successful in day-to-day business operations. With the ever-expanding and diversified gamut of use cases – financial institutes using SMS for MFA, healthcare providers texting to follow-up with patients, etc. – it’s mission-critical that providers not only know their customers, but also understand their customers’ requirements and how the customer intends to leverage business messaging in a greater communications’ strategy.

“Nick possesses a vast wealth of knowledge that is inclusive of all the different and often complex layers that the telecom industry presents. From the product level to the infrastructure level, he has a firm grasp on the rules, the processes, the guardrails and above all, the possibilities of technology,” says David Stewart, SVP and Chief Business Development Officer at Somos. “His experience in managing various customer use cases, critical partnerships and stakeholder relationships provides a significant value-add to Somos’ Advisory Board.”

To learn more about how Nick Sgroi – as well as his Somos Advisory Board peers – are helping to keep telecom innovative and at the forefront of digital transformation, visit www.somos.com/about/our-team.