Tata names Microsoft, CenturyLink veteran Laskey to head up Americas region

Tata Communications has named telecom veteran Bob Laskey as its new regional head of Americas.

The service provider, which has a presence in 240 countries, says the appointment forms part of its strategy to enable enterprise customers and cloud partners to drive growth in developed and emerging markets.

Laskey comes to Tata Communications with a 20-year pedigree of experience working for several major service providers and software companies, including CenturyLink, Microsoft, Oracle and Accenture.

RELATED: Tata takes stab at SD-WAN, brings service to 130 countries

He has set a plan to
accelerate the growth of the $2.9 billion in revenues Tata Communications currently has in the Americas. Laskey and his team will focus on enabling enterprises to overcome the technological barriers of operating successfully across both developed markets and the high-growth economies of Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia.

To meet the company’s goal for the Americas region, Laskey’s team looks to gain market share in the Americas both by acquiring new enterprise customers and forging new channel partnerships.

Tata Communications
Bob Laskey
“In this digital era, businesses’ survival depends on reliable, ubiquitous access to data, and their ability to communicate and collaborate seamlessly worldwide—whether they’re in New York, Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai or Hong Kong,” Laskey said in a release. “They need consultative technology partners to support their borderless growth powered by data, and help them cope with the complexities that come with operating across different established and emerging markets.”

Tata has continued to enhance network and service investments in the Americas region to fulfill demand for its cloud enablement services, including IZO SDWAN and IZO Internet WAN. To facilitate worldwide collaboration, Tata Communications also offers Skype for Business by Microsoft and Cisco WebEx.

It’s likely that Laskey will focus on driving sales for new services such as SD-WAN. In November 2016, Tata Communications launched IZO SDWAN, a solution that’s being offered as an additional element in its IZO cloud enablement platform. The service is going to be available across 130 countries, spanning a mix of developed and emerging markets.

To address its customers’ growing data demands, Tata Communications has made new investments in its infrastructure in the Americas.

By connecting the recently launched Seabras-1 cable system to its Wall, New Jersey, cable landing station and its global network, the company offers U.S. enterprises a direct link between the financial centers of New York City and São Paulo. Additionally, the company has built three new points of presence (PoP) in Jacksonville, Fla., Minneapolis, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo., growing its footprint to 48 PoPs across both major cities and emerging business hubs of the U.S.