McGraw Adding Managed Services to CLEC Model

McGraw Communications is changing its business model from switchless CLEC to managed services and cloud provider and, to make the move, has hired its first-ever CIO.

Geoff Bloss comes to McGraw from FlightSafety International Inc., a billion-dollar company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. Bloss, who holds an MBA from MIT, led IT at FlightSafety, overseeing technology deployments, OSS/BSS operations and more. At McGraw, he will take the company from CLEC to MSP.

CEO Frank Ahearn said the goal is for McGraw to operate similar to other MSPs, offering colocation, buying bandwidth and loops, and attaching its own software to all of that so agents and customers have instant access to detailed reporting. McGraw, however, will continue selling traditional products, including POTS and PRIs. And, its managed services will include hosted VoIP, SIP and MPLS without having to rely on underlying carriers. McGraw aims to be operating as an MSP by July 31.

The CIO position is new. Bloss will serve on the boards of all three McGraw companies: McGraw Communications; master agency Business Communications Management; and software firm 20/20 ComWare.

Ahearn said McGraw is investing millions of dollars of its own money in the CLEC-MSP transition. And, while McGraw is shifting its business model, it will retain its regulatory status as CLEC.