Motive goes multi-service with BT

BT’s multi-year relationship with management software provider Motive morphed into a multi-service relationship this week as the carrier standardized on Motive technology for data services across its various lines of business.

Motive’s self-management software is used by broadband providers, many of them Tier-1 providers, for self-installation, configuration, activation and ongoing self-management functions associated with DSL, cable modem and other data services.

As BT “lights a fuse” under its small business segment for broadband services, it is looking to extend the same self-service approach it had used with its consumer customers, said Kenny Van Zant, executive vice president of Motive’s consumer business unit.

“As BT moves to a more multi-service broadband approach, they realized the strategic importance of making all their new services as easy to use as their consumer DSL product has been,” Van Zant said.

BT was one of two contracts Motive signed in the second quarter that exceeded $5 million. The other also was with a large European carrier. The company reported second quarter core revenue on July 21 of $22 million, a 30% increase from the second quarter of 2003.

In addition to gaining BT’s small business segment, Motive is positioned to capitalize on any new data initiatives for BT. “[Going multi-service] is a sign of where most of our strategic relationships have headed in the last 12 months,” Van Zant said.

Motive’s mission is to make management at the edge of the network become extremely important. “All the competition and innovation is at the very edge of the network and the management technique around the traditional demarc must be augmented,” Van Zant said. “Management can become a feature and provide advantages to the product itself.”