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The Future of Telecom Project Administration in a Digitized World with Dan Zygmunt
Digital transformation seeps into each aspect of business
these days, even in the subject of telecom venture control. This development is
a reflection of the higher phenomenon of IT-telecom convergence this is
happening today. Dan Zygmunt is at the vanguard of this essential development
because the VP of Telecom for Sitetracker, a B2B SaaS challenge management
platform. He joins Carrie Charles on this communique to talk about what
Sitetracker uniquely gives to the telecom industry and what sets it aside from
its competitors. He also shares a piece about his own transition to the tech
aspect of telecom, which very a great deal mirrors the bigger motion of
expertise toward that space.
Watch the episode right here
Listen to the podcast right here
The Future of Telecom Project Administration in a Digitized
World with Dan Zygmunt
I am thrilled to have with me a unique visitor, it's miles
Dan Zygmunt. He is the new VP of Telecom for Sitetracker. Dan, thank you so
much for being with me at the 5G Talent Talk.
Carrie, thanks for having me. I admire the invitation. I’m
looking forward to speaking to you.
I’m especially involved to hear about your journey and your
transition. What took you from wherein you had been to the tech aspect of
Telecom?
It’s an outstanding adventure. I commenced at Ball State
University. I picked up a pc technological know-how diploma there. I turned
into continually into tech early on, even in the course of my early life.
During one of the summers on the college, I become operating for this company
known as Harmon Glass. We were deploying on this health center up in Kalamazoo,
Michigan. We were constructing this beautiful pink Tundra. It changed into a
glazier setting big portions of glass one hundred fifty ft up within the air.
That changed into my first possibility to get uncovered to assignment
management and deploying matters out within the discipline perspective and
running in conjunction with the sector crews. That stuck my attention, I said,
“I need to do this. I want to build infrastructure but more on from a
technology facet, like a community aspect.”
I finished up my computer technological know-how degree. I
went on to perform a little graduate work on the Center for Information and
Communication Sciences. I were given an amazing expertise of the community
architecture on how we install not best how the signal traverses the
architecture however also the human conversation element of it and the way we
communicate in deploying infrastructure from a offerings angle. I did a few
interviews and ran into a guy named David Sharkey. He become running at
Telamon, that is in Indianapolis. He goes, “What do you want to do to your
profession, Dan?” I pass, “I want to construct networks.” He goes, “That’s
right. We do that here.” It went on for a little at the same time as. I didn’t
pay attention returned from him nearing commencement.
I referred to as Telamon. I talked to the receptionist and
the receptionist goes, “Hi, who’s this?” “I’m Dan. Can you web page Dave
Sharkey? I’m trying to get ahold of him.” He goes, “Sure.” This is a time when
there’s a web page and you could web page human beings in places of work. Dave
alternatives up the smartphone and goes “Hi, this is Dave.” I cross, “Dave,
this Dan of Ball State.” He is going, “Hi, Dan.” I cross, “I want to construct
networks. Can I come give you the results you want?” He goes, “Did you web page
me?” I become like, “Yeah.” It’s a part of being relentless. He is going, “Come
on board. Let’s do it.” I came down. I started out working for Telamon.
The first opportunity I had turned into running in crucial
places of work in the network. One of our customers become Verizon. I was
running outside within the summer time at the Bronson Hospital. I pass, “This
is the exact opposite of working exterior.” I’m operating internal central
offices, getting my hands grimy accessible with the crews, jogging cables,
placing relay racks in, and losing strength into BDFBs. I were given the first-hand
enjoy of project managing, handling revenue fees and subject teams. I enjoyed
it. Dave got here through and said, “We’re working on an outdoor plant
possibility for AT&T. Are you interested?” I go, “Yeah. I get to work
outdoor. I’m precise with that.” I got to revel in the outdoor plant facet of
it.
At one point, I turned into looking to get into the wi-fi
area. I helped begin the wi-fi division within there. I ran into a few
entrepreneurs that we’re building high-velocity wireless broadband in rural
America. I changed into supporting them with some of the business case
components of it. There’s a cost in phrases of ways you install that community
from a offerings angle. They stated, “Why don’t you join our crew and let’s
move try this?” At a younger age, I were given the entrepreneurial kick. I went
out and raised some angel funding. I become bringing excessive-speed wi-fi
broadband there. We sold that enterprise multiple years later.
I reached out to another one in all my mentors, Joe Sanzo,
at SAC Wireless. I requested him, “I had sold the business. What do you guys as
much as?” He goes, “We’re inside the procedure of changing our patron approach.
We’re going faraway from more of a tier- to a tier-one, running without delay
for community operators.” He said, “Would you want to help us do that?” I
stated, “Yeah, permit’s do it.” I’m worker range 100 over there. I become part
of all the transformation that is going from a hundred humans to tapping up to
three,000 people at one time and all of the human beings and the processes that
were related to that.
Throughout that entire journey, I had an incredible
possibility to touch all factors of the network and what it takes to deploy,
imperative office, outside plant, fiber, small cells, tower and DAS. I got this
specific wide lens of the enterprise. Fast ahead to where we are now, know-how
of the whole thing that’s happening inside the surroundings around investment.
We’re seeing the important infrastructure. We’re seeing at the government
degree. We see what's happening. I wanted to take the possibility to mention
how can I help different corporations that need to take on a lot work? How are
we able to enhance their operation and help digitize that for them a good way
to take on greater work? What we do here is significant. We join humans with
their families. We build a first-responder network. We even make it easy for
groceries to land at our house.
I like that. I had groceries land up to my house. Thank you
very a whole lot.
Sitetracker’s notable answer is assisting us do more with
fewer human beings and it sounds exciting.
It’s tremendous. I’m in this next chapter. I joined
Sitetracker. Throughout that complete journey, I became continually looking for
this outstanding device that made it less difficult to connect humans with how
we deploy. I’m here at Sitetracker. We’re a SaaS company. We’re built in the
Cloud, designed to build infrastructure. We assist undertaking groups, asset
owners and groups in the field do the process the best that they are able to.
How long has Sitetracker been in commercial enterprise?
We’ve been round given that 2014 or 2015.
I’ve heard a lot approximately Sitetracker. It’s exciting to
go a bit deeper right here. There is that this large shift taking vicinity
inside the international, the virtual transformation. How will this shift
assist businesses power productiveness, accelerate boom? How is this going to
assist corporations? I realize that is an obvious answer, but I want to examine
this from a view of you being internal of a SaaS corporation coming from
Telacom.
As a lot because it’s a US assignment, it’s a worldwide
venture as properly. Since coming over here, we’ve performed some international
calls with a few different firms over there. It’s a global project. The fine
manner to do this is by means of looking at how we optimize the basics and the
way we execute. We’ve been accepting the popularity quo for too long. It’s been
affecting our stability sheets. It’s been affecting our work-lifestyles
balance. There are some firms available which might be early adopters and
recognizing this. Whether it’s Tillman, Ericsson, SCC Wireless, Cox
Communication, Lumen, and Vodafone. There are a lot of doubters who say, “We
want to clear up this? We need generation with a view to do that.” They’re
reaping the advantages of that.
The possibility is to be that talents equalizer and
translator that receives all of us at the equal page. We study the basics as to
how can we optimize our forecasting and aligning expectancies across the whole
value chain of how that infrastructure gets spent all the way down to the
humans in the field. Taking away educated guess, making facts-pushed choices
and making sure that line alignment. By Implementing a software program device
like Sitetracker, you’re digitizing your operation. This is all approximately
the way you optimize your procedures, you will standardize them, and then we
need to automate the hell out of them.
We do that inside Sitetracker for instance by means of standardizing
the milestones throughout the whole program. We study developing that unmarried
repository for information and documents. It’s all within that view of that web
page level and then assigning accountability all the way down the web site
stage. Everybody is aware what their role is throughout that cost chain,
whether or not it’s on the asset acquisition side, construction aspect, the
integration. Everybody has that view of who’s answerable for what. What we want
to do is we need to degree that production and then make it transparent in the
course of the complete organisation. When you do this, organizations are going
in order to tackle greater paintings. They’re going with a purpose to force
prices out in their business. Their margins are going to boom because of that,
and hence enhancing your stability sheets.
How did COVID accelerate this want to digitize procedures
for organizations?
One of the matters to reflect onconsideration on there is
that it pushed us into an environment where all of us turn out to be extra
technologists. If we examine the environment that we’re in, the adaptability
round so as to use the software program as a device. Zoom goes into
telemedicine in place of going in the workplace. It’s enabled us to push that
envelope even extra there.
The backside line is, and we all recognize this, that there
aren't enough humans to deploy 5G. I’ve mentioned this over and over in
episodes that companies are turning down paintings because there are honestly
no longer enough people to do the paintings. How will digitization help clear
up this problem?
That is going to what I became speakme about in phrases of
creating it an surroundings wherein we optimize those fundamentals. That’s what
I become focused on around how that digitization allows do that and that we’re
capable of take on extra paintings by way of permitting that piece of it.
Tools like Sitetracker’s brilliant solution that’s going to
assist us do greater with fewer humans and it sounds interesting. There’s an
entire different aspect of this although, that's the extra that gets automated,
the less human beings we want. What takes place to the people? What are your
thoughts on this as we move alongside via this automation, digitization and how
it’s going to affect the body of workers, the telecom team of workers
specially?
What you’re outlining there's tech is intimidating. It
shouldn’t be intimidating. We’re a majority of these technologists. We see all
this era that’s around us and we’re utilising it. Change control is the issue.
How can we trade associated with that? How do we solve that? Sitetracker is an
example of a hit exchange control. We’re dealing with $25 billion of
belongings. We have 25,000 different users. Our adoption price is 94%, which is
exquisite. The reason why is because we’ve created a gadget that’s intuitive.
It’s recognizable.
I changed into on this Sitetracker Certification Program
when I first came on. You may want to feel the relief coming off people as it
become like, “Somebody finally found out what we have been seeking out.” An
example of this is our trackers, our internet-primarily based spreadsheets.
There’s always this venture round integrating new software program. We created
a sandbox and those could go play in. We have ready-made task templates. You’re
now not having to begin from scratch. It clicks codes, that certification
application. We also will partner with you on both business plan in which we
define that value after which we want to degree it. What I’m enthusiastic about
being right here is developing a solid partnership between our customers and
Sitetracker.