CenturyLink has hired Dell EMC veteran Gaurav Chand as executive VP of marketing, and named Level 3 veteran Shaun Andrews as executive VP of product management. Chand and Andrews both report to COO Jeff Storey. Looking further ahead, Storey is expected to succeed CEO Glen Post in 2019, CenturyLink has previously announced.
The executive moves come at a key time for CenturyLink, which is digesting the massive Level 3 Communications acquisition while focusing aggressively on managed network services. The company still offers a range of cloud services, but backed away from head-on competition against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in 2016.
CenturyLink: Chand & Andrews Background
Chand previously was Chand served as the global senior vice president, marketing – infrastructure solutions group for Dell EMC. He played a key role ensuring the largely successful combination of Dell and EMC amid that massive merger. Chand will be responsible for CenturyLink's marketing strategy, marketing communications, brand and customer experience, the company says.
Meanwhile, Shaun Andrews previously was senior vice president, IP and real-time communications for Level 3, and has nearly 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, CenturyLink notes. Prior to Level 3, Andrews held a number of senior-level roles in product development, product management, sales and business development at IntelePeer, WilTel and SBC Communications, the company says. Andrews focuses on the company's go-to market strategy, pricing, product management and product marketing.
CenturyLink Earnings, Level 3 Synergies?
CenturyLink's Q3 2017 results, announced in November, underwhelmed Wall Street. But CEO Glen Post told investors and customers to stay tuned for synergies from the Level 3 buyout. His statement at the time:
"We're excited to have completed the Level 3 acquisition last week. We believe this combination creates one of the world's most powerful networks. Together, we have a compelling set of assets, the scale to compete globally and the opportunity to drive significant operational efficiencies. Although below our expectations, CenturyLink's third quarter 2017 high bandwidth services revenue increased more than five percent on a normalized basis year-over-year. This, together with Level 3's performance, reflects the continuing growth in demand for bandwidth and supports our belief that our increased scale and reach creates even greater potential for us to win in the marketplace. In addition, our commitment to enable market-leading customer experience and drive efficiencies into our business gives us great opportunity to grow adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow."
Now, CenturyLink will lean on leaders like Chand and Andrews to help drive those anticipated synergies.
Level 3 CEO Jeff Storey shifted to CenturyLink's president and chief operating officer position when the deal closed. It is expected that Storey will succeed Post as CEO effective Jan. 1, 2019 and that Post will then become executive chairman of the company's board of directors, CenturyLink said in June 2017.
