Private equity firm NewSpring Capital purchased the Seattle, Wash.-based telecommunications provider X5 Solutions on March 25, installing Greg Forrest at X5's new CEO.

Forrest is the former president of AGC Networks, and president and CEO of XETA Technologies (now Windstream).

Forrest said he is evolving X5 from telecom carrier to unified communications-as-a-service solution company. He also said X5 is going to be unveiling new offerings for the market later this year, including extending cloud telecom and application capabilities and unified communications solutions.

"The goal is to identify strong regional providers like X5 in a number of NFL-type cities and create a larger geographic carrier footprint to provider expanded communications, cloud and managed services," said Forrest.

Forrest talks to IT Best of Breed about how he will grow and reshape X5, and the role partners will play in the company's success. 

What is your vision for the company’s new growth strategy?

I've found that by starting from the desired result of a growth strategy helps an audience better understand the strategies behind the growth. Our desired result is a nationally relevant communications firm providing both traditional network services as well as cloud based managed services to mid-market enterprise customers. The growth thesis can be articulated as a five phase approach "ACTCG".

1) Acquire a foundational firm 2) Consolidate like kind assets in 7 to 10 NFL markets 3) Transform the business model from carrier services to a communications company delivering advanced technologies as a service 4) Convert the revenue profile from switchless resale to on-net service through network infrastructure upgrades and expansions5) Grow the newly acquired mid-market enterprise customer base through organic growth initiatives.

What do you see currently trending in the unified communications and VoIP market?

The most significant trend is occurring in the mid-market, with the evolution of the Unified Communications as-a-Service strategy now firmly taking hold in the SMB space and now pushing into the mid-market.  Buyers have made the shift to cloud based offerings.  Our plan to migrate from carrier to communications company is designed to capitalize on this trend.

How are you going to better enable your partners and channel community?

We believe in the value of our agent partner channel and expect our partners to be a key component to our growth strategy. The partner community has outstanding relationships with their customers. We will soon be offering additional tools and resources to our agent channel to support the growth of their business.  Our long-term growth strategy will provide the agent channel with additional operational capacity, broader product and service offerings and an expanded geographical reach.