Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

SOLUTION QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHY WE ASK IT1. What type of network(s) do you have today? (Do you have a network map?)

MPLS/VPLS (private), internet based with VPN tunnel (IPSEC), pt to pt, possibly PRI's

To understand what they have in place today, what applications are running what network type, and get a scale of how large/complex the opportunity is.

a. Who are your current providers? AT&T, Verizon, Level 3, Sprint, CenturyLink, EarthLink, Windstream, MegaPath, XO Communications, Comcast Business, and Time Warner

If they have multiple providers/locations, there is a good opportunity for Masergy to consolidate and provide an consistent QoS, delivery method, and improved visibility to network analytics, across all locations.

2. What do you hope to gain from our meeting today?

We're exploring change; A partner recommended we meet; We're not familiar with Masergy; We have an issue with "X" that we need to solve.

Establish their goals/objectives for taking the meeting and if Masergy can be an option. Did they just want to learn about Masergy? Are they price shopping? Do they have an issue they are trying to solve? All of this is relevant to our initial conversation and Masergy's success in this opportunity.

a. What's compelling you to explore other solutions?

Our current supplier has a "X" issues; Trying to address a costs issue; There has been a change in the business that's caused us to reevaluate our IT solutions, etc.

Understanding their motivation is key and areas where Masergy can add value.

b. What happens if you do nothing? We'll be unable to accomplish "X" with our business, continue to have inefficiencies within "Y" area, we won't realize a cost savings, contract is coming up and we're leaving our current provider - we need a plan, etc. (variety of answers, but we want them to have SOME sort of answer)

This helps us understand what they are trying to solve. If they have no negative impact of staying where they are, there is no opportunity for Masergy. But if doing nothing causes a negative impact, ask them to quantify that impact ($$) to their business. Also establishes a sense of urgency.

c. What are your concerns about making a change?

Down time, disrupting the business, negative feedback from employees, internal resources/costs to make the move.

We need to know that they are committed to change and have at least considered the time, investment, and risk associated with it. If they are not committed to it, we need to decide if its worth our time/resources to pursue.

Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

SOLUTION QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHY WE ASK IT3. How has the business driven the current network configuration?

It was this way when I got here; Its grown piece by piece as our business as grown/acquisition or as we've added applications, data centers, cloud providers, etc.; or a combination of the two

To uncover what how their business works with their network, why its set up as it is today, what has happened over the past few years, and get them talking about their network in general (good and bad).

a. Is the network viewed as a cost to the business or critical to revenue generation?

Variety of answers, but it could be either a cost to their business, a pathway for revenue, or a combination of both depending on the location.

Provides additional context to their needs. If revenue generation, this plays to Masergy's strong suit - reliability, customer experience, visibility/control, etc.

b. What are your limitations with the current network configuration? (OR - What do you like about the current configuration?)

We have multiple suppliers and we're looking to consolidate; Poor support and/or performance; Its not meeting the needs of our business now; We don't have a integrated solution so all of our locations can effectively share data; We have limited visibility into our traffic today. Or, we're happy with "X" from our current provider.

To uncover specific areas where Masergy's solution can add value to their business. If its Support, we have the best NPS in the business (65); if its performance, we have the best network performance backed by the strongest SLA; if its limited solution flexibility, Masergy's SDP allows us to develop customized, hybrid solutions based on our customer's business needs.

c. What has been your experience with customer support from your providers?

Variety of answers, but the majority should be around slow to respond to issues, poor communication, treat me like a number, and don't seem to really care about my business. Overall, a bad or very inconsistent experience.

Helps position Masergy's strengths from a customer experience perspective. A key differentiator for Masergy's Support team's bonus structure is based on our Net Promoter Score, which is entirely focused on the customers experience and "likely to recommend"; not how many tickets closed in an hour or other meaningless metrics.

d. (Assuming negative) What was the impact ($$) to your business or customers, internal and external?

They lost "X" amount of business or revenue or customers because of it; It negatively impacted their brand; Customers/Employees lost trust in our IT solutions.

Its important to relate the issue to a specific quantified number, as lost revenue, opportunity cost, etc. to their business. As your selling the value of Masergy network reliability and customer experience, reiterate how our solution would mitigate the risk the previous issue had on their business/customers and what it cost them. This keeps the focus away from price, and on the business value of the Masergy solution.

Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

SOLUTION QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHY WE ASK IT4. What mission-critical applications are running over your network?

Voice, video, Citrix, CRM software (Salesforce), or ERP software (Oracle or SAP), Financial applications (Fiserv, Equifax)

The reliability and availability of the systems/applications are a big part of their business and must have a robust network. If their network has performance issues, keeping these applications running all the time is a pain point. Masergy's network stats, SLA, and NPS are great things to keep in mind as they list out the mission critical applications.

a. Why are these applications important to the business?

They generate revenue from transactions; drive internal productivity; main way we interact with our customers; manage a vital internal function (contacts, CRM, accounting, HR, etc)

By focusing on the specific value of these applications, you can connect Masergy back to the need for a reliable network, analytics, and change control. If these applications are vital to their business and they've had problems with their current provider - moving to another provider based on cost does not improve their business.

5. Are you currently using any cloud providers?

Yes/No Understand their use, knowledge, and comfort level with the cloud.

a. If yes, who are those providers and how are you connected?

AWS, Google, Microsoft Azure, RapidScale, RackSpace, IBM Softlayer. The primary connection method is via the public internet; the secondary method is a dedicated private connection.

Masergy is directly connected to the top cloud providers in the industry and our customers can share our private connections without having to meet the high bandwidth minimum.

b. (If none) Are you looking to migrate some of your applications to the cloud in the future?

Most want to understand how they can leverage the cloud to either lower costs or quickly scale when they need more capacity.

Many customers are not using the cloud today simply because they lack the understanding of how to use it. This could be a point of discussion with the SE during the next meeting.

Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

SOLUTION QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHY WE ASK IT6. How has your network grown/expanded over the years? (via acquisition, organic user growth, etc.)

Variety of answers The more the network has grown, the more Masergy's value proposition and tools to allow them change/control the bandwidth, QoS, etc. will be seen as a benefit.

- (If its grown) When you bring up or expand networks, how much lead time are you typically given to accomplish this?

I get very limited notice and have difficulty getting the carrier to respond quickly to support the deadline, as dropping a new circuit takes several months.

This is a pain point for many IT organizations. With Masergy's "Network as a Service" offering, we can leverage the existing public internet connection to set up a secure VPN tunnel (IP SEC) to their MPLS network, very quickly.

- (if no growth, on to next question) NOTE: If the customers network is not dynamic in some way or has been the same configuration for many years and they don't want to change it - this may not be the best fit for Masergy.

- What level of control do you have over your network to adjust as requirements change?

Most changes have to be initiated via a Customer Support ticket, which can be done online in some cases, but typically not in real-time. Changes take time and require human interaction during business hours.

Masergy's award-winning Intelligent Service Control (ISC) enables complete interaction with their network in real-time from anywhere in the world. Customers can adjust bandwidth, port size, and service planes - at any time via any web enabled device. This control is possible thanks to Masergy's global SDP.

7. Do you manage your own equipment at each location (like routers, firewalls, etc.) or do you outsource that?

They will more than likely either: 1) Manage their own and want to keep it that way, 2) Manage their own and want to outsource it, or 3) Outsource it and want to keep it outsourced.

At Masergy, we can either take over the management of their existing equipment (depending on the manufacturer) or we can provide our own equipment as part of the monthly fee. In either case, the "edge" of our network SLA would extend to the equipment we manage, as well. Or, they can continue to manage it themselves.

Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

SOLUTION QUESTIONS POSSIBLE ANSWERS WHY WE ASK IT8. What sort of visibility or analytics tools do you have to see the traffic going over your network?

Many carriers have a 3rd party solution that requires additional premise equipment, and/or receive limited information that is not real-time, and/or can not support a consistent reporting interface based on location (different network in different locations, etc.). Another potential answer is that they pay for another network monitoring system, like Solar Winds.

Understanding the performance of the network and the applications going across it, is key to managing the business. Masergy's real-time reporting and analytics offering (Intelligent Network Analyst) allows our customer the visibility into their complete network fabric, across all locations, in a single interface. Also improves faster time to resolve problem with greater visibility to the issue.

- What is the value to your business of having that visibility?

Variety of answers, but this should be very important to the organization. Especially to the person/team managing the IT solutions and network.

See above, but if this is a pain point and the value of having this information is high - Masergy is a good fit to improve this situation.

Q U A L I F Y I N GQ U E S T I O N S

HybridNetworking

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SCOPING QUESTIONS WHY WE ASK IT1. How many sites do you have, both domestic and international? (If International, which countries? Include data centers, remote employees, etc.)

To understand the scope of the potential solution from a location perspective. International locations are good for Masergy.

2. Do you have a system inventory, by location that you can share? General scoping question to understand hope to optimize their voice configuration across all locations.

3. Do you have a voice solution diagram for all locations that we can use as a reference?

To know where reliability and scalability matters most across their locations.

4. How many users across all locations? General scoping question.

PROCESS QUESTIONS WHY WE ASK IT1. What is the decision making process if you found a solution that improved your current security posture?

Important for forecasting this potential opportunity and defining the direction of next steps

2. Who else is involved in the decision? It’s important to understand both the BTL and ATL contacts. This could be a good point to ask for an intro to CIO/CISO to ensure multiple touch points within the account.

3. For decisions or changes like this, how long does that process typically take?

Important for forecasting this potential opportunity.

4. Is there a contract term with your existing vendor that we need to be aware of?

Important from a forecasting perspective

5. Is there a target implementation date for this project? Use this date as a guidepost for all planning and to keep the opportunity moving forward.

6. Is there an existing budget allocated to upgrade or enhanced the network?

This is key to understanding their financial commitment to making a change/expand their solution with Masergy.