Some companies look at the market and immediately target the biggest fish in the pond, figuring that is the easiest way to make a profit. But other companies realize that, when looking at any industry, there are many more small- and medium- sized businesses that need services and are often an underserved market. This latter strategy is the one employed by GLDS, which, according to its president and COO Garrick Russell, offers “tier 1 functionality without a tier 1 price” to small and medium operators, providing a suite of solutions that really meet customer needs.

GLDS can trace its roots back to the 1980s, when a franchised cable operation needed a billing solution that was not too expensive. The company built its own system and later sold its cable assets to focus on software, though it maintains its “cable DNA,” as Russell puts it. GLDS boasts about 225 operators in 44 countries, including 49 US states. The company focuses on small- and medium- operators, those with 250,000 or fewer subscribers. Russell stated that GLDS offers “soup-to-nuts” service in what he calls a “best-of-suite platform,” which features homegrown solutions.

Russell highlighted his company’s emphasis on customer service, highlighting a yearly customer conference where GLDS looks at development. The company also leverages its vast experience, featuring a leadership team with impressive pedigree in the cable industry.

Recently, GLDS began a new project with Tacoma, Washington-based Click! The provider migrated over from one of the bigger players in the space, and Russell stated that companies often make the move to GLDS because it offers 80 percent of the features of, say, CSG, at 20 percent of the price. Couple that with a company culture that is consistent with SMBs, and it is clear to see how GLDS is the right fit for companies like Click!

“TV Everywhere” is one of the largest trends in the industry, and was certainly one of the biggest topics at The Cable Show in Washington, DC. When I spoke to him at this event, Russell stated that GLDS offers the only product in the market that offers a fully integrated TV Everywhere platform. Others, he said, require exports from billing systems to other platforms. GLDS offers a single sign-on platform where end customers use the same credentials to check their bill as they would for TV everywhere. As for the future, Russell says that the company is quite interested in workforce management, looking to created a fully integrated, Android (News - Alert)-based WFM solution to track and chat with technicians.