Tony: Hello, I’m Tony Mangino from TC2, and this is Staying Connected—where we talk about what really matters to enterprise customers navigating today’s technology and sourcing decisions. Today we’ve got a fun one. We’re going to do something we don’t do that often–talk about ourselves! We are actually pretty excited about some changes happening at TC2 and LB3 that we want to share with you. We’ve refreshed our brands, launched new websites, developed a new communications strategy, and we think it’s worth a few minutes to explain why. I’m joined today by Andrew Brown, Managing Partner of LB3 and Chairman of TC2, and Ben Fox, Managing Director at TC2. Welcome, gentlemen.

Andrew: Thanks, Tony. Happy to be here. Although I have to say, talking about a branding exercise on Staying Connected is a little weird—kind of like explaining why you got a new haircut. You want people to notice that it looks good, but you don’t usually announce that you got one.

Ben: Agreed – it is certainly unusual for us to be so focused on ourselves! To over extend the haircut analogy, I think in this case we’ve not just had a trim, but changed our hair-styles, and we thought it would be good to answer the “why the new style” question before it’s even asked. So, here we are.

Tony: Well, I think the story behind the brand refresh is actually pretty interesting and important – way more so than talking about a haircut. So, let’s start at the top. Andrew, what prompted this? LB3 and TC2 have been around a long time. Why refresh the brand now?

Andrew: It’s a fair question. LB3 was founded over thirty years ago, and we created TC2 more than twenty-five years ago. For a long time, both firms were very well known and respected primarily for one thing—advising large enterprise customers on the legal. commercial and technical issues surrounding network services and network services sourcing. And we were really good at it. Still are.

Tony: Right. Half the Fortune 100 has worked with us on those issues at one point or another.

Andrew: Exactly. But, here’s the thing. Over the years, our clients started asking us to do more for them—a lot more—and we said yes every time because the work was a natural extension of what we already understood and leveraged the experience we had in emerging technologies beyond just the network side of the digital infrastructure space. The problem is that our marketing and branding didn’t keep pace with our capabilities. We were still primarily seen and known as network services specialists when, in reality, we’d been doing much broader work across many different services and technologies for many years.

Ben: And that gap was real. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a conversation with a prospective client, often even an existing client, and they’ve said something like, “Oh, I didn’t realize TC2 and LB3 did that.” And we’d been doing that for a long time. So it was clear that we had a branding and marketing problem, not a capabilities problem.

Tony: So the capabilities were already there—the marketing just hadn’t kept pace.

Andrew: That’s the short version, yes. Our subject matter knowledge has always been ahead of the curve. The refresh is about catching our external image up to where we’ve been operating for a while now.

Tony: Well, let’s get specific then. Ben , can you talk about how TC2’s practice has evolved? What does the work look like today compared to where TC2 started?

Ben: Back when TC2 first started in 1999/2000, our focus was almost entirely network services and telecom.  And ever since then TC2 has been the leader in advising large enterprise customers on sourcing, deploying, and cost management strategies for network services. But like Andrew said, our clients’ needs evolved, and so did we. Today we’re deep into cloud, SaaS and software deals, digital workplace services outsourcing, outsourced data center support and cloud managed services, Colo, managed print, global capability centers, UCaaS and CCaas, technology roadmap development, and contract compliance and optimization initiatives that go way beyond traditional telecom. In every instance, the foundational capabilities we bring – consultants that combine technology, analytical and negotiation skills; battle-hardened sourcing and negotiation methodologies and techniques and industry-leading sourcing templates and tools – enable us to support our clients in pretty much whatever area of technology and vendor services our clients’ needs support.  And we do that very successfully, by always being focused on optimizing the value of the technology dollars invested by our clients.

Tony: Andrew, you have responsibilities at both firms, so you’ve seen the evolution of capabilities that Ben described at TC2 for consulting services also happen at LB3 for its legal services.

Andrew: Absolutely. I think most people know that LB3 was founded to give enterprise customers exclusive representation by lawyers who were actually fluent in technology and understood the value of competitive sourcing practices.  And at the time that was focused on the regulatory landscape and the commercial dynamics of buying network services at scale. That was LB3’s foundation, and it still remains a core practice area. But today, and for a long time now, our engagements extend well beyond network services. We handle cloud services, managed services outsourcings, artificial intelligence and machine learning, automation solutions, software-enabled communications platforms, ERP solutions, deal restructurings, vendor dispute resolutions, cybersecurity and data governance issues.  It’s a long list!

Tony: Andrew, there’s a phrase you use a lot that captures the LB3 identity pretty well.

Andrew: Right—We are lawyers who are fluent in technology and how large enterprises use it.  And we know how to manage competitive negotiations and develop useful contracts that enable the use of technology to achieve business objectives.  That’s always been what we do. The specific technologies and products and services have changed over the years, but that fundamental identity hasn’t.

Tony: One of the things that defines both our organizations is that we exclusively represent enterprise buyers. We’re always on the buy side, so we don’t ever end up across the table from enterprise customers.

Ben: One hundred percent. We never forget what Andrew mentioned earlier that technology is a critical enabler of our clients’ business objectives and ultimately their success. We don’t sell technology. Unlike many advisor firms that are out there, we don’t take commissions from vendors or serve as a vendor sales channel.  We are agnostic as to which services or products or vendors our clients want to consider using, and we advise them based on analysis of objective factors—price competitiveness, technical capabilities, and experience delivering results to enterprise customers.

Andrew: And that’s true for LB3 as well. We exclusively represent enterprise buyers so there are not the types of legal conflicts you might find in other firms where vendors are also their clients for one reason or another. We always look at the world from the enterprise customer’s viewpoint and that gives us a very clear vision in every contract we negotiate, every dispute we handle, and every strategy we develop to help our clients achieve their objectives.

Tony: It’s interesting—you both keep coming back to this idea of focus. Exclusively representing buyers, no vendor-side work, no conflicts. Has that ever been a hard line to hold?

Andrew: It’s never been hard because it’s the whole point. The reason clients trust us is that our advice is unconflicted. We’re not selling them something and then advising them on how to buy it. That clarity of purpose is baked into both firms’ DNA, and it always has been.

Tony: Great point. So let’s talk about what actually changed with the refresh. New logos, new websites—Ben, was this a big undertaking?

Ben: It was about a year-long initiative, which sounds like a lot, but we did a really thorough examination led by an outside branding firm about how we conveyed our capabilities, the depth of our experience, and the sophistication of the work we perform. Even though we have really nice new websites and reimagined logos, the effort wasn’t just a cosmetic exercise—we revamped our communications strategy and how, going forward, we are going to share content with our clients and the public in general.  It’s also important to note that TC2 and LB3 coordinated the whole thing together. Complementary logos, complementary websites, a joint communications strategy.

Tony: That’s a good segue, because I think the relationship between TC2 and LB3 is one of the things people don’t always fully appreciate. Andrew, can you talk about how the two firms work together?

Andrew: Well, as you know, Tony, and everyone in our firms knows, it’s my favorite thing to talk about! So, LB3 created TC2 over twenty-five years ago to provide commercial consulting commensurate with LB3’s legal knowledge and experience, and from day one it filled a really underserved need for large enterprises. From the very beginning, the two firms were designed to work hand in hand on particular types of matters, and that integrated relationship is one of our biggest differentiators—our ability to join seamlessly to bring a comprehensive portfolio of business and legal acumen to complex technology initiatives. It’s something that distinguishes us in a market that’s crowded with advisory noise but often short on successful outcomes.

Ben: I’d add that it’s not just that we can work together—it’s that we do, routinely. Clients get both commercial and legal insight without having to manage two separate relationships that don’t talk to each other. The coordination is built in and our services dovetail together with zero gaps between the sourcing advisor and legal counsel. And when you’re dealing with a complex technology initiative that has both business and legal dimensions—which is most of them—that seamless approach makes a real difference.  As an example, we just completed work on a huge strategic initiative for a large Fortune 250 national retailer with nearly $12 billion in revenue that included a significant managed services outsourcing and network transport deal with multiple vendors.  TC2 and LB3 were both involved from the beginning of the project until its completion–developing the strategy, working with internal stakeholders, running the sourcing events, evaluating vendors, then negotiating the commercial and legal terms for the final deals.  We have done many similar joint projects for clients over the years and often continue advising them on a joint basis once the initial projects are done.

Tony:. And the refreshed branding makes that connection even more visible. You look at the two sites, the two logos, and it’s immediately clear these firms are part of the same family.

Andrew: That was intentional. We wanted existing clients and new prospects alike to see the full picture—not just what one firm does, but what both firms can bring to the table together.  At the same time, it’s important to note that all the way back to the earliest days, the firms also function independently, with independent identities, and in many cases independent clients, where we work on matters that are solely within each firm’s specific competency.  We work together where it makes sense—which is often—but we also can support specific client needs on the legal and consulting side, fully independently.  We do both as a matter of course.

Tony: Let me ask this. For a long-standing client who’s worked with us for years—what’s different for them? What does this refresh actually mean in practical terms?

Andrew: For long-standing clients, the refresh gives them greater visibility into the full breadth of what we can do. A lot of our clients know us for one thing—maybe we helped them with a major telecom sourcing project five years ago—and they may not realize that we now handle cloud strategy, managed services outsourcings, deal restructurings, or data privacy work. The new websites and communications strategy are designed to close that gap.

Ben: And for new enterprise customers who are just learning about us, the refreshed brand helps them understand the value we can bring right from the start, instead of having to discover it over time. We want them to land on the website and immediately get it—here’s what our firms do, here’s why it matters, here’s how we can help them.

Tony: I want to circle back to something Ben said earlier about staying at the leading edge of the technology curve. That’s a phrase we use a lot internally. What does it actually mean day to day?

Ben: It means we invest the time to understand not just what technologies are available today but where they’re headed and what that means for enterprise buyers. Our clients aren’t making decisions for next quarter—they’re making decisions that affect their technology posture for the next five to ten years.  We understand that and can advise them how to do that most effectively.

Andrew: And on the legal side, it means understanding the regulatory and contractual implications of technologies that are not only currently deployed but for that that are still emerging.  You can’t, for example, negotiate a great cloud services agreement or a comprehensive managed services outsourcing agreement if you don’t understand the legal and regulatory environment framing those services.

Tony: And I suppose that’s part of what the refresh communicates too—that these aren’t firms stuck in the past. The work has evolved, the experience has evolved, and now the brand reflects that.

Ben: Exactly. We’ve always been forward-looking in our work. Now our brand is too. And I think that’s going to resonate with clients who are trying to navigate what is, frankly, a pretty complicated technology landscape right now.

Tony: So to sum it up—same great firms, same great people, same commitment to clients, but a refreshed and updated brand that tells the full story.

Andrew: That’s well put. The substance hasn’t changed. We’ve just made it easier for people to see it.

Tony: I love that. Alright, well, thanks Andrew and Ben. This was a great conversation, and I think our listeners are going to enjoy seeing the new look. We look forward to an exciting future marked by our continued collaboration and engagement with all of you and invite you to check out the new websites by visiting lb3law.com and techcaliber.com at the links in the email you received, and you’ll see everything we’ve been talking about.

As always, if you have questions about how LB3 and TC2 can help with your technology initiatives, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Andrew, Ben, me, or any of our LB3 and TC2 colleagues with whom you regularly work. We would be happy to speak with you about our capabilities, any challenges you are facing, and how we might be able to help.

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