BT’s CIO and chief change agent, Al-Noor Ramji, asked Sterling to devise an internal/external communications program that would promote a transformation rivaling IBM’s makeover under Gerstner in both scope and complexity.

The Challenge
BT (NYSE:BT) is one of the oldest telecommunications companies in the world and for many decades was the monopoly provider of telephone service in UK. In 2003, the company embarked on an incredible transformation, one that rests on the deployment of the first global, end-to-end, all IP network, known as the 21st Century Network or 21CN. For BT, the new network promised to not only reduce operating costs, but also create a new platform for delivering advanced communications services for BT's consumer and business customers around the world.  

Sterling was brought on in 2005 to provide communications strategy and outreach for BT Exact, BT's IT and operations business unit (which would later become BT Design). BT Exact wanted to create awareness of the role it was playing in the remaking of BT from a traditional "climbing poles and digging holes" telephone company into a truly modern, global networked IT services company.  In particular, BT wanted to highlight the innovative measures it was taking to become a more software-oriented, customer-centric company that delivered products in ever shorter cycles. But most importantly, BT wanted to be considered the telecommunications thought leader and a beacon for the rest of the industry.

The Approach
As BT Exact was still a primarily internal IT organization and BT's other operating units owned the company's customer relationships, Sterling would have to fashion a strategy that did not rely on some of the traditional tools of the PR trade.  We wouldn't have external customer wins or implementations to tout or specific products to promote.  What BT Exact did have, however, was a compelling story about how a company steeped in tradition would turn to an agent of change to completely remake the organizational structure, processes, priorities and even the basic way of thinking of its 20,000 person IT group.  That agent of change was BT Group CIO Al-Noor Ramji.

From the outset, Ramji envisioned a leaner IT organization that was more focused on and directly involved with BT's customers.  Ramji saw BT's new all IP network as being analogous to a PC operating system. The network was the platform on which a new generation of applications would run, applications created by BT and eventually by third parties. But to be successful, BT would have to operate more like a computer software company than a telephone company.

Sterling focused on identifying opportunities for Ramji and some of his key subordinates to speak at industry event and to provide contributed articles outlining the company's vision. Sterling also identified numerous award opportunities for BT Exact/Design, for Ramji and for other members of BT Exact's management team. In addition, Sterling also sought recognition for several of the company's internal IT initiatives, such as its efforts to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of its data centers.

The Results
Sterling's outreach resulted in sustained positive coverage for BT as a whole, for BT Exact/Design and for Ramji and other members of the BT Exact/Design management team. Feature coverage included profiles of BT's green data center initiative, BT Exact's implementation of an Agile development program (which was regarded as ground breaking for a company of BT's size) and several profiles of Ramji and his executive team, including cover stories in CXO Europe, IT Training, Optimize, Computing Business and others. The company was also positioned as an industry leader in round-up stories in InfoWorld, CIO, CIO Insight, and ComputerWorld.

Sterling also helped BT gain a great deal of recognition through industry awards. BT won or was a finalist for numerous awards including the ComputerWorld Premier 100 IT Leaders, CIO Ones to Watch, InfoWorld 100, CIO 100 and many others.