Star2Star – May 2020

SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESSES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Star2Star

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

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INNOVATION IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

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Michelle Accardi, President and CRO, explains why Star2Star’s industry-recognised communications solutions are so popular and why remote working is the company’s 2020 focus

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ith the new paradigm of remote working suddenly becoming a necessity for many businesses stemming from the COVID-19

(coronavirus) pandemic, having a solid communications network with the latest technology has taken on global importance. It is arguable that few companies are poised to remedy the situation quite like Star2Star.

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Having recently enhanced its remote work solutions with extended features and capabilities, the company understands the current challenges that businesses face when transitioning to a remote environment. Star2Star’s bespoke communications solutions factor in the size, operational scope and technical requirements for businesses of various operational models and industry backgrounds.

Relatively unique in the industry, all of Star2Star’s enterprise solutions are developed in-house, meaning they are seamlessly compatible with each other and able to be scaled up or down depending on the customer’s requirement. It was this aspect of the company which attracted Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, to join Star2Star in 2013. Having previously worked in a range of different roles at companies such as

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“ I can relate to the challenges of my partners and my customers because as a business leader myself I now fully understand what they are facing”

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This expertise also helps Accardi

— Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

focus on how to direct Star2Star’s

CA Technologies, Accardi states

When the subject of her being recog-

that these experiences have created

nised by CRN as a Channel Chief – an

her holistic approach to working at

endorsement of an individual’s effec-

Star2Star. “I’ve been in all areas of

tive management and high standing

the technology and communications

in the business community – for the

business, whether that’s develop-

sixth year consecutively is mentioned,

ment, operations, marketing or sales.

Accardi is modest and states that

I can relate to the challenges of my

she is simply happy to play a part in

partners and my customers because

Star2Star’s mission. “It means a lot and

as a business leader myself I now fully

to be recognised for building a busi-

understand what they are facing.”

ness that enables other companies

efforts in developing solutions that meet and answer a market need.

Star2Star — A New Perspective CLICK TO WATCH

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1:30

07 to be successful,” she explains. “Being

communications system. Possessing

recognised as a Channel Chief means

a portfolio that includes solutions

that you’re truly impacting a greater

for voice, video, instant messaging,

ecosystem of people and reaching

mobile, fax, collaboration, integration

more customers. So, I think it’s quite

and communications management

an honour.”

tools, Star2Star’s comprehensive

The breadth of Star2Star’s expertise and the crafted integration of

solution set is designed to meet every business need.

its platform are, for Accardi, vital. Its

When asked what trends she sees

cloud-based business phone and

as important, Accardi has a simple and

communications facilities, includ-

prescient answer: the cloud. “There

ing VoIP (voice over IP) services and

are still some companies that aren’t in

its enterprise solutions platform

the cloud and that is something which

deliver the reliability, flexibility and

will either drive transformation, or, if

integrity required of a corporate

they don’t adapt, could result in them w w w.st a r2 st a r. com

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S TA R 2 S TA R

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“ It means a lot and to be recognised for building a business that enables other companies to be successful” of a ‘complete cloud communications’ — Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

platform.” The importance of the cloud for Star2Star cannot be overemphasised, as it is the environment from which the company’s vision of a com-

going out of business.” She goes on

plete integrated platform sprang; it was

to address Star2Star’s new position-

by leveraging the inherent potential of

ing, saying, “We’re changing how we

the cloud that the company is able to

talk about our platform. We previ-

offer its scalable and seamlessly inter-

ously called it a full spectrum solution

woven solutions.

because it offers end-to-end applica-

For Accardi, it is the company’s in-

tions, but now I’m envisioning it as more

house development capabilities which

Michelle Accardi

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

As President and Chief Revenue Officer, Michelle’s mission is to inspire and maintain growth for the company and its partners and ensure that customers get significant value from Star2Star’s products and services. Michelle works with the executive leadership team of Star2Star to define long-term vision and operational strategy to assure that growth and market potential are achieved.

In pursuit of this goal, Michelle sees as a primary function of her role to engage and listen to employees, partners, and customers to gather information needed to keep Star2Star on the optimal strategic path. In this way, customer success is assured as employees and partners are inspired to deliver an excellent product and experience with every interaction. In her previous position as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Michelle used these same methods to develop new processes and systems to streamline business interactions. She grew departmental leadership and expanded Star2Star’s support capabilities to better serve customer and partner needs.

Michelle is also regarded a technical thought leader on next-generation marketing and communications strategies. Her book, Agile Marketing, chronicles her experiences applying agile methodology to the marketing process for better results and faster time to value. She brought her substantial executive-level and tech industry experience with her to Star2Star, having driven innovative, agile, revenue-producing field and channel marketing programs for one of the world’s most relied upon technology companies, Computer Associates. In 2016, Michelle was named to the CRN 2016 Power 100 – an elite subset of CRN’s prestigious annual Women of the Channel list – for the second year in a row. In 2015, she was named a CRN Channel Chief, an annual list representing select leaders in the IT channel who hold direct responsibility for driving growth and revenue through the reseller channel. In 2014, Michelle was honored to be named Businesswoman of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Michelle holds an MBA from American Intercontinental University and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida.

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Tour de Star

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CLICK TO WATCH

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2:42

2006

Year founded

99.4%

Customer retention rate

250+ Number of employees

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“ Our mission this year is to help other companies that are going to struggle” — Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

distinguish it from its competitors.

“The technology we’ve built ourselves enables really great call quality and capabilities for a good price, whereas other companies, because they’re dependent on third-party products, whether it’s video or contact centre, it drives their costs up,” she states.

“Because our competitors only have the ability to work with third-party products, they don’t have something that’s built specifically for their network

With the need for reliable communication networks growing rapidly as more workforces settle into working from home, Accardi views remote working and business continuity as paramount to the company’s vision for the rest of 2020. “Thankfully, Star2Star is a very financially healthy organisation.

Our mission this year is to help other companies that are going to struggle,” she says. Identifying the assistance of other businesses and organisations is characteristic of Accardi’s approach and representative of Star2Star overall. Its flexibility, diversity and tech expertise packaged with a highly customer-oriented approach has already earned it acclaim and is sure to to ensure call quality.” This end-to-end

build a strong reputation in the North

development forms the crux of what

American communications sector. “We

makes Star2Star so valuable in today’s

have solutions for every business, big

market: it’s a company that wants to

and small,” Accardi concludes. “We

provide great value to its customers by

believe what we offer is far better than

bundling services together and scaling

what customers could get piecemeal or

the product to suit their business needs.

even in bundles from other competitors.

And its approach seems to be working:

We’re focused on doing everything we

Star2Star has an impressive 99.4%

can to help companies as they deal with

customer retention rate amongst its

the new challenges of remote working.”

thousands of clients, a sure indicator of the perceived quality of its services. w w w.st a r2 st a r. com

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STAR2STAR 600 TALLEVAST RD. STE.202 SAR ASOTA FL 3424 3 USA T +941 234 0001

www.star2star.com

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