Internet access is a human right, the United Nations argues, and ETI Software agrees.

For the past 30 years, ETI Software has worked with telecommunications companies to “reduce the technical and processing complexity” around delivering network services. In decades past, the bulk of telecommunication companies’ responsibilities revolved around providing network TV programming. Today, those network services go beyond providing entertainment. Now, they’re essential.

“They’re allowing our kids to go to school remotely and helping us call our doctors,” says ETI Software Vice President Pete Pizzutillo. “The demand for broadband has shifted. This is a really timely opportunity to help these small, regional providers, who are really taking care of the heart of America.”

Last year, ETI Software migrated its tools into Microsoft Dynamics 365. Pizzutillo tells PartnerTalks that the shift has allowed his company to meet – and exceed – their clients’ expectations.

“Our mission was really to take the enterprise tools and capabilities that large, tier-one broadband service providers have and deliver it to everybody,” he says. “We couldn’t do it by ourselves, so we looked around and found that the Dynamics 365 is a secure, stable platform that we can build off of.”

Around a year and a half ago, ETI Software made the jump into the Dynamics 365 ecosystem. Since then, the company has grown from what Pizzutillo calls a “small provider of technical capability” to “being able to help anyone who works within this business’ functional silos, end-to-end.”

Pizzutillo says he’s excited to continue working with Microsoft as it matures its artificial intelligence and internet-of-things technologies. Microsoft, through its Airband Initiative, partners with grassroots organizations and ISPs to deliver

its innovations to underserved communities.

In 2019, only half of the global population had internet access, and nearly 15 per cent live without electricity.

The Airband Initiative invests in affordable, off-grid energy providers to deliver reliable electricity and leverages unused broadcast frequencies to deliver internet.

“Today, access to broadband is really an essential utility, like access to running water and electricity,” says Pizzutillo. “We’re really excited to be able to help deliver these critical services.”