At SureWest Communications, bracing for change in a fiercely competitive market is the name of the game. Now the once-traditional telephone company offers a "quadruple play" of bundled services -- Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) landline and wireless phone, as well as high-speed Internet and digital TV -- to its 230,000 subscribers.

And like many telecoms, Roseville, Calif.-based SureWest has invested heavily in shoring up its network. Since 2002 the company has spent roughly $200 million on fiber optic lines to improve network capacity and better accommodate IP-based services as well as bundled packages. "The capacity requirements are very high, and bundled services only magnify these requirements," says CIO Tim Dotson.

As the $218-million telecom expands further into these offerings, it's using tight back-end system integration between the company's ordering, activation and other workflow systems to enable better, faster service. "We have to be very nimble and be able to make adjustments," says Dotson. "As we expand further into IP-based services, our systems have to be able to evolve."