FirstComm Taps Ops Veteran to Overhaul Customer Experience Strategy

AKRON, OH – January 06, 2026 – FirstComm, a national provider of managed technology and communication services, has announced the strategic appointment of David Battaglia as its new Vice President of Customer Experience. The move signals a significant push by the company to reinforce its customer-facing operations and streamline internal processes, positioning superior service as a core pillar of its growth strategy in an increasingly competitive market.

Battaglia, an executive with a deep background in transformation and operations across the telecom, cloud, and SaaS industries, is tasked with elevating FirstComm's service delivery. The hire comes as businesses across all sectors place a higher premium on service reliability and a seamless customer journey, often valuing the experience as much as the technology itself.

"FirstComm's commitment to exceptional customer experience is core to everything we do," said CEO Paul Van Hyfte in the official announcement. "David's global perspective, operational rigor, and passion for developing high-performing teams make him an exceptional addition to our leadership team. His expertise will play a critical role as we continue investing in innovations and service improvements that directly benefit our customers."

Bridging the Experience Gap

FirstComm has long marketed its services with a promise of reliability and a "transparent, white glove service" model, featuring testimonials that praise its scalability and supportive technology. The company's website emphasizes a customer-centric approach with "real people, not bots" to handle client needs. This positioning is crucial in a market where personalized support can be a powerful differentiator.

However, the reality of customer experience in the tech services industry is often complex. While many clients report positive outcomes, independent reviews from recent years suggest that some FirstComm customers have faced challenges with post-sale support, indicating a potential gap between the company's service promise and its execution. Reports of difficulties in receiving timely assistance after the initial setup highlight a common pain point for many managed service providers: maintaining high-quality support as the company scales.

Battaglia's appointment appears to be a direct and strategic response to this challenge. His role is not just about managing customer relations but about re-architecting the underlying operations to ensure the customer experience is consistent, reliable, and scalable. The goal is to transform the company's operational foundation so that the "white glove" promise is felt at every touchpoint of the customer lifecycle.

A New Playbook for Operational Excellence

David Battaglia is not a traditional customer service leader; he is an operations specialist. His career has focused on steering large-scale modernization initiatives and integrating people, processes, and systems to build sustainable and efficient operational structures. This background is particularly relevant in 2026, where customer experience is increasingly seen as an outcome of operational excellence.

His expertise is further illuminated by his previous work, including thought leadership on facilitating complex technology transitions. In a 2024 article for a cloud communications platform, Battaglia detailed a "white-glove approach" for migrating legacy voice systems, emphasizing education, meticulous planning, and comprehensive training to ensure a smooth customer transition. This philosophy of simplifying complexity and strengthening operational foundations is central to his reputation.

By hiring an executive known for untangling complex processes and removing internal barriers to execution, FirstComm is signaling a commitment to fixing problems at their source. Instead of simply adding more support staff, the strategy is to build a more efficient, collaborative, and accountable internal system that prevents service issues from arising in the first place.

"I'm excited to join FirstComm, where the company is so deeply committed to raising the bar for customers," Battaglia stated. "Reliable operations and great customer experience go hand in hand. I look forward to partnering with the team to continue building the structure, alignment, and momentum needed for FirstComm to scale with consistency while ensuring our customers feel the impact of every improvement we make."

CX as the New Competitive Battleground

The timing of Battaglia's appointment reflects a broader industry trend where customer experience has become a primary competitive battleground. In the managed technology and UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) markets, product features can often be replicated, but a reputation for superior, proactive service is difficult to imitate. As the industry grapples with the integration of AI, the "experience gap"—the difference between customer expectations and the service they actually receive—is widening.

Market leaders in 2026 understand that the solution is not just more technology, but a smarter orchestration of human expertise and AI-driven automation. Proactive service, where potential issues are identified and resolved before the customer is even aware of them, is becoming the new standard. This requires a deep integration of data analytics, AI agents, and highly trained human teams who can handle complex and emotionally charged customer interactions. Battaglia's charge will likely involve harnessing these technologies to create a more resilient and responsive service infrastructure.

FirstComm operates in a crowded field against competitors ranging from large telecom providers like Verizon to specialized managed IT firms like NWN Carousel and SHI, many of which are also heavily investing in their customer experience platforms. In this environment, a leader who can effectively merge operational efficiency with a customer-first mindset is a critical asset for capturing and retaining market share.

The Strategic Imperative for Growth

Ultimately, this leadership hire is about more than just improving service scores; it is a strategic imperative for FirstComm's long-term growth. A robust and scalable operational backbone is essential for onboarding new clients efficiently, managing complex hybrid-cloud environments, and delivering on the 99.999% uptime service level agreements that enterprise customers demand. By streamlining internal collaboration and clarifying accountability, Battaglia's efforts are expected to enhance productivity and reduce operational friction, allowing the company to grow without compromising quality.

The appointment is a clear acknowledgment that in the modern technology landscape, the customer's success is the vendor's success. As FirstComm continues to compete for business across the United States, its ability to deliver a consistently excellent and reliable experience will be fundamental to its value proposition. This move indicates the company is not just listening to market demands but is proactively investing in the talent and structure required to meet them head-on.