Tech Data Becomes a Master

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Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

Tech Data Becomes a Master

td-mobility.gifTech Data announced a joint venture with Brightstar called ActivateIT, branded as TDMobility. In this case, TD will become a master agent for its VARs to offer not just cellular service from the likes of Sprint, ATT and T-Mobile, but M2M, devices and the works.

It will be interesting to see how TD transforms from hardware distributor, which has a very different financial model, to a cloud provider and a master agent.

The Master Agent has to deal with telcos. Cellcos are notorious for commission issues, moreso than other carriers. (Don't believe me? Google sprint commission class action.) Plus there's the whole handset fulfillment and RMA process that adds to the complexity, although for a hardware distributor this should be okay.  Another factor is the every changing promotions, pricing and handsets. That type of fluidity sometimes sinks a program. Finally, it will introduce consumers to a mix that has been solely B2B until now.


td-cloud.pngThen there's the cloud. TD is going to bill the end user. That is something new. Billing, collections, credit checks were all aprt of the VAR system before, but not on this scale. This is a must for when you move from one-time transactions to MRC income streams. We'll see how it shakes out.



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