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

August 2012

You are browsing the archive for August 2012.

Casting a Wide Net

August 31, 2012

When I read that VZ and Sprint signed of to offer Office 365, I thought, "More me-too for this industry." Then I read further down where 42,000 Microsoft partners are also going to be reselling Office 365 and I about fell over. Everyone is offering Office! One big Red Ocean.

Looking at the Talking Cloud 100 cloud providers, a large number of them are data backup providers and Google Apps integrators. I can see how a Google Apps integrator can be competitive, but 30 or 40 data backup companies?

The Moment of Truth in Sales

August 31, 2012

ZMOT is the zero moment of truth. It has changed significantly. If you believe the HBR article about solution selling being dead, then you believe that for savvy buyers, the salesperson is relegated to being a price jockey. It might be true for really technical services like IAAS.

Flex Some New Muscles

August 27, 2012

What's Happening?

August 24, 2012

Broadview Networks filed bankruptcy, albeit a pre-packaged debt reduction plan.

CenturyLink and Mediacom join the broadband cap club. Mediacom has a low end cap of 150 GB. Ouch! For cable companies, metering and caps are about preserving the TV money, but telcos should be cap free.

Offices Are Moving to the Cloud

August 23, 2012

On the TCA agent member webinar today, premiere vendors M5/Shoretel and Alteva presented on Hosted UC.

Both companies expressed that Hosted UC is ultimately about simplicity for the user, especially the salespeople. Guy Yasika of Alteva mentioned that worlers don't want to be "Fighting the tool". Dan Hoffman of M5 talked about a Brilliantly Simple Experience. Cloud is really about UX - the user experience - and meeting their demands for tools, apps, data where they need them. 

Sprint Resells Cloud

August 20, 2012

I don't know if you saw the announcement this morning from Sprint, but Sprint is using Parallels for cloud services - for Sprint's Carefree Cloud service and IT Helpdesk offerings.

"Bringing Office 365 to market quickly required close collaboration with Parallels and the deployment of its service delivery system, Parallels Automation. This comprehensive solution enables many of the features and use cases that differentiate Sprint's productivity suites in the marketplace."

I really like this: "This collaboration builds upon the expanding portfolio of cloud-based solutions that Sprint has been focused on launching this year.

Can You Beat the iPad?

August 16, 2012

As tablet after tablet fail to make it - I am talking to you HP, Blackberry Playbook, Dell Streak, MOTO Xoom, Asus and even Creative - does it make it even harder for another one to launch?

We have three new ones coming out: the Google Nexus 7, Lenovo Thinkpad 2 and Microsost Smooth.

Google Nexus 7 is making the most buzz. It has sleek design and a gret starting price of $199.

Another Unpopular Decision is the Tale of the FCC

August 16, 2012

don't think the FCC has ever had a popular decision. As far as I have seen, every decision they make ends up in court. TELRIC, Brand-X (DSL and Cable access for ISP's), CBS Nipplegate, Tennis Channel versus Comcast, AT&T-T-Mobile decision, cell phone radiation (which is back in the news), USF Reform and the list just goes on.

Today, the DOJ and the FCC announced that they will approve the VZW-SpectrumCo deal.

CenturyLink Merger Mania Does Add Up

August 15, 2012

"CenturyLink Inc.'s (CTL) second-quarter earnings fell 36% amid early-debt extinguishment and weaker margins, though the telecom company's revenue was boosted by an acquisition," writes the WSJ. "Revenue increased 4.7% to $4.61 billion, mostly as its Savvis acquisition added $278 million, as well as growth in demand for digital services."

What amazes me is that these giants keep getting bigger and the only metric growing is debt.

It is going to take some big CAPEX to beef up cloud, data center, EoC, broadband and TV services for CLT.

One Promotional Minute

August 15, 2012

The Alternate to Cloud

August 15, 2012

For Agents that just don't want to go cloud, there are some alternatives. In my latest book, SELLECOM 2: Selling Cloud Services, there are a few products that Agents can sell that still fall inside the Replacement services umbrella. T1, broadband, cellular, voice are all replacement services for the transactional agent. That road is bumpy.

Birch Grabs Another Small CLEC

August 14, 2012

Birch is expanding in the Greater Tampa Bay market with its acquisition of Daystar. Birch recently completed its acquisition of AstroTel, who I was an agent for. Daystar was a facilities-based CLEC based just south of Sarasota, with a customer base from Tampa to Naples. It gives Birch some more assets south of Tampa.

TCA Moves

August 9, 2012

The TCA, the only non-profit trade association for the channel partners (VAR's, agents, inter-connects, YOU), has a lot going on in the next two months.

Heading into CPExpo in Orlando, the TCA will hold its fifth Channel Chief Summit. The CCS is an opportunity for the top channel executives of our service provider members to meet face-to-face to learn and share. This time round, Quest CTO Mike Dillon and Parallels SVP John Zanni will be presenting to the participants.

Data Tsunami

August 8, 2012

Cisco's blog writes that we are in a data tsunami due to broadband Internet demand from consumers and their devices. Holy Hype, Batman! This is the same hype that Cisco's Global Consumer Internet Traffic Forecast started in 2009 with the Exabyte Tsunami. I get it: buy more Cisco gear.

What Will Happen to the Gear Vendors?

August 7, 2012

There used to be a class 4 switch called Coppercom. It was a decent switch and reasonably priced. The company couldn't make a go of it because the ISP and CLEC market was shrinking at the time.

Yesterday there was an announcemnet that telecom CAPEX (capital expenditures) have shrunk.

Broadsoft Goes Direct?

August 7, 2012

When I have spoken to Broadsoft customers, there has often been speculation that Broadsoft would have to go direct. The hope at the Cloud Communications Alliance was that all of them would be merged into one retail company. Did something like that just happen?

Broadsoft announced yesterday that they acquired Adaptation Technologies.

Time is Fluid

August 6, 2012

Good article about the six time management tips for entrepreneurs.

Time is fluid. Salvador Dali has an awesome painting called The Persistence of Memory hanging at the Museum of Modern Art that reminds me that time waits for no one and that I have only 52 weekends per year. What am I doing with them?

The Cloudy Race to Zero

August 6, 2012

There has been an discussion about the Transactional Agent - and his demise. I beg to differ. I think The Cloud will end up being transactional as well.

A couple of months ago, Microsoft lowered its pricing on Office 365 in March to compete with Google Apps at $50 per year per user.

Snarky News Bits

August 6, 2012

Just so many things to comment on in telecom, but just do not have the time to hit each one. So here are some snarky news bits.

The VZW-SpectrumCo deal in for "tough remedy", Reuters is reporting. Yeah, conditions that will never be enforced.

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