Peter : On Rad's Radar?
Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

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Change or Die

March 18, 2016

Verizon's VP Janet Schijns gave a presentation about Millennials and the Channel. A majority of the polled Millennials did not know what a Channel Partner was. Change or Die. (I thought when Tiffani Bova left Gartner, we would have heard the last of that message, but alas it is still the drum beating.)

It isn't that most partners do NOT want to change.

The Channel Has Changed, Have You?

March 4, 2016

In 1999, the telecom channel was mainly agents and inter-connects, primarily selling voice. When I went to Orlando for BellSouth product training on Orange Avenue, most agets weren't interested in Frame Relay or ATM or DIA.

Today, it is a hot mix of partners selling a broad spectrum of products. There are still grey haired T1 slingers at the shows, but there are new partners in the mix (which have been labeled "Born in the Cloud").

Winstream's Blunder Customers, Agents Are Paying For

February 22, 2016

In the news, Windstream on its trek up-market is plowing through a field of customers and partners.

"In December, Windstream sent letters to 171 small-to-midsized business (SMB) customers and their partners explaining that negative or low-margin accounts would be subject to significant rate increases, or these customers were also given the option to move to another carrier without penalty. As part of an ongoing effort, more letters will be delivered to partners and customers in March."

Is it the customers' fault that WIND signed a contract to deliver services they couldn't afford to?

Windstream quoted an MPLS network for me a few years ago.

Channel Partner Take-aways from CVX

January 29, 2016

Channel Vision Expo is collocated with ITEXPO. This year MSP Expo was also collocated and Microcorp's Partner learning experience was down the street. (Telarus had an event the week before and Metro Connect for carrier execs was in Miami Beach the same week. It was Telecom week in South Florida, although I didn't see Sam Levine and a few other agents I usually run into.

Uh Oh, Microsoft is Closing the Gaps

January 15, 2016

Some folks think I am picking on the VoIP space (see this post). Maybe I am. Hosted PBX started for me in 2003 when Broadsoft's second customer rolled out its platform and signed me up as their first agent. It has been a struggle ever since.

On the Channel Hamster Wheel with PlumUC

January 11, 2016

The Commission Revenue Spiral

December 16, 2015

I received an email today about the channel strategy for 2016 for Windstream: WIND is NOT paying agents for any new order under $1500. I wrote about this when I first heard in October. No idea how this will work out, but train wreck comes to mind.

Windstream as a whole has had some much change - acquisitions, people, spin-offs - that I imagine there are no silly ideas in the conference room.

Non-competitive Broadband

December 8, 2015

The FCC defines broadband at 25 Mbps by 3 Mbps. At that speed, most Americans have one choice: cable!

How funny is it that telcos had DSL in the Lab in the late 1960s and didn't roll it out until Covad, Northpoint and Rhythms basically forced their hand. They then pushed all 3 into bankruptcy to be the sole high speed Internet providers -- except for a smattering of independent ISPs that they would kill off later.

A Little Channel Conflict

November 24, 2015

I know this happens but I have never seen it in print. Channel Conflict is a big issue. It is basically the conflict between the direct sales team and the indirect sales team. This conflict is so bad that some programs allow for teaming - that is when the channel partner works with a direct salesperson of the carrier and they both get credit/compensated for a sale.

Where is the Channel Going?

October 26, 2015

There have been several announcements lately about channel programs from Windstream, AT&T, InterNap, Integra and others. In a few cases, the announcements are in defense of reduction in force. In the wake of layoffs, the carriers are defending their channel position. In unison they are singing, "We still like the channel!"

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