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

agents

Commissions by Common Core Math

April 20, 2015

I listened to a presentation recently that suggested that new telecom agencies are not opening up (or at least not faster than closings and mergers). I was skeptical until this weekend when I was doing referral checks.

One MPLS network is worth a lot more than 3 x 10MB DIA sites. When companies talk about moving up to mid-market, it is primarily that the size of the deal will make it worthwhile.

What Business Model Should the VAR Examine?

March 30, 2015

So many keynotes (and channel strategists) have suggested that for channel partners to be successful going forward they would have to do 3 things:

  1. Perform R&D and develop some IP
  2. Build their own cloud services
  3. Go beyond brokerage to systems integration

Storagecraft writes, "According to a study by CompTIA, four out of 10 IT companies are monitoring the impact cloud computing has on the MSP market before deciding to offer managed services."

"ScanSource CTO Greg Dixon explains why it's imperative for solution providers to build managed services into their product offerings in order to boost recurring revenue and expand their value add." [source]

Let's examine each one.

First, the Duopoly doesn't even do research. They have industry labs (e.g., CableLabs) and vendors that do the research and development.

Verizon Invites the Channel Once More

March 20, 2015

Jon Arnold wrote up a good review of Verizon's Broad Cloud offering (VCE). One glaring problem is that it targets in the SMB market.

Arnold says that it is presented as a TDM replacement service. Why then is VCE promoted online in VZ Enterprise?

It's Just a Piece of Paper

January 14, 2015

In the course of a day, I often hear about agent deals where the agent gets burned. let's face it, if you have been a channel partner for longer than a minute, you have probably been burned - either on a deal, a commission, or a contract.

During the prospecting stage, the Service Provider (SP) loves the Partner. Loves them.

3 Reasons Channel Management Needs a Slap

October 31, 2014

It's amazing to me how people who manage channel operations for carriers (and likely have not worked in the channel as a partner in at least 8 years) can give partners advice about running their business. Have you looked inside your own company???

Reason 1 that some people need a slap is Larry Walsh on CPZ saying that partners need to spend money on R&D. Never mind that he doesn't explain what he means by R&D.

Channel, Sales and a Chat with a Master Agent

October 15, 2014

A Chat with IPR's Channel Chief

September 22, 2014

Kirk Horton is the new Channel Chief of IPR Secure*. We chat for about eight minutes about the launch of IPR's Fusion Partner program, IPR and channel partner programs in general. Horton told me that he put the best agent friendly agreement in place that he could and that the program will be launching soon.

Before the call, Kirk and I had an hour long conversation about the channel.

A Few Channel Associations

September 15, 2014

In case you didn't know, there is an association for agents, VARs, inter-connects and MSPs to get education and certification. The TCA is the only non-profit trade association for the channel.

There are other associations for channel partners. CompTIA for IT training and certs.

Two Sides of the Street

September 10, 2014

In the past 18 months, I have seen a lot of carrier channel personnel make their way into desks at master agencies. (For example, this release.) It makes me think about quite a few things, but I am only going to touch on 2.

One, master agencies are building up for scale. There are positions for carrier folks there now, because some of these agencies have gotten so big.

The Telecom INC5000

August 21, 2014

The 2014 INC5000 list is out - with 134 companies in telecom (including clients).

VoIP

Callis (now owned by C Spire) ($11M), Telesphere ($32M), Simple Signal ($11M), VoIP Innovations ($10M), Star2Star ($33M), iCore Networks ($46M, VoIP white label), Phone.com ($7.6M, #2857)

There are quite a few inter-connects, VARs, telecom agencies and several wireless consultancies.

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