master agency

The Channel Marketing Dilemma

November 30, 2016

I just read this article about analytics for the channel. It makes sense. I like his opening line: "Are my people spending their time on activities that drive sales?" That is key.

But then the article goes sideways, because, for the most part, channel partners don't do demand generation.

Posted in Marketing, channel, master agency

Talking Channel and Opportunity with TelAdvocate

November 11, 2016

Posted in CLEC, SDN, agents, channel, ethernet, fiber, master agency, mergers, telco, wireline

As the Telecom World Spins

November 4, 2016

It is happening so fast. Here's this week in M&A:

FPL Fibernet got bought by Crown Castle
Still have the Verizon-XO merger comingtoo.
Rumor that Windstream is looking to buy Earthlink
Onvoy is getting Inteliquent
Broadsoft took VoIP Logic off the table
CenturyLink is buying Level3.
AT&T is trying to buy TimeWarner
Broadcom to Buy Brocade Communications for $5.5 Billion
Frontier had a better couple of quarters after buying Verizon franchises in FL, TX and Cali; hence, laying off one thousand amid a RE-ORG. Because that will fix the books but little else.

CenturyLink just sold off its data center business that was a combo of Qwest Cyber Centers and SAVVIS to a group of PE firms for $2.15B in cash and C-Link keeps a minority stake worth $150M in the new company. CL bought Savvis for $2.5B in 2011.

Posted in CLEC, FCC, ISP, Internet, agents, broadband, cableco, data center, duopoly, economy, master agency, mergers, outage, security, telco, wireless

Channel Partner Enablement Tools

October 10, 2016

It seems that Channel Enablement is starting to become a thing again. "What is the definition of Channel Partner Enablement? Sometimes also referred to as Channel Enablement, Sales Enablement, Partner Enablement or Channel Management, it is the process whereby you enable and empower your channel partners to sell your services or products. It is a way to increase sales and expand your business by creating partnerships and adding to your workforce." [Pulse Learning vis CSG]

Posted in agents, channel, master agency, sales and selling

The Sub-Agent Dilemma

September 20, 2016

Fresh off coming back from Microcorp's annual partner event (and 30th Anniversary party), I am reflecting on conversations with the partners.

Some are wondering what vendors to look at. Who is real and who is not. Who will be around to pay commissions in three years?

Posted in VAD, VAR, agents, channel, commissions, master agency

The INC5000 is Out

August 19, 2016

I like the INC5000 list for 2016 because it is audited revenue, not the stuff of legend or press release.

Birch is on here with $591M in revenue in 2015, which looks like the lost about $100M of the Cbeyond revenue. In 2013, revenue was approximately $207M. In 2013, Birch acquired Covista, Ernest and Lightyear Network Solutions.

Posted in CLEC, master agency, voip

National Harbor: In the Bubble

August 17, 2016

More than one person mentioned how National Harbor looks like a town in a bubble or a movie set. As the CPEv show wraps up, here are highlights.

It wasn't UCaaS after UCaaS after UCaaS. It was broken up.

Posted in CLEC, IOT, SDN, channel, expo, hosted uc, managed services, master agency, mergers, sdn, unified communications, voip

Well it Finally Happened!

August 8, 2016

In recent weeks, I have been writing (here and here) about the soon to happen collision of VAD and Master Agency? Well it happened on Friday night.

ScanSource is a $3.2 Billion dollar distributor of hardware and software. (A much smaller Ingram or Tech Data which bring in $30-40B in revenue annually).

Posted in master agency, mergers

The Distributor Side of Things

August 3, 2016

A recent discussion on LinkedIn around my blog about what Master Agencies call themselves has been ongoing. It even continued with live comments at the CompTIA event in Fort Lauderdale.

Both sides will need to adapt. Most of the servers being bought now are being bought by the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, Facebook and Microsoft.

Posted in SDN, VAD, agents, channel, expo, master agency, saas

What It Means to Master an Agency

July 25, 2016

After rumors swirled at CP Expo in Vegas in March, the announcement is finally here: Sandler Partners is acquiring X4. This will create an entity that is doing $65M in revenue, referenced as second only to one master agency.

It is interested that some media call it a master agency, when in the press release, Sandler Partners described themselves as America's Fastest Growing Distributor Of Connectivity & Cloud Services. X4 is called a master agency though.

Posted in VAD, agents, master agency, mergers

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