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

June 2014

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The Snowden Effect on US Cloud Sales

June 30, 2014

There are a couple of articles on Telecom Ramblings (here and here) about the Snowden effect on US cloud and network hardware sales.

On the one hand, a US company losing a big contract in Europe is a bad thing. On the other hand, it is the bed that they made years ago to regain monopoly standing and become a company too big to fail.

Kind of funny for Germany to be so upset; they spy on every one too.

More VoIP M&A: Onvoy Buys Vitelity

June 30, 2014

An unnamed source sent me the press release that Onvoy is buying Vitelity. It reads, "Onvoy, LLC, a leading provider of national and international carrier services, has completed the acquisition of Vitelity assets, including all Vitelity customer contracts and user agreements. During the next several months we will further connect the Vitelity platform to Onvoy's national voice network, greatly expanding geographic reach, resilience, and scale for Vitelity customers, while maintaining the innovations and online experience Vitelity offers today."

It was announced a couple of days ago on DSLR.

Are You Getting Rejected By Cable?

June 30, 2014

I hear a lot of stories about cable: (1) About a one-third order drop out rate due to no facilities: (2) Intensive paperwork for orders and quotes; and (3) clean orders are rare, which causes rejections that result in delays and extra time. Oh, and even worse:

A change in Comcast's process is making clean paperwork even more important. Effective immediately, Comcast's direct team may now take over any order that is rejected for more than four business days; causing partners to lose the order.

What Cloud is Supposed to Do

June 26, 2014

Selling Storage in a Free For All Market

June 25, 2014

I say consumer storage market because for small business with less than 15 employees, consumer apps are used. Earlier this week, Microsoft offered 1TB of storage on OneDrive to Office365 customers. (Thx Pete Davis for the heads-up.)

Today, at I/O, Google brings out the big guns -- unlimited storage for $10 per month and Office editing.

Mobile Device Management is Booming

June 24, 2014

A couple weeks ago a buddy called me to ask about a hot product that he heard was selling like hotcakes - MDM - mobile device management.

Apparently, MetTel is doing a bang up job selling MDM via a white-label arrangement from Airwatch.

MDM is trending for companies that are worried about controlling emails, documents, files and confidential information from flowing out of the company. MDM allows for security measures on smartphones, laptops, tablets and its users.

What I Read Over the Weekend

June 23, 2014

This could have been a good case study article if it had been more specific. Instead it is full of vague assumptions. Not helpful at all.

AT&T is adding cities in NC to its U-Verse with GigaPower.

TBI Adds Voxox, MicroCorp Adds Alteva

June 20, 2014

I have written before about how crowded the Hosted Voice sector is. Apparently, that was a signal for master agencies to add more VoIP players.

Voxox signed up with TBI, who recently signed 8x8 to an extensive portfolio of service providers with VoIP offerings - like West IP, Cbeyond, CenturyLink and XO. I'm not sure how many VoIP players signed with TBI, but my guess would be 20.

Marketing is...

June 18, 2014

Schizoid Tails of the ILEC

June 17, 2014

Sitting in the belly of the beast today as I listen to AT&T talk about DSL, U-Verse, ASE (switched Ethernet), LTE and other products. It's interesting to hear AT&T talk about the $21 Billion that they spent on the network in 2013 and the same amount for 2014. (It isn't all wireless CAPEX; it is also wireless network CAPEX and spectrum acquisition costs.) But this weekm the Ma Bell PR machine said, "AT&T Wants to Replace DSL with Wireless in TDM-to-IP Transition Trials" [telecompetitor] Why would Ma Bell dump more capital into a network that they are going to transition?

They may spend on U-Verse like they did in Connecticut before selling off SNET.

Why Marketing Matters

June 15, 2014

Wed. morning at the FISPA event in Atlanta I will be presenting on Why Marketing Matters, followed closely by a Q&A session with Bullseye Telecom's Tim Basa on Sales & Marketing.

You can see the slides HERE. The main point: today marketing is everything. It is internal and external communication.

Technology Channel Association Changes Taking Place

June 13, 2014

The TCA (Technology Channel Association), a non-profit trade association for channel partners that I helped found in 2008, has made a few announcements.

TCA President Jeff Ponts writes, "We have expanded our relationship with Cloud Partners, and have signed strategic relationships with CompTIA, and the Baptie Group to meet our goals." The main goal of TCA is education of the channel - all segments of the channel.

"The cornerstone of the TCA has always been the Certified Telecom Professional (CTP) exam. It was rolled out in 2010 and is now on its third revision to meet our industry's expanding role in supporting our members.

TelePartner Training

June 12, 2014

The Load on Cable

June 12, 2014

Yesterday, I wrote about how if your Netflix is buffering on your broadband connection, then how can you expect VoIP to work. I wanted to add to that post because I don't think that telecom salespeople (or channel partners) are doing a good job explaining two things to prospects: (1) the difference between dedicated Internet access and broadband; and (2) how vital Internet is to a business today.

Your business probably relies on some research online, right? We don't go to a library or have too many reference books or get the daily newspaper or monthly trade journal, so the news and info come from the web.

Netflix is Insight into VoIP Quality

June 11, 2014

Netflix has an ISP rating to let consumers know how ISPs are doing delivering Netflix streaming video. Netflix is involved in a fight for the last mile with the largest ISPs in the US, especially Comcast and Verizon FiOS.

When your Netflix video buffers and buffers, some people call their ISP who has them do a speed test. Big deal.

Looking Beyond the Quarter (or the Month)

June 10, 2014

Great thought this morning from Nicholas Bate:

Clear objectives for the quarter-rewarded by bonuses/or not-do tend to get individuals to focus on the quarter. But what's getting them to give attention to the longer term, the neglect of which has been the demise of all once robust, thriving and great firms?

Yesterday, Hugh MacLeod took a shot at high quota as a de-motivator. "when it comes to leading a team, you have to set achievable goals. Build your momentum.

Vendor Buys Its Platinum Partner

June 9, 2014

"Vertical Communications, a provider of business communications software, announced that it has merged with Fulton Communications, a national systems integrator of voice, data and video communications technologies and one of the Inc. 5000 "fastest growing companies in North America."" Fulton is a Vertical Diamond Partner, who has sold more Vertical solutions over the past two years than any other channel partner."

"The new combined company will offer business customers vendor-direct communications technology solutions, including cloud and premise-based enterprise telephony, unified communications, and vertical-market voice applications, as well as a local presence for direct sales, support and professional services in major markets across the United States." [press release]

One Master Agent thought this was notable since the software company is looking for more direct sales (rather than rely on the channel). Many of the Master Agencies are in fact running a direct sales force in the background behind their prominent indirect sales model.

Cloud Should Transform Business

June 5, 2014

While working on a project, I keep thinking that the focus is on replacing current service - and that just doesn't make sense. Not everything that works on-premise can be jammed in the cloud and work the same. And it shouldn't.

This headline from ZDnet caught my eye: Urge to transform the business drives SaaS surge.

Easing into Cloud Services

June 5, 2014

One Way to Differentiate

June 3, 2014

My agent business (activity) has picked up considerably lately. Someone found me via my blog looking for a phone system that would integrate with ACT and Outlook. Doing some research, ShoreTel Sky and 3CX came up. Talking with a master agent I found out that Digium and Broadsmart do the integration as well.

I Just Saved You Money!

June 3, 2014

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