https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Cloud


Agent World Gives IT Vendors Road Map for Recurring Revenue

  • Written by Channel
  • May 15, 2012
Now is the time to ensure that the sales of Internet connectivity and related telecom services, as well as new cloud services, expand through the channel-partner universe at a rate and pace that is unprecedented in the telecom industrys 100+ year history.


Craig SchlagbaumBy Craig Schlagbaum

Over the last 30 days, I have had the unique opportunity to attend and speak at a number of solution-provider events that fall outside the traditional telecom agent channel space. All of these events had one major theme in common: This is one of the most disruptive times for the high-tech channel in the last 30 years.

We now have new IT buyers and partners whom Gartner analyst Tiffani Bova references as being born in the cloud.” And many others are transitioning to recurring revenue models to improve their balance sheets while simultaneously maintaining current business models and meeting their customers needs. Additionally, there are new buyers, from CMOs to line-of-business executives, who are beginning to control more of the IT budget than CIOs ever had under their purview which is unprecedented in the industry.

The channel will adapt, as it always does, to satisfy the buying preferences and desires of customers. In a world of technological advances and economic challenges, many customers are moving to an outsourced IT model that focuses on OPEX rather than CAPEX expenses. This dynamic fits right into the sweet spot of the telecom industry, which has been providing recurring OPEX-based revenue services since its origins.

Traditional hardware and software IT vendors are starting to see the benefits of our recurring revenue model, but they dont know how to ensure that their partners will adapt to this model, or how to support them during the transition.  On the other side of the coin, partners are also struggling with this change. Yet, amid chaos lies opportunity.

Our industry has the unique ability to help this massive channel make the switch to the recurring revenue world by providing them with a road map to sell access to the cloud, as well as other cloud services. Simply stated, there is an enormous opportunity to create a new buying outcome in the channel for customers who desire to purchase their IT needs on a recurring revenue basis.

Many years ago, IBM faced a similar channel challenge, and they turned that challenge into great success by building and developing a strong channel that generated the more than 180,000 IT partners that exist today. IBM desired a unique sales force of dealers” that were not the typical IBM blue-suit sales reps” selling the latest mini computers and mainframes of the day. IBM perceived that buyers needs were changing to focus on new IT devices, then called personal computers. So they sought out a new channel of word-processor dealers and electronics retailers in the late 1970s who were selling precursors to the PC. What started with companies like Computerland, Businessland, Sears Business Systems, and a number of other entities spawned one of the most powerful distribution channels in history. Those partners were not only selling the latest technology, but more importantly, they were also selling the vendor and the quality, support and service IBM could offer, as well as their own reputation and skills all concepts that are now more important than ever.

Today, the cloud model is logo agnostic, because it is the brand and reliability of the service provider that matters far more than the vendor logo on the server, storage device, processor or router that sits invisibly in the cloud or somewhere off-premise. Herein lies the major shift that has so greatly impacted the channel industry, and it is rooted in a recurring revenue model. Moreover, todays decision makers” are changing from IT-savvy technologists to business professionals who never knew a world without the Internet and mobile devices. Some technology vendors are even saying that the word reseller,” which was the default description for the IT channel, may in fact disappear within the next three to five years, as the reselling of physical hardware and software may generate fewer sales than cloud-based services.

We are now at a similar crossroads to the one IBM faced many years ago. We need to not only help our traditional telecom partners sell more value and recurring services, but also ensure that the thousands of these newer channel partners or VARs” who have trusted advisor status” with their customers make a seamless transition to the recurring revenue world. Because this crossroads presents a challenge and an opportunity, these are both the best of times” and the worst of times.” But now is the time to eliminate industry confusion and anxiety, and instead ensure that the sales of Internet connectivity and related telecom services, as well as new cloud services, expand through the channel-partner universe at a rate and pace that is unprecedented in the telecom industrys 100+ year history. Doing so will ensure that the best of times” prevail.

Craig Schlagbaum is the vice president of indirect channel sales for

Comcast

business class services. In this role, he manages Comcast’s indirect channel partner team and the overall indirect channel programs for business services. He also is a member of the

2011-12 Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board

.

Tags: Agents Cloud

Most Recent


  • Controversy
    Microsoft Changing Partner Incentives Even as Channel Controversy Roars
    The terms take effect in October. “We are sharing updates now to help our partners plan ahead,” per Kevin McCarthy.
  • Google Cloud Starts New ‘Strategic’ Unit, Names Umesh Vemuri to Run It
    The changes coincide with yet another Google Cloud executive exit. Find out who’s leaving.
  • Unleash
    ThreatX Unleashes Xcellerate Partner Program for API Protection
    Demand for real-time API protection is skyrocketing.
  • Twenty, 20
    The CF List: 2022's 20 Top SD-WAN Providers You Should Know
    A leading SD-WAN provider has to show greater value across a number of different domains.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Life, watch, lifetime
    AWS' Rachel Mushahwar on New Channel Role: ‘Opportunity of A Lifetime’
  • Growth funding
    New Services to Cash In On: Microsoft, AT&T, Comcast, N-Able, More
  • CPaaS
    IDC Names Sizzling Twilio, Vonage Market Leaders in CPaaS
  • shanghai china smart city
    8x8 Expands Global Reach with China Mobile Partnership

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

Partners Speak to Microsoft’s Rodney Clark Departure and New Requirements Controversy

May 18, 2022

The CF List: 2022’s 20 Top SD-WAN Providers You Should Know

May 18, 2022

Marketing All-Stars Share Their Focus for 2022 and Beyond

May 18, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

A Sneak Peek at the 2022 BrightCloud Threat Report

May 17, 2022

Build Customers for Life with CX and Lifecycle Selling

May 16, 2022

Voice Analytics Are a Must-Have as Companies Evolve COVID-Rushed Tech

May 12, 2022

Webinars

View all

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

How to Supercharge The Network to Support Your IT Superhero Moves

May 3, 2022

The 2022 MSP Challenge: Scale Service Delivery Despite the Talent Gap

April 21, 2022

White Papers

View all

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

The AT&T Cybersecurity Incident Response Toolkit

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@threatx_inc rolls out first partner program. #APIprotection dlvr.it/SQd3Pd https://t.co/X6cvbgpijr

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

Our MSPs weigh in on @Microsoft's Rodney Clark’s sudden exit, and the shakeups and challenges the new NCE program h… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

[email protected] now reaches 177 countries — 80 more regions for the channel to target. And #AWS has a new #publicsector… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

Our CMO roundtable series concludes with members’ predictions on what their primary focus will be in the months ahe… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

“@IngramMicroInc's role is to be the enabler of an ecosystem,” @SahooSanj said at the company's cloud summit.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

Take a sneak peak at BrightCloud's 2022 Threat Report. #Channel Partners #CyberThreats @Webroot… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

#GoogleCloudSummit unveils new solutions for #zerotrust, supply chain security. @googlecloud dlvr.it/SQZ2By https://t.co/37buEDQ030

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Veeam CEO @anandeswaran is gunning for outsized share of data protection market at #veeamOn2022… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X