Image Gallery: Telarus Partner Summit Featuring 8×8, RingCentral, Nextiva
There's no doubt Telarus is growing. All you have to do is look at what's happening with its Partner Summit.
There’s no doubt master agent Telarus is growing. All you have to do is look at what’s happening with its annual Partner Summit.
For a number of years, the company hosted the event at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in quaint Deer Valley, Utah. Some guests even had to stay in neighboring hotels. That’s all changed.
A year ago, Telarus moved Partner Summit to Boca Raton, Florida, and this year, to the almost brand-new Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado. Co-founder and CEO Adam Edwards says going forward, they intend to move it back and forth between the eastern and western U.S.
The 2019 event, held Aug. 7-10, included keynotes on partners’ sales success, a new rewards program and cybersecurity; breakout education sessions on topics than ran the gamut of technology and business strategy; and an expo hall featuring Telarus’ top suppliers, giving partners a chance to network and strike up new relationships.
Stroll through our gallery below for a recap of the event, including familiar faces on both the keynote stage and in the expo hall.
Adam Edwards
"We're focused on meeting you where you are," Telarus co-founder and CEO Adam Edwards (pictured above) told the crowd. "Some of you are focused on big sophisticated deals; others are just getting started, needing exposure to a broad [swath] of technologies."
It's this amiable and accessible approach to business that's helped to make the master agent so successful over the years.
Also on the main stage, Scott Forbush, senior vice president of sales, espoused the virtues of selling what the company calls "advanced services" – cloud, contact center and UC – which have seen tremendous growth for Telarus over the past two years. And Roger Blohm, executive vice president of strategy, explained Telarus' venture into even newer technologies, noting how there's now an opportunity for partners to make money selling IoT and 5G services.
Telarus also is adding experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning and more to its team.
Read our recap of the session, then keep an eye on Channel Partners Aug. 13 for our interview with Edwards, part of the latest Coffee with Craig and Kevin podcast.
"We're focused on meeting you where you are," Telarus co-founder and CEO Adam Edwards (pictured above) told the crowd. "Some of you are focused on big sophisticated deals; others are just getting started, needing exposure to a broad [swath] of technologies."
It's this amiable and accessible approach to business that's helped to make the master agent so successful over the years.
Also on the main stage, Scott Forbush, senior vice president of sales, espoused the virtues of selling what the company calls "advanced services" – cloud, contact center and UC – which have seen tremendous growth for Telarus over the past two years. And Roger Blohm, executive vice president of strategy, explained Telarus' venture into even newer technologies, noting how there's now an opportunity for partners to make money selling IoT and 5G services.
Telarus also is adding experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning and more to its team.
Read our recap of the session, then keep an eye on Channel Partners Aug. 13 for our interview with Edwards, part of the latest Coffee with Craig and Kevin podcast.
Supplier Panel
A supplier panel at the event brought together some of Telarus' most important vendor partners. The rise of contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) was among the many topics of conversation.
Telarus partners have nearly tripled their monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from unified communications and contact center sales in just two years.
"We’re seeing where CCaaS is driving adoption up front and pulling UCaaS along with it," said Jeff Winnett, AVP of North America channel sales, RingCentral.
"And with so much focus on the customer experience ... we're seeing CCaaS in almost every conversation we're having — and that pulls CCaaS through as well," said John Lindsley, VP and channel chief, cloud, Mitel, echoing Winnett.
Pictured left to right are: Geoff Chretien, VP of channel sales, Nice InContact; Lindsley; Jamaal Savwoir, senior director, sales engineering, 8x8; Shane Speakman, VP of sales and operations, AireSpring; Michael Stephens, agent channel chief, Rackspace; Winnett; and Scott Forbush, Telarus' senior VP of sales.
A supplier panel at the event brought together some of Telarus' most important vendor partners. The rise of contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) was among the many topics of conversation.
Telarus partners have nearly tripled their monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from unified communications and contact center sales in just two years.
"We’re seeing where CCaaS is driving adoption up front and pulling UCaaS along with it," said Jeff Winnett, AVP of North America channel sales, RingCentral.
"And with so much focus on the customer experience ... we're seeing CCaaS in almost every conversation we're having — and that pulls CCaaS through as well," said John Lindsley, VP and channel chief, cloud, Mitel, echoing Winnett.
Pictured left to right are: Geoff Chretien, VP of channel sales, Nice InContact; Lindsley; Jamaal Savwoir, senior director, sales engineering, 8x8; Shane Speakman, VP of sales and operations, AireSpring; Michael Stephens, agent channel chief, Rackspace; Winnett; and Scott Forbush, Telarus' senior VP of sales.
RingCentral
RingCentral set up a large area in the middle of the expo hall where attendees could take a load off and have a chat with company reps.
RingCentral set up a large area in the middle of the expo hall where attendees could take a load off and have a chat with company reps.
Rackspace
That's Rackspace agent channel chief Michael Stephens talking to a couple of prospective partners.
"Telarus is a huge partner of ours," Stephens said in an interview with Channel Partners. "We've actually sold more with Telarus and the subagent community here in January of this year than all of last year. So we're really excited about the growth and this [event] gives us the opportunity to be face to face and continue to build on the existing relationships we have and then also forge brand-new relationships."
That's Rackspace agent channel chief Michael Stephens talking to a couple of prospective partners.
"Telarus is a huge partner of ours," Stephens said in an interview with Channel Partners. "We've actually sold more with Telarus and the subagent community here in January of this year than all of last year. So we're really excited about the growth and this [event] gives us the opportunity to be face to face and continue to build on the existing relationships we have and then also forge brand-new relationships."
Rewards Program
Telarus VP of marketing Amy Bailey had some welcome news.
Partners will soon be able to redeem points through the Telarus Store, which launches in January. A certain number of points can be earned, depending on the size of the sale, and spent on everything from lead-generation services to software licenses, additional President's Club tickets and more.
Bailey also announced new and improved recognition tiers. Instead of five, there will now be eight. The top tier is diamond, which reflects $3 million in monthly recurring revenue. The top of the food chain used to be just $500,000.
Get the full scoop here.
Telarus VP of marketing Amy Bailey had some welcome news.
Partners will soon be able to redeem points through the Telarus Store, which launches in January. A certain number of points can be earned, depending on the size of the sale, and spent on everything from lead-generation services to software licenses, additional President's Club tickets and more.
Bailey also announced new and improved recognition tiers. Instead of five, there will now be eight. The top tier is diamond, which reflects $3 million in monthly recurring revenue. The top of the food chain used to be just $500,000.
Get the full scoop here.
Stickley on Security
Jim Stickley, CEO of Stickley on Security, is well-known on the cybersecurity scene, making a name for himself figuring out ways to show vulnerabilities in systems across a wide range of industries.
Sitckley shared a number of scary ways that malicious hackers are getting you to give them information — the most devious being "typosquatting," or, as he calls it, "dojacking," where bad actors set up websites that look exactly like the ones you're looking for — only they are one character off, so if you type in the URL too quickly, you could land on the wrong site and never realize what happened before entering passwords, bank account information and so on.
Jim Stickley, CEO of Stickley on Security, is well-known on the cybersecurity scene, making a name for himself figuring out ways to show vulnerabilities in systems across a wide range of industries.
Sitckley shared a number of scary ways that malicious hackers are getting you to give them information — the most devious being "typosquatting," or, as he calls it, "dojacking," where bad actors set up websites that look exactly like the ones you're looking for — only they are one character off, so if you type in the URL too quickly, you could land on the wrong site and never realize what happened before entering passwords, bank account information and so on.
Dan Pedersen
Known as the "Godfather of Top Gun," Dan Pedersen shared tales from his days flying fighter jets and the amazing accomplishments that the movie could only try to portray.
He signed copies of his book and related his days in the military to what a good business leader does today.
“You've got to as a leader show you care about your people. Not just your top two or three, but all the way down," Pedersen told the crowd. "Your interviews must be sincere. ... I took care of my people and communicated with them usually twice a day. … The guys have to become one. In the flying business where I come from, it’s essential you do it because you’re dealing with human life every day. … you've got to build cohesiveness in the personalities of the people.”
Known as the "Godfather of Top Gun," Dan Pedersen shared tales from his days flying fighter jets and the amazing accomplishments that the movie could only try to portray.
He signed copies of his book and related his days in the military to what a good business leader does today.
“You've got to as a leader show you care about your people. Not just your top two or three, but all the way down," Pedersen told the crowd. "Your interviews must be sincere. ... I took care of my people and communicated with them usually twice a day. … The guys have to become one. In the flying business where I come from, it’s essential you do it because you’re dealing with human life every day. … you've got to build cohesiveness in the personalities of the people.”
Nextiva
The Nextiva team struck a pose for us in front of their booth.
The Nextiva team struck a pose for us in front of their booth.
Intrado
If the name doesn't sound familiar, it will soon.
West Corp., which specializes in UC, conferencing, hosted voice, cloud contact center and more, recently rebranded to Intrado, reflecting "both the evolution of the company as well as its vision for the future."
Intrado this year has divested its call center business and completed a number of acquisitions that it says have reshaped the company.
If the name doesn't sound familiar, it will soon.
West Corp., which specializes in UC, conferencing, hosted voice, cloud contact center and more, recently rebranded to Intrado, reflecting "both the evolution of the company as well as its vision for the future."
Intrado this year has divested its call center business and completed a number of acquisitions that it says have reshaped the company.
Aryaka and IntelePeer
If you didn't know, SD-WAN is hot right now. That means Aryaka is hot. The company this summer was chosen as a launch partner for the Microsoft Azure Networking MSP program. The company had a steady flow of partners dropping by its booth.
Right next door was IntelePeer, the communications-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) provider.
If you didn't know, SD-WAN is hot right now. That means Aryaka is hot. The company this summer was chosen as a launch partner for the Microsoft Azure Networking MSP program. The company had a steady flow of partners dropping by its booth.
Right next door was IntelePeer, the communications-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) provider.
Back Office
Michael Brown, Telarus' VP of technology, shared some exciting news with partners. The master agent is unveiling a newly designed back office, "really challenging ourselves to pay more attention about what partners are asking for," said Brown.
Not wanting to merely "put a fresh coat of paint on it," the new portal delivers a new architecture, improved search, and a "recency" function that brings forward the items users most recently worked on so they don't have to go digging around where they left off.
Learn more here.
Michael Brown, Telarus' VP of technology, shared some exciting news with partners. The master agent is unveiling a newly designed back office, "really challenging ourselves to pay more attention about what partners are asking for," said Brown.
Not wanting to merely "put a fresh coat of paint on it," the new portal delivers a new architecture, improved search, and a "recency" function that brings forward the items users most recently worked on so they don't have to go digging around where they left off.
Learn more here.
Awards Night
Telarus honored CenturyLink (pictured) as its Best Overall Supplier. Mitel earned honors for Most Improved Supplier. The master agent also recognized channel managers from Nextiva, Jive + LogMeIn, Nice InContact, AireSpring, Mitel and Rackspace for excellence.
The company also recognized its 20 top partners, which included Invite Networks of Salt Lake City as Partner of the Year. Distributed Computing of Baltimore was No. 2, followed by Carrier Consulting, Complete Communications and Core Business Services rounding out the top five.
Read our full story from awards night to see who else got kudos.
Telarus honored CenturyLink (pictured) as its Best Overall Supplier. Mitel earned honors for Most Improved Supplier. The master agent also recognized channel managers from Nextiva, Jive + LogMeIn, Nice InContact, AireSpring, Mitel and Rackspace for excellence.
The company also recognized its 20 top partners, which included Invite Networks of Salt Lake City as Partner of the Year. Distributed Computing of Baltimore was No. 2, followed by Carrier Consulting, Complete Communications and Core Business Services rounding out the top five.
Read our full story from awards night to see who else got kudos.
Broadvoice
That's a giant cutout of Telarus executive vice president of strategy Roger Blohm taking a selfie in front of Broadvoice's space in the expo hall.
We didn't ask. You probably shouldn't either.
That's a giant cutout of Telarus executive vice president of strategy Roger Blohm taking a selfie in front of Broadvoice's space in the expo hall.
We didn't ask. You probably shouldn't either.
8x8
8x8, the cloud and customer engagement solutions provider, got to celebrate "8x8 Day" while at the event — that's right, Aug. 8 (8/8). The company recognizes customers, employees and partners on that day every year.
8x8 this summer signed a lease for a new 178,000 square-foot building in Campbell, California, that will serve as its corporate headquarters. It's previously been in San Jose.
8x8, the cloud and customer engagement solutions provider, got to celebrate "8x8 Day" while at the event — that's right, Aug. 8 (8/8). The company recognizes customers, employees and partners on that day every year.
8x8 this summer signed a lease for a new 178,000 square-foot building in Campbell, California, that will serve as its corporate headquarters. It's previously been in San Jose.
