By Randy Jeter, Premiere Worldwide

As technology sales professionals, we are use to change by now some good and some bad.  By now most successful telecommunications agents have realized the importance of being data-centric, which has primarily been centered on WAN applications. The next step in this evolution is Infrastructure as a Service; Disaster Recovery as a Service and Desktop as a Service via the cloud.  Why? Simple. Increased bandwidth options, decreased bandwidth costs, Network based QoS, IT budgets (capex), in-house infrastructure needs (advanced LAN knowledge) and the ROI for companies, which can now be seen in most business cases.

The fact is the cloud market today is much like the MPLS market seven years ago you have a lot of people talking about it, few people doing it, and even fewer people doing it right.  Most companies today that are focused on the cloud are focused on cloud backup, cloud storage, or cloud applications (a la SalesForce). There are other companies, such as SAVVIS and Terremark that are focused on addressing these needs, however they themselves do not provide flexibility customers demands and more importantly, their offerings are targeted toward large, Fortune 500 companies.

This is why there is growing demand for companies like RapidScale, with expert engineers whose focus is on meeting clients needs while at the same time always looking to show their clients an ROI.  Additionally, companies like RapidScale have realized the power of the channel and built successful agent programs with healthy commissions ranging from 15-18 percent and spiff programs with substantial upfront payouts. 

With the Channel Partners shows and PHONE+ focused on helping increase the per-client revenue, it is now time for the channel itself to embrace the LAN and start capitalizing on revenue opportunities currently being left behind or sold by LAN management organizations.

Randy Jeter is a partner and lead consultant at Premiere Worldwide, a telecom consulting firm. Since 2008, Jeter has focused on redeveloping Premiere Worldwides core business approach and expanding it to include fee-based consulting, outsourced IT services, network monitoring, phone system RFPs, Web site development, application development and inventory/telecom expense management solutions. He is also a member of the 2009-10 Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board.