AppSmart finally announced a badly kept secret: they are acquiring master agency CNSG. This is AppSmart’s third acquisition following WCG and Telegration.

Ever since ScanSource bought Intelysis, there has been a driving desire to get bigger in the master agency space. There has been some M&A but I thought there would have been more.

The VADs (Ingram, Tech Data, SYNNEX and ScanSource) have all made moves to get bigger as well. Some of that is driven by the shift from on-premise hardware to cloud services, whereby the hardware bypasses the traditional VAD (and also the VAR or MSP). Theirs was M&A by necessity. And I’m not certain they have done enough to counter-balance the shift to software/cloud. We’ll see.

As network revenue write down continues in the carrier space, it has caused problems resulting in consolidation and bankruptcies. As the carriers get bigger, the larger master agencies want to get bigger to maintain their voice.

This drive to get bigger and bigger is coming at a time when the channel has driven more and more revenue for many providers, especially mid-market sales for UCaaS players. Just check any investor decks. This has increased the awareness and perhaps the significance of the channel. More vendors want to use/leverage the channel. The technology has surpassed the average person’s understanding and cognizance. The channel is aging (and on the IT side is cashing out via M&A).

The bigger the masters get, I am not certain they become as effective. Even VADs aren’t great at distributing the Long Tail. The top vendors – IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Schnieder, et al – are well represented but outside the top 20% of vendors, there are not any SMEs on the products/vendors in the bottom 80%. There are millions of SKUs; just like there are 400 UC providers powered by BroadWorks. Hard to distinguish and find the best fit for the customer – which is the main job of the partner, who relies on the master agency or VAD for some of that assistance.

The Long Tail creates problems for new vendors. The 23rd UC provider or the 19th SD-WAN player or the colocation company with 2 remote data centers in the master agency portfolio isn’t getting a lot of attention UNLESS they are awesome; spend a lot of money; or are unique in some market demanding way (see: Slack or Zoom for examples).

So I understand WHY we get consolidation in the master agency space; I just don’t know how that will work out for the partner or end user.

In this one particular case, AppSmart is on its third acquisition. It has come with quite a few executives who have held a CEO title, who now have a new organization and supervisory reporting structure. It will be interesting to see how this works out. There are also 4 different cultures that have to meld together – AppDirect, WTG, Telegration and CSNG. No easy task.

The message needs to be clearer as well. I am not certain what AppSmart is besides a portal. It sounds like ScanSource a little. Is there where everyone thinks the channel is going? I will sell this small business owner a laptop, a VPS, cable modem, LTE backup, GoDaddy domain and hosting? For one thing, most of these items are cheaper and easier to get on Amazon. Second, the margin for a partner to sell all of that is still less than the time she would expend doing so. Lastly, as indicated by the investor decks of the UC players, partners are going up-market. So I don’t know how this all works out, but I’ll be watching.

Let me acknowledge that Informa reports, ” Subagents have credited AppSmart for automating the back office and simplifying their day-to-day operations.” Like GeoQuote and DCITRAQ, partners don’t mind using a portal that is easy to use.

It is important to note that while these tech trends won’t be new, we are still in the early days – and the market opportunity still lies before us. Take UCaaS for example. Despite being around for over 15 years, the market penetration hasn’t even reached 20%. In SD-WAN, there are less than 30K businesses on SD-WAN. (I originally thought it was 10K, but then Cisco announced they had 20k). It is still early days. And everything takes longer than we think, says Hofstadter’s Law.

We often talk about being the “Trusted Advisor” without talking about what that looks like. It doesn’t mean that you are an expert at everything. It means that you apply your knowledge, your contacts and your network to solve business problems. You don’t have to know everything. You do have to ask really good questions!  If you ask the right questions, you can find out where your client is trying to go and what the hot buttons are. What pain are we trying to solve?

As a Trusted Advisor, you bring to the table a number of things, including best practices, real world experience, and what their competitors are doing. That knowledge coupled with really good questions puts you on the road to success. In this slide deck I have included a selection of questions to ask your customers in order to provide added value to them — and open up the conversation beyond just network. Good luck in 2020! and Happy Holidays from the RAD-INFO team.

Other trends discussed in this November 2019 webinar with AireSpring included SD-WAN, 5G. CPaaS, AI, IoT, Collaboration, and Cyber-Security. 5G isn’t going to be much different than 4G in actual experience (in my opinion), but it dovetails with Internet of Things (IOT) projects like connected cars and smart cities.

Artificial Intelligence has been around since 1956 but quantum computing, big data, machine learning and other advances in IT have brought it out of the lab. IBM Watson, Kandy by Ribbon, Amazon Alexa, Google AI, and other platforms have empowered AI for the SMB – with chatbots, virtual assistants, IVR & speech recognition, wearables, drug discovery, facial recognition and personalization of insurance.

I think UCaaS will give way to CPaaS whereby businesses buy dial-tone then add on functions that they want, like chatbot, ACD, IVR, voicemail-to-text, SMS and more. Bundles with Bronze, Silver and Gold should morph into verticals. For example, dry cleaners typically buy this package; if they use this POS system, they also get this. Although a really smart POS system will sell CPaaS as an add-on.

Collaboration is becoming a messy term. Video calls are increasing. Webinars and virtual meetings are common. HR departments use video calls for applicant screening. Slack, Workplace, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and more are allowing remote workers to collab/work together productively. That is the outcome we all were looking for.

Lastly, with hacks and breaches increasing at an incredible rate, the Cyber-security opportunity for partners lies in cloud back-up, cyber insurance and anti-phishing training. You don’t have to try to figure out DDoS from UTM (and all the other acronyms). Look for the window of opportunity – and supply it. Plenty of vendors to choose from (I mentioned dozens of them in the presentation below).

6 Trends in Telecom for 2020 from RAD-INFO, Inc.

I am currently working on my new book, The ABCs of Channel Programs: Channel Sales Enablement. To help me flush out some content for the book, I decided to talk with some friends in the industry about what hurdles they see in the channel right now.

Today’s podcast is with Karin Fields, CEO of Atlanta based master agency Microcorp. Karin is also immediate past Chair the Alliance (formerly Agent Alliance). I have been a partner with Microcorp since 2002.

Karin and I discuss the importance of a structure of support in a channel program. Channel programs require executive buy-in and a back office support system in order to work. Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts.

This is part 4 of the series. You can listen to all of the interviews on Soundcloud HERE. Or listen to the interviews you like:Part 3 with Nancy Ridge * Part 2 with Pete Davis * Part 1 with Dany Bouchedid

On a call today listening to partners complain about Zoom being channel un-friendly. It makes me laugh for two specific reasons.

One, many vendors are not channel friendly. AT&T changes its program frequently. Verizon is in and out of the channel. Cox is barely in the channel. Apple. Then there are a number of vendors in the channel without a structured program, without support and hoping for the best while doing the bare minimum (giving lip service to the channel). I don’t hear too many complaints about those vendors (any more).

“Your frustration is due to your own expectations and what you want instead of just dealing with what it is.” – Peter Radizeski

Two, companies don’t necessarily NEED an indirect sales force. For all of the love that partners have for Microsoft and Cisco, both vendors have fought partners over accounts, particularly mid-market, government and enterprise. Zoom has grown using some of the RingCentral playbook. Start selling direct then find providers to bundle your services. Next, Zoom is leveraging the VAR/VAD channel instead of the agent/master agent channel. Who is to say if that pays off or not?

As I have mentioned before, the indirect channel does not create demand – it simply supplies the demand. The demand for Zoom is high right now; partners are frustrated because they want to supply it – but there are too many bumps in the road (friction) to do so.

It is safe to say that competitors of Zoom are getting beaten – and may not even be in the race. Video calls front and center; UC as a secondary thought (sale) due to user adoption and ease of use. Can you say UX ( User Experience) wins?

On a side note: there is a segment of the business community that still requires PBX hardware on premise and will not move to the cloud for a few years yet.

With Retail in a steady decline (see Retail Apocalypse), everyone blames Amazon. That really isn’t the case.

One thing Google and Amazon do is try things. They fail. A lot. But keep trying things. Most companies fear failure so don’t try things.

Retailers have not realized that in e-commerce sales friction is a problem. A big problem. Amazon is the gold standard of frictionless buying as well as frictionless delivery. Execution and Customer Experience are key components of that.

This past weekend we tried to buy a Samsung TV from target.com. It was clunky on mobile to the point I had to pull out the laptop. Changing store locations on mobile (tablet or phone) was hard. Get through the order process, pick up will be in 2 hours. Good thing I checked my email before heading out because the order was cancelled due to lack of inventory! No text (despite having my cell number to confirm the account!)

Then I don’t get my money back for 5 days! WTH Target?

Early on, Target used Amazon for e-commerce. Now they have their own site. Apparently, there is a lag between order placement and when the order is picked. In 10 years on Amazon, I think this happened once. This has happened twice with other stores.

Walmart has a clunky website too. Despite buying jet.com for $3.3B in 2016, Walmart dot com has not caught up to the frictionless experience of Amazon. Management treats them as 2 separate entities. I imagine that Walmart wants the foot traffic of in-store pick-up. This would be smart except that the in-store experience is hurry-up-and-wait.

So I trek over to Walmart to pick up a similar TV. The TVs are security tagged together. I have to find someone to unlock it. Then wait in line to pay for it. The register is broken (there was even on a note on the register saying this on the screen that the cashier ignored.) Wait some more. Finally pay for it. Then I can’t find a route out of the store. The route I chose was one-way and the alarm went off.

Walmart gets a lot of shoplifting – about $2B worth per year – but on the occasion that I shop there, I notice that they treat everyone like a thief. The CX (customer experience) is lacking because they want to reduce labor costs and push a self-serve model. I dislike self check-out. Something often goes wrong. Plus not having staff walking around means more opportunity for theft and that customers can’t get help (so lost sales too).

Retail is a lot like newspapers in so many ways. First newspapers railed about Craigslist for taking all the profits. Then they railed at Google. In all of that time, they never even attempted to change their business/financial model.

Retail has spent years yelling about Amazon, but that isn’t why malls are empty and foot traffic is down. It is a combination of the customer experience and the buyers. Ron Johnson’s lessons at JCPenneys were lost on many in retail. Buyers today want frictionless, inventory in stock and some kind of experience. Have you ever shopped at Mens Wearhouse? That is an experience.

Whenever I hear complaints about the monopoly – Amazon, Google, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon – I realize that the business owner or executive just wants easy. They want masses built on low price, which isn’t realistic. There are riches in niches that fill the holes of the blind spots and weaknesses of the monopolies. Expose those. Leverage those. But remember two things: it is about customer experience and execution.