By Larry Lannon

Proposed: The Cloud model is transforming the channel. The Cloud’s impact on the industry is in its infancy. Big changes are underway, and more change is on the way.

Proposed: Many open questions remain to be resolved, including a variety of best-practices questions related directly to business models and partner compensation. The industry’s direction – toward the Cloud – but the precise paths it will take are not.

Resolved: To do something. To help the channel answer the open questions, embrace the Cloud, and future-proof critical revenue streams for forward-thinking partners.

The Cloud and Technology Transformation Alliance (CTTA) is taking action.

An out-growth of the Cloud Convergence Council, introduced to Channel Partners in 2011, the CTTA is dedicated to creating a channel community around the Cloud, and developing and reporting on best practices that can benefit the entire industry.

A partnership of the The 2112 Group and Channel Partners, the CTTA will play an important role at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, March 27-29. The CTTA is built around the expertise of Chief Executive Officer Larry Walsh of The 2112 Group, and the well-known IT journalist whose Channelnomics is widely read throughout the technology community. Check out the CTTA here.

The CTTA will have two days of programming, led by Mr. Walsh, associated with the Channel Partners Conference next month. Attendees must register for the Channel Partners Conference, but attendance at the CTTA’s event this March is free. Click here to register.

Attendance is free, but space is limited – and the CTTA is filling up fast.

As of Feb. 2, the CTTA had more than 160 registrations.

The Cloud is big. It is important. It is coming to a business near yours – if it hasn’t already arrived. Important work remains to be done.

Participate in shaping the future of the channel, the Cloud and your industry. Participate in the CTTA.

Larry Lannon is group publisher of VIRGO’s Communications Network, which includes Billing & OSS World, Channel Partners and V2M.

By Larry Lannon

The big story in the channel in early 2012 is the continued rapid rise and growing significance of the VAR.

VARs are the “It Girl” in the channel today, to paraphrase an image minted by Channel Partners Editor-in-Chief Khali Henderson earlier this year. Why?

Partners are required to provide more and more sophisticated services to SMBs and SEs, and the distinction between telecom services and IT services is vanishing faster than an ice cube discarded on a Las Vegas sidewalk. Businesses want integrated solutions that help them build business and limit costs. Their trusted partner must be able to help them by providing technology solutions, not merely telecom services, or certain types of telecom services.

Integrated solutions require a level of technological sophistication that the “transaction” agent simply cannot bring to the party. Hence, the importance of VARs in today’s channel. And, hence, the interest of partners who need to muscle up on technology in partnering with VARs.

Channel Partners has linked arms with CompTIA, the IT industry association, to bring the best content possible to attendees at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, March 26-29. Channel Partners and CompTIA will be producing a workshop entitled "Agent-VAR Partnering Best Practices" on Wednesday, March 28, beginning at 2 p.m. The workshop is open only to partners, and registration is required. The workshop is sponsored by World Telecom Group, the prominent master agency.

This will be the third agent-VAR workshop that CompTIA and Channel Partners have produced. We do original research and conduct live text polling in the workshops. The workshops have been growing in popularity.

Registrations for the March event are already over 100. So today is the right time to register if you want to be assured of a seat at the agent-VAR table. Go here to register.

Keep an eye on Channel Partners for the best coverage of the hottest topic in the channel this year. And make sure you schedule yourself into the agent-VAR workshop for some of the best programming in the world on this critical subject.

Larry Lannon is group publisher of VIRGO’s Communications Network, which includes Billing & OSS World, Channel Partners and V2M.

By Larry Lannon

Effective partners are lifelong learners. There is not a viable alternative.

The solutions business is always changing. Economic conditions are always changing, so SMB and SE customers, the most adaptable sectors of the economy, are also always in motion.

The best way to manage dynamic circumstances is to stay informed, keep thinking, and identify and react to change before their competition does. Competing effectively requires partners to make a serious commitment to learning.

Partners soak up relevant information from a variety of sources, thankfully including Channel Partners. Sometimes, given the amount of information available and the press of daily business, the best source of information can be overlooked: other partners. Peers are often the best teachers.

Channel Partners has been facilitating peer-to-peer learning for a number of years. This year, we are increasing our investment in peer-to-peer learning at the Peer-to-Peer Networking Mixer.

This spring, at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, March 26-29, we will be adding to the moderated-discussion format by doing some original, dedicated research around best practices in the channel, and creating discussion guides for participants at the peer-to-peer session. The session itself will be built around a series of moderated discussions, organized in small groups, that will facilitate peer-to-peer interaction. It also will feature real time live polling.

The peer-to-peer session is open only to channel partners. No one else is permitted in the room. The 90-minute session will be begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28.

Go here to register. More than 100 partners have already registered for the Peer-to-Peer Networking Mixer. Don’t be left out when the doors close on Wednesday afternoon, March 28. Join your peers for a confidential and insightful discussion about the channel.

Larry Lannon is group publisher of VIRGO’s Communications Network, which includes Billing & OSS World, Channel Partners and V2M.

More than 2,500 partners and suppliers from the channel community attended the Fall 2011 Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Aug. 24-26 in Chicago, making it the largest in the event’s 15- year history.

“Channel Partners Conference & Expo was a success directly attributable to the quality of the program,” said Group Publisher Larry Lannon. “Once again, we significantly improved the program and introduced several successful new program elements, including the Selling Techniques Luncheon and the Channel Partners Zone, or CPZ, and an improved level of interactivity in sessions.

“The continued focus on the quality of the programming and on programmatic innovation, combined with the inherent strength of the channel itself, led to an increase in attendance of 10 percent compared to the attendance last September in Washington, D.C.,” Lannon added.

The event featured more than 50 hours of programming, nine hours of networking and more than 120 exhibitors and sponsors.

“Attendance figures are a referendum by partners on the quality of the program,” Lannon added. “The positive vote last week is encouraging and much appreciated. We certainly intend to continue to earn the trust of partners. We will continue to stress improvement and innovation in our programming plans for 2012. We anticipate a continued positive response to programmatic quality by the channel.”

The Channel Partners content team, led by Editor-in-Chief Khali Henderson, works with the Channel Partners 2010-11 Advisory Board to create the programming at Channel Partners’ two annual, national events.

“I was happy with the positive response we once again received to our program,” Henderson said. “We built on a long history of strong programming, including recent innovations from our spring event like Women in the Channel, the Cloud Convergence Council and the Agent-VAR Workshop, by layering in totally new elements, like the Selling Techniques Networking Luncheon and the CPZ, and by expanding the interactive elements of the program.

“The channel is focused on providing quality services and is full of creative innovators,” continued Henderson. “We are committed to creating quality, innovative programming that maps to the channel’s qualities, wants and business needs. Look for more innovation and a continued commitment to quality in our two national programs in 2012, in Vegas next spring and in Orlando next autumn.”

Henderson expressed particular enthusiasm for the increasingly interactive nature of Channel Partners, including real-time text polling and moderated small group discussions that usher today’s partners into the center of the challenging intellectual dialogue that shapes successful channel strategies.

“We are excited to offer more opportunities for channel partners to make their voices heard at the Channel Partners events.”

VIRGO CEO John Siefert, an active participant in the CPZ discussion last week, also pointed at the importance of developing quality programming for a dynamic, demanding audience like the channel.

“The channel is thriving and changing while it thrives,” Siefert said. “This dynamic creates a thirst for both information and perspective. The context and content of the programming has to fit the needs and wants of the channel.

“Channel Partners continues to lead in developing content that is both of the highest quality and is tailored to the historic moment in the channel. We call that content in context. Demanding professional information – consumers like channel partners have every right to expect content that meets those criteria. The content team once again met – or exceeded – that expectation in Chicago this week. We intend to continue to invest in quality and innovative content for the channel. Like Khali, I have no hesitation in making that commitment firmly and publicly.

“I also was delighted with the increased level of participation and interactivity in the program,” Siefert added. “I enjoyed participating myself. The more time I spend with people in the channel, the more convinced I am that there is an inexhaustible well of ideas – and humor – in the channel. The channel has brains and personality – and both came across in Chicago.”

The next Channel Partners Conference and Expo will be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, March 27-29, 2012.

“Both 2011 Channel Partners events recorded substantial growth,” said Group Publisher Larry Lannon. “As we all know, the general economy has been rough this year. But the channel is doing well, even though SMB spending in the general economy has been slow to recover from the recession that began in 2008. Why? I can think of at least two reasons: the model and the people.”

Channel Partners creates numerous networking opportunities for the channel. Face-to-face interaction is an important part of the experience at Channel Partners’ national events. The interaction around the shared concern for building business value is at the heart of Channel Partners.

“The channel is full of competent, strategic, determined professionals who these past three years have found ways to add business value to their SMB customers during particularly tough times,” Siefert added. “The model works for SMBs, who stress efficiency, performance, flexibility and innovation even more in challenging times than they do when the general economy is growing. The role of trusted advisor is more important than ever today.

“The channel, thanks both to the highly distributed model and to the talents of channel partner professionals, is not only going to thrive during the recession,” Siefert concluded. “The entire channel ecosystem is going to emerge from the recession well positioned to benefit from the next economic cycle, when growth will drive demand for converged solutions to new heights.”

“Channel partners touch SMB customers directly on a daily basis. Being the customer interface on the communications solutions value chain is a strong position to occupy,” Henderson observed. “The trusted advisor position is the high ground in a competitive, complex world. Today the channel firmly holds that high ground. We are working to help the channel strengthen that hold.”

“Channel Partners is all about adding business value to the channel,” Seifert concluded. “That is why participation is important and rewarding. Partners can obtain competitively significant insights, information and understanding at Channel Partners’ events, and in our media. Participation and engagement bring a competitive edge. No industry is more competitive than the communications industry, with all its innovation and change and rapidly shifting cost-benefit calculations.

“Can I define the reward for partner participation and engagement with Channel Partners? Certainly! It is simple: a distinct competitive advantage.”

“Channel Partners creates content that matters,” said Henderson. “It is quality content tailored tightly to today’s channel. That’s the mission today. It will be the mission tomorrow. The channel will certainly continue to change. Our mission will not. We will continue to be committed to providing quality programming at the leading event in the channel industry. You can take that commitment to the bank.”

More than 2,500 partners and suppliers from the channel community in the IT and telecommunications industry attended the Fall 2011 Channel Partners Conference & Expo last week in Chicago, making it the largest in the event’s 15-year history.

The event featured more than 50 hours of programming, nine hours of networking and more than 120 exhibitors and sponsors.

“Channel Partners Conference & Expo was a success directly attributable to the quality of the program," said Larry Lannon, group publisher of VIRGO's Communications Network. “Once again, we significantly improved the program and introduced several successful new program elements, including the Selling Techniques Luncheon and the Channel Partners Zone, or CPZ, and an improved level of interactivity in sessions."

Channel Partners hosted the event, Aug. 24-26, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, drawing an eclectic group of attendees ranging from master agencies to value added resellers to such large telecommunications carriers as CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications.

“I was happy with the positive response we once again received to our program," Channel Partners Editor-in-Chief Khali Henderson said. “We built on a long history of strong programming, including recent innovations from our spring event like Women in the Channel, the Cloud Convergence Council and the Agent-VAR Workshop, by layering in totally new elements, like the Selling Techniques Networking Luncheon and the CPZ, and by expanding the interactive elements of the program."

Dan Ring, new business development director with PGi – a company specializing in video, Web and audio conferencing solutions for enterprise customers – articulated one of the benefits of the show. In an interview on the show floor Thursday, he said his company could cold-call potential partners for months and still not get four solid leads, which he obtained that day. He also said it is nice to see what other vendors are doing and connect with individuals his company is trying to do business with, providing the opportunity to “press the flesh."

On the show floor last week, the atmosphere was relaxed, although plenty of business cards were passing hands. The booth at Access One, a facilities-based carrier in Chicago, featured a small putting green for golf fanatics. At the Time Warner Cable booth Wednesday, two men played a car game on Xbox 360 without any physical controls. On Thursday evening, Telesphere – a managed cloud communications provider for businesses – had the tallest presence with a red-headed gentleman walking on stilts. Not be outdone by its neighboring booth, master agency X4 Solutions featured a bevy of booth babes with white pants and orange T-shirts.

But all distractions aside, VIRGO CEO John Siefert summed up what the show really means for channel partners.

“Channel Partners is all about adding business value to the channel," said Siefert, who participated in some events at the show. “That is why participation is important and rewarding. Partners can obtain competitively significant insights, information and understanding at Channel Partners’ events, and in our media."

The next Channel Partners Conference and Expo will be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, March 27-29, 2012.

By Khali Henderson

Can I just say for the record that you guys are awesome! I am so excited to say that you have made our Chicago event the most successful and well-attended in our history. (In case you didn’t know, that’s 15 years!)

I am humbled by your tenacity in the face of a still-lagging economy and how you continue to invest in your businesses and in your professional development. Thanks for choosing Channel Partners and the Channel Partners Conference & Expo to be a major part of that effort.

When we are all heads-down, working long hours in our businesses, it’s easy to get caught up in our own stuff. At the show we get to look around and see how exciting the opportunities are for the IT and telecom channels.

I am not saying there are not challenges. One of the big ones is how to transform – step by step – to meet the needs of a next-generation customer that wants end-to-end solutions, not point products. This is on my to-do list!

I have been touched by your enthusiasm and also by your willingness to share your experiences and expertise with your peers. I expected this from the Women in the Channel group since “sisters” are just like that, but it’s not a gender trait. (I stand corrected.) Channel Partners of all genders and experience levels and types were sharing and collaborating throughout the event. The first-ever Selling Techniques Networking Luncheon was a great example. Another was the session, “Trading in the Transactional Model” as well as the Agent-VAR Partnering Workshop - Part II.

I personally could not attend every session, but these were a few that I had the opportunity to observe. Your candor about what you know – and what you don’t know – is refreshing. And, I think, critical to the advancement of your businesses individually and as a channel. I will look forward to sharing with you the results of these conversations and building on them for our future education programs and content.

If there was something in particular that you would like to learn, see, hear, please let me know. We want to be your go-to resource for all things channel. Don’t wait!!! The spring show is just around the corner: March 27-29, 2012, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Until then ...

VIRGO Publishing LLC, a business-to-business information services company, announced that the Spring 2012 Channel Partners Conference & Expo will be held March 27-29, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The meeting facilities at Caesars Palace comprise 300,000 square feet of space that is set apart from the temptation of the casino, yet just a quick elevator ride from the guest rooms in the Palace Tower. The hotel boasts a 129,000 square-foot casino, 26 restaurants and cafés, sprawling gardens, pools and a world-class spa.

The Channel Partners Conference & Expo is the only networking and educational event in the communications industry dedicated to the indirect sales channel. Over the years, it’s also been home for the forward-looking VARs, such as IT solutions providers looking to add VoIP to their portfolios and PBX dealers looking for a residual compensation model possible with carrier services.

Celebrating its 15th year, the Spring 2012 Channel Partners Conference & Expo is expected to attract more than 3,000 channel partners and their suppliers.

The Call for Speakers for the Spring event will open August 31. The education program will place emphasis on practical application of technology by channel partners and will be looking for proposals based on this.

About VIRGO Publishing
VIRGO Publishing is a dynamic information services company specializing in communications through print and electronic media, trade shows and special events, education and training, and value-added business services. www.virgopublishing.com

About Channel Partners
For more than two decades, Channel Partners (www.channelpartnersonline.com) has been the leader in providing news and analysis to indirect sales channels serving the communications industry. It is the unrivaled resource for resellers, aggregators, agents, brokers, VARs, systems integrators, interconnects and dealers that provide network-based communications and computing services, associated CPE and applications as well as managed and professional services. Channel Partners is the official media of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo.