INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: THE O2 CORNER Maggie Kennedy
ONE of the key questions I am asked when I speak to potential new partners is, ‘As a wholesale partner, how can I compete versus a network offering?’. My answer is, ‘Why do we have to be in competition?’. If there was only ever an appetite for customers to buy directly then I could understand why this may be valid. But customers need, and in fact want, choice and flexibility. So I firmly believe it is in
everyone’s interest to let the customer decide. When the question of ‘how can I compete?’ is asked, it may be driven by a price led proposal, when what most customers need is a one-stop-shop for all their telco needs. Clearly you, as the partner, may often be better placed from both a relationship and local service point of view. So all roads should lead back to what is best for the customer. Furthermore, with the evolving market of smartphones, fixed line solutions, VoIP and the full unified communications offerings, we will sometimes need to present a united front so that we can offer the best solution to customers. This is where we can really add value. I am not suggesting that there would never be an occasion when a client wants separate tenders to decide who is best placed to service their needs, but I do believe that working together is often the best approach. And in a fast moving marketplace I believe that the parties who evolve and work together will be the ones to come out on top. Some of our best wins in channel here at O2 have been delivered on the back of some great collaboration between partners and the direct teams. We have numerous examples of when this has worked successfully. If you want to hear more about how we partner, drop me a line at
maggie.kennedy@
o2.com
Maggie Kennedy, Head of Partners, O2
Fidelity eyes up partners
FIDELITY Group has launched a major recruitment campaign claiming reseller partners that sign up with them will gain complete ownership of their customers on all services includ- ing mobile.
The Henley-based business is also offering an optional guaranteed buy-out of reseller bases whether they opt for a dealer, wholesale or white label partnership with Fidelity. Fidelity Group Directors Simon Payne and Alan Shraga have a pedigree of success in helping reseller partners achieve buy-out deals having launched and sold Cable Telecom to Telstra and VNetworks to Opal in the space of a decade. “We are already signing partners at an average of one per day and we’re expecting a busy autumn as more and more realise the strength and power of our offer,” said Payne.
“Customer ownership is the Holy Grail for resellers and we would be happy to explain to anyone keen to work along- side us what we have negotiated with our suppliers and what it means to them.”
The Fidelity wholesale part- ner programme offers resellers sales tools, management report- ing, provisioning, error check- ing, billing, credit control, cash collection, 24 hour customer services etc, all branded in the reseller’s name.
Payne said Fidelity’s resell- ers will also get free use of the Anvil billing engine.
“Anvil has been working since 1997 and is a world class billing engine that drives the back end of the industry’s larg- est carriers. It currently man- ages almost a million pounds of customers’ traffic every day, and our reseller partners get it absolutely free.”
Cisco awards Axonex
CISCO Systems has award- ed
of Cisco ATP
Axonex the designation (Authorised
Technology Provider) for Cisco TelePresence Video Advanced. Axonex is the most qualified
SHORT CALLS
Zen Internet has added more features to its Home Talk and Business Talk products, including the 1571 Answer Phone service and a range of Call Barring options. “These features have been added in response to customer feedback,” said Andrew Saunders, Head of Product Management and Marketing. “Home Talk and Business Talk products aim to save our customers considerable amounts on their phone bill.”
NeoWave boost
NEOWAVE has been granted distribution rights for the com- plete portfolio of Aastra prod- ucts for the UK market. Justin Blaine, MD of Neo-
Wave, said: “We are working closer with Aastra to target exist- ing and new enterprise resellers with the MX-ONE platform. “This is testament to the investment we have made in the last six months and the success we have had to date with the new range of Aastra 400 SMB solutions that were launched earlier this year.”
Blaine will be targeting new reseller partners for all of its solutions with some new on boarding packages and incen- tives, he says. The company has also launched a dedicated Aastra microsite to enable resellers to access information such as promotions, sales collateral and training materials. Alan Reeve, MD of Aastra UK & Ireland, said: “The new microsite is just one aspect of how Neowave and Aastra are working in partnership to devel- op the support for resellers.”
Cisco certified partner to hold this ATP in the UK. Axonex was the first Cisco partner in the UK to achieve Advanced Architecture Specialisations and the first to hold two worldwide.
SHORT CALLS
Entanet has been named as one of the UK’s 1,000 brightest businesses by The Telegraph which highlighted companies that stand out and together generate over £50bn in sales. Entanet’s Head of Marketing, Darren Farnden, said: “It’s good to see that, when market condition get tough British businesses find a way to succeed.”
Chris Jagusz, the veteran of Daisy, Eurotel and BT, has completed a 285 mile bike ride from Greenwich to the Arc de Triomphe, raising over £2,000 for the Royal British Legion. He said: “There’s a real sense of achievement from four hard days cycling for such a good cause. When the Arc de Triomphe comes into view you know it’s all been worthwhile.”
TalkTalk Business has partnered with IPT provider 8el in a move that introduces Ethernet and EFM solutions to the reseller’s connectivity portfolio. 8el specialises in managed VoIP, ISP services and Wide and Local Area Network solutions to the mid-enterprise market and EFM orders have already been placed with end users nationwide.
Andrew Loadman (left) & Julian Niman
NIMANS’ growing strength in the audio conferencing space has been recognised by manufacturer ClearOne which has given the distributor a Largest Growth Across Europe award. The company’s Sales Director (EMEA), Andrew Loadman, travelled to Nimans’ Manchester headquarters to present Chairman and MD Julian Niman and Head of Conferencing Ian Brindle with the award. Loadman said: “We wanted to formally recognise Nimans’ status as a key trading partner and also thank its staff for their exceptional efforts in driving the brand forward.”
Instant Ethernet & EFM pricing from Virtual1. Find out more at
www.virtual1.co.uk or call us on 0844 884 0800. Total Network Freedom.
14 COMMS DEALER OCTOBER 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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