Flex in Five

So BarCampTampaBay is Oct. 11-12. Twenty sponsors including Mozilla, IBM and Adobe. So Fedex arrives a few minutes ago with 5 cases of unmarked boxes. The packing slip is in Spanish (?). Turns out Adobe shipped me a case of Flex Training DVD's, O'Reilly's book about Flex 3, and 3 cases of brochures. It's certainly shaping up to be a great event, with over 200 registered attendees! (I think th etee shirts will be collector items :)

ATT Pricing from a Reseller

One of the resellers I deal with has released some decent pricing on AT&T circuits, including Internet T1, MPLS T1 (in and out of region), In-State Private Line T1, and Verizon Internet T1. Take a look here.

ISPCON Fall Promo

ISPCON is coming up in San Jose on Nov. 11-13. The promo code to get a free exhibit hall pass or take $100 off full conference rate is on this pamphlet.

I will be in Atlanta talking VoIP and CLEC Strategies at the FISPA Annual Meeting this Thursday and Friday. If you are going, let me know.

Help Ticketing System

How many of you have a Ticketing system in place?

How many of you use PowerCode or Freeside?

Freeside is an open-source billing, trouble ticketing and provisioning automation software for wired and wireless ISPs, VoIP, hosting, etc. I met Ivan when he came to the I4AA ISP Expo in Tampa in Dec. 2005. Now I see him at all the shows. He needs to get back to work because the WISP scuttlebutt is that he is slow to respond. Mac Dearman has a consulting firm called Maximum Tech where Freeside developer Jeremy Davis works.

PowerCode is a proprietary system for ISP billing, CRM, and operations software.

"Ticketish is a simple web-based system for managing help tickets. With an emphasis on more benefit, and less mess, Ticketish is perfect for small to medium-sized teams who need something that will get the job done and get out of the way." Ran across it tonight.

The Fundamentals

The experts are writing about ways to help your business succeed in these unlikely times. With bank consolidation, the credit crunch is affecting access to money to small businesses. Companies that are used to bank floats to meet payroll or to finance accounts receivables for cash flow are finding that near impossible right now, which will cause lay-offs and closings.

First off, cut costs where you can. Secondly, start selling and increasing ARPU. Here's some advice from Tom Peters:

Work the damn phones. Keep working the damn phones.

Show up. Keep showing up.

Call clients and suppliers, ask them how things are going, and how you can help. This is not about sales (directly), but about "showing up"—taking time from your busy affairs to offer assistance of any sort.

Tom writes in another post about Getting back to Basics. You know, the Fundamentals.

"...because we failed to put people & service & listening to customers & making products that worked & doing-instead-of-talking & staying intimately in touch with "real stuff" at the top of our business agendas."

Next, GigaOm has an article, titled "How to Build a Financial Crisis-Proof Business" which boils down to "address product gaps left by large companies." Or deliver service that they do not. Be the best of breed to any Vertical you can.

You are going to have to work the phones like never before. Because, as Rich Tehrani notes,

In addition, a general theme in our markets and beyond is companies pausing more before signing contracts. There is more indecision than at any time I remember.... In my opinion, in order to counter this delay in contract signing, we have to work harder and/or smarter, making more sales calls and doing more marketing. Sales after all is a numbers game when all else is equal. Now is when companies who are good marketers will take share from those who are good engineers. It happens every time the economy slows and this time will be no exception.

Update: Why the Credit Crunch is about more than Wall St.

Keynoting for ADTRAN & XO

I'll be in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday, Oct. 23 to keynote a partner luncheon for ADTRAN and XO. The content is based on where the indirect channel is heading in the next couple of years and what the value proposition is for both kinds of resellers - telecom agents and hardware VAR's. How many times will I say Converged? :)

Are You a VAR?

The question is: Are you a Value Added Reseller? Or are you just a reseller? What's the difference?

1. The VAR gets good margin.
2. The VAR is viewed as an expert in his field.
3. The VAR can become a Trusted Advisor.
4. The VAR isn't selling a commodity; he is offering a Solution.

From a Phone+ article:

Nearly half (46%) of small and medium businesses said they turn to VARs or systems integrators for help in determining IT needs and/or selecting specific technology solutions, according to new data from the Technology Practice at Chadwick Martin Bailey.
The research firm surveyed 417 IT decision makers from U.S.-based SMBs (with 1-499 employees) about their attitudes toward VARs, systems integrators and IT solution providers. One hundred nineteen SMBs said they use VARs and systems integrators.

If you are a just a reseller, you are in the commodity business, selling on thin margins - and scraping out a business. I have said this before: Technology has far surpassed the mind of the average person. The laptop is more powerful by a factor of 1000 than the IBM mainframe I worked on at RPI in 1983. And that mainframe had a team of folks around the clock running it. Today, computing and Internet Access are a business utility. There's an opportunity there for at least 40% of the Small Business space to be the maintenance guy for that utility.

Now Staples Offers Back-Up

As I mentioned earlier this month, everyone is offering data backup. Are you? Now Staples is offering backup services and IT services.

National retail chain Stapes on Wednesday launched a cadre of managed IT services, offering SMBs everything from online data back up to anti-spam. Under its Thrive umbrella, Staples is targeting small and mid-sized companies and offering solutions that help them make the right IT decisions while lightening the load on SMB's already limited IT staffs. "Staples is dipping its toe into the water in the IT services space," said Candy Murphy, vice president of Staples' Contract Technology Solutions. [CRN]

I don't mean to harp, but margins on DSL are small. As Elliot Noss said at the ISPCON keynote, the Googles are eating your lunch. You need to be High Touch and solve problems (not sell commodities). Backup is peace of mind. It is insurance. Today, backup is saving all the digital media - music, home videos, the photo album. Backup is saving the CD collection and the family albums.

Birk Economic Recovery Plan

I don't how many of you have seen the Birk Economic Recovery Plan, but I think it is a great idea! So does Ron Paul (his response to the bail-out is here).

BTW, here's an article that says IT could have prevented the financial meltdown!

Veep candidate Palin's email was hacked by a Tennessee Democratic state congressman's son. Bonus!

This has been a political minute. Now back to telecom...

The Fall of VMWare

Lots of noise this morning about problems at VMWare. Due to power and cooling limitations at data centers, virtualization will continue to grow. But with EMC exerting control over VMware, IT folks are starting to look at open source alternatives. Red Hat bought Qumranet and has its own free V solution in XEN. Sun released its Hypervisor to open source. Even MS is adding VM to its next version of server. Virtualized Machine will become utility soon.

Satellite Internet, Google is, Are You?

Google, HSBC Holdings, Allen & Co. and Liberty Global have invested in O3b Networks to use low orbit satellites to provide backhaul to ISP's in developing countries. "O3b Networks will need a lot more than $60 million. The project, the brainchild of Greg Wyler, is going to cost $650 million and will require 16 satellites."

As long as we are discussing satellite, with hurricane season upon us, satellite phones and satellite Internet access make a good back-up to sell in the Gulf Coast states. Satellite providers include Wild Blue, VSAT, and Hughes (which I rep and can help you with). Satphones are available from Globalstar, Thuraya, Inmarsat and Iridium.

Caps Start

Comcast started emailing customers about bandwidth caps. That means that some users will be moving to DSL. It also means a good opportunity for YOU. I would be spreading the word that With Joe's ISP, you get the Whole Internet - No Limits.

I realize for Wireless ISP's, Comcast, TWC and Frontier putting caps on means that they can too. But putting usage caps on is different from Network Management - as we will find out in court later this year as Comcast takes the FCC to court.

10 things to know about Broadband by Stacey at GigaOm. I think she got the Last Mile Architecture wrong. DSL has a bottleneck similar to Cable systems on the backhaul out of the neighborhood. In many cases, it is NxT1 from the DSLAM to the CO, not fiber.

Billion Dollar Mistakes

Guy Kawasaki has an interview with Chunka Mui, the author of Billion-Dollar Lessons: What You Can Learn from the Most Inexcusable Business Failures of the Last 25 Years, on AMEX Open Forum blog. Here are two gems:

"The short answer is bad strategy. Some 46% of the 750 failures we studied in detail occurred because of a strategy that could have been seen as ill-conceived at the time–in other words, not because of crummy luck or bad execution, even though conventional wisdom seems to be that good execution can make any idea work."

Question: How does one choose between “staying the course in the face of doubt” and “embracing change”?

Answer: That’s a tough question. We know it’s possible to give up a market too soon, but we can tell you that the really big failures came from staying with an existing strategy too long. Kodak tried to hold onto the traditional market for film, chemicals and paper so long that it’s riding that one into the ground, while its main competitors, Agfa and Fuji, saw the change soon enough that they fared much better.
You also saw this sort of behavior from your old rival IBM, when they decided to milk the market for 286-based PCs in the late 1980s and delayed introducing machines based on the 386–only to have Compaq and then others take that market from IBM. There are lots of red flags that can indicate that you’re staying the course too long. Probably the best exercise is to make a set of predictions toward the beginning of a possible change.

See you in Atlanta on Oct. 2.

Hosting is Booming?

Lots of M&A in hosting - even in back-up. Rackspace IPO'ed in 2Q08 and released its earnings. The street doesn't understand Rackspace or the hosting space. They just like the cash flow.

"Revenues were $131M, up over 9% from $120M in Q1. Annualized, that is a 53% growth rate, inline with their 57% growth over Q2 2007." [telecomramblings]

In other hosting news, it seems that hosting is looking to the Channel (indirect agents also known as referral agents and telecom agents and VARs). From Phone+: "Atlanta-based provider, NationalNet, which offers fully managed and dedicated Web-based hosting solutions and services, has launched an extensive channel partner program for partners throughout the country."

I'm not saying you have to issue an IPO or go nation-wide with an agent program, but it is good to see what is going on and take the best pieces for your own business.

Small Units

I'm sure you get plenty of email talking about small units. But in this case, we are talking about Asterisk PBX. Aastra has a small form IP-PBX called the AstraaLink Pro 180. (Retails for about $899). Today, Tom Keating has the PIKA WARP Appliance for Asterisk Review. "The PIKA WARP Appliance isn't a turn-key Asterisk IP-PBX, but instead is a development platform that enables resellers and VARs configure Asterisk 1.4.x to their liking, and then offer a customized version of Asterisk through their distribution channel." It has a $725 price tag. PBX is just one way to start down the road to VoIP.

Where are You Going to Be?

It's the last leg of the 2008 Conference schedule. The last event of the year will be ISPCON's Fall show in San Jose in Nov. I'm on a panel with Google and doing my talk with Jack again, so how bad can it be?

How many of you will be attending a conference in the next 3 weeks? IT Expo West, One-on-One, WiMAX World in CHI, FISPA in ATlanta (again), BroadSoft Connections in Phoenix, and the boring show where they like to drink the Kool-Aid: Comptel. If you are going to any of these, drop a comment or an email or call the office. I'd love to meet you for a coffee, meal or cocktail.

I helped organize the first BarCampTampaBay. That launches on Oct. 11-12.

I may be in NYC on Oct. 20 for Seth.

A quick note to the Trade Show folks: Trade Shows Are Boring! No one goes for the VP of Marketing of anything. It's all about the Hallway. It's about the Dinner. It's about getting answers to problems and finding ROI. Are you polling your attendees to find out why they were there? Are you polling the folks who used to attend and don't any more? (Why not?)

To the DSL Resellers out there. I have probably stated the need for change hundreds of times. Here is someone else's take on it. Time to Evolve. (Trade show folks might want to at least read the title).

Why Would You Hire an AT&T Exec?

I re-read an email today sent from a reader about a comment I made in Phone+ last year about SunRocket CEO Lisa Hook. The reader reminder me that AT&T has produced quite a few "Wunderkind". Here's some of them:

1. Joe Nacchio – leaves AT&T for Qwest - convicted of insider trading case in 2007.
2. John Zeglis – AT&T Wireless: "Was my oversight of the operations inadequate? Everything was inadequate," says Zeglis, who was widely blamed for the company's deteriorating service. Eventually, AW was sold off.
3. Gail McGovern - Executive Vice President for the Consumer Markets Division at AT&T, which she ran into the ground, then moved to Fidelity for 4 years before moving off to Harvard Business school. Now she is CEO/Prez of Red Cross.
4. Pat Russo – Lucent’s CEO and just booted from Alcatel-Lucent after a big failure.
5. Carly Fiorina – Senior Vice President at AT&T who went to Lucent and then was widely viewed as ineffective at HP. Now running the McCain campaign and peeved that she did not get the Veep slot.

I am reminded that many of these execs worked for a monopoly and don't know what it is like to COMPETE. So why would you hire them in a non-monopoly company? this goes for their sales folks too. If they worked at an ILEC, in general, they will be unable to sell effectively for your company. When everyone is/was/will be your customer, do you know how to hunt or farm?

Side note: Dave Rusin thinks that his Frontier alumni are BK proof.

2 Things that May Help

Two things in the news today that can help you increase revenue.

One is that "Almost half of large companies cutting IT spending" as reported by USA Today. How does this help? Well, less IT people, same IT problems. How can you help? Managed Services like IDS, Routers, Firewalls. (You can even outsource it yourselves, but you probably won't). Also, desktop support. There are many companies, like CleanMachine, that can help you make money on PC support.

Next up is PC Makers Give Storage Startups a Boost. PC companies are partnering with storage solutions. You should too. Most folks you deal with have a PC, so be the one that helps them with data backup. (And make a little money on it). When the hard drive goes, it is like a home burning down. People lose all of their pictures. Online storage = insurance.

Fiber in Ohio, Indiana, Penn

I have been collecting the names of all the companies selling fiber near my current client base - and beyond. (Hey, it helps pay the mortgage when I can sell some fiber). Anyway, if you are in Ohio, Indiana, or Pennsylvania, Zayo may be the network for you IF you need 100MB or faster.

In other mid-western areas, Suddenlink may be a fit. (They also have network in WV).

I work with others too, like Level3, Global Crossing, AboveNet and Qwest. Now that Host.Net has acquired expedient and WV Fiber, they have coverage nationwide and to Europe. The problem with most fiber providers is that they don't have an exclusive route. All the MPLS networks that people "own". They don't own. They operate, maybe. When you dig down, you find that the same conduit or sheath carries more than one carrier and enterprise. Comcast expanded its network - in 2004 via an IRU from L3.

An IRU is typically a 20-year usage agreement. "Indefeasible Right of Use" or "IRU" means an exclusive, indefeasible right of use in the optical fibers or other specified property; provided that the granting of the same does not convey legal title to such fibers or other property. [Williams contract] An IRU is an asset. A lease is an expense. It has accounting differences according to NEF. But whether leased or IRU, it is strands inside a sheath. Hard to get route diversity that way. Hard to have an exclusive area too. That's why the price keeps dropping on most routes. (You should see how some routes have dropped! It's getting so an agent can't eat). But on routes without competition, just like in cities without a telecom hotel, rates are much higher. That's just supply and demand. A perfect example: in Atlanta a DS3 from lit building to lit building can be as low as $800, but go to an unlit building or outside Atlanta to a town like Buford and that DS3 now becomes $2000+. You can't get Memphis prices in central Mississippi either. Most of the cost is in the fiber loop. When you see HE.Net selling at sub-$10 per MB or Cogent at $4, it is PORT only. On a GigE port. You have to buy the whole port, not 10MB on a 1GB port. You have to be collocated in a carrier hotel (or pay for the transport to one).

Follow Up to Free

In my last post about Free, I mentioned some of the free wireless that hasn't taken a bite out of the WISPA business. Today, we find that VZ is offering free DSL:

Until the end of October, Verizon will offer its DSL services (which normally range in price from $19.99/month for 768-kbps of downstream bandwidth to $42.99/month for 7.1-Mbps) free for the first six months to customers who sign a one-year contract and use the company’s landline phone service. ... This special offer is available to some 33 million households in 24 U.S. states, or approximately 80% of Verizon’s residential service footprint. [teleclick]

Now that can be a problem for any ISP in VZ-Land. It reminds me to remind you that it is not about Access. It is about managing a technology service for the customer.

IN an post on TMC, I wrote about video conferencing, because the hype is that video conferencing is replacing some travel. So how do YOU take advantage of that? Well, if you are providing bandwidth it needs to be at least 384k RTP upstream and better at 768k. You can offer an install service or a video conferencing room. You can offer nice webcams for sale or for free with a premium internet connection. You can lease a technician and a top-of-the-line camera to a business on-site when they have important meetings. Be creative. You are not selling bandwidth, but what the bandwidth can do for the business. Video conferencing is better than an email or a phone call.

You can also partner with me to re-sell conferencing services - web, video and audio conferencing for residual.

Free Wi-Fi

On WISPA's member listserv there has been a discussion about the next spectrum sale. It seems the esteemed Chair wants to mark his legacy by requiring 25% of the spectrum be used for free broadband. Broadband is defined as 768k now by the FCC. (I wonder if that messed with the number of BB users in the US, since DSL Lite is NOT 768k and neither is a lot of WISP delivered wi-fi at 128k, 256k and 384k.) By I digress.

So I do not side with CTIA. I think there should be conditions on the spectrum. Why? Because the members of CTIA, which is the twin sister to USTA, will be the spectrum winners as they have been for almost all the spectrum so far. And they don't even use it!

Why not force them to give some of it away? Well, WISP's are afraid that it will drive them out of business. News Flash! It's cable versus telco and AT&T versus Verizon. They don't even notice you, except at some local level (i.e., the local sales office that hasn't made its quota in months).

Muni Wi-Fi didn't put you out of business, did it? How about free wi-fi hotspots? How about AT&T giving their own customers a free 2 hours at Starbucks? Or free wi-fi at McDonald's?

Cablevision making Long Island one big Wi-Fi Hotspot may be a different matter. We'll see.

BTW, if you take care of all the things are your side of the ball, you usually win the game.

Seven Myths of Sales Management

BNET has an article titled The Seven Myths of Sales Management. This is good stuff.

• Manager must put their employees first, not customers.
• "Management’s first responsibility is to manage activities." Activities (RGA or running the sales process) produce results. Just looking at the numbers doesn't tell you anything but results. Coaches don't look at the score to figure out what needs to be tweaked in the next game.
• Quota isn't a punishment, it is the numbers needed in order for the organization to achieve its goals, like paying employees, rent, lights, benefits.
• A good technician does not make a good manager. Right out of The E-Myth. Management requires a whole different skill set from the people being managed. Oh, and Leadership is a whole other ballgame.

L3 Lit Buidlings

Rob Powell's Telecom Ramblings has Level3’s top 20 markets for ‘End User Buildings’ only. BTW, L3’s Business Markets footprint comes from Telcove and ICG, which had 375 on-net buildings in Burlington, VT.

City	State	Enterprise Bldgs
Harrisburg	PA	401
Burlington	VT	361
Philadelphia	PA	304
Jacksonville	FL	249
Wichita	KS	240
Nashville	TN	226
Denver	CO	207
Buffalo	NY	203
Richmond	VA	184
Louisville	KY	163
Pittsburgh	PA	158
New York	NY	121
York	PA	116
Charlottesville	VA	112
Little Rock	AR	111
Rome-Utica	NY	111
Scranton	PA	109
Washington	DC	99
Jackson	MS	84
Syracuse	NY	75

Here is L3's interactive map. As you may know, I am a Level3 sales agent. So if you need service, contact me. Thanks.

Low Prices Equal Trouble

Telephony has a column about how the Duopoly is teaching consumers to switch for the best deal. Brand loyalty is out the window as they give away triple-play deals at $100 as part of "customer acquisition syndrome". It isn't about the number of new adds - unless you are publicly traded. It is about PROFIT and profitable customers.

All of these may be examples of what one global consultant sees as companies teaching customers to constantly seek cheaper services, rather than courting current customers with newer products that add value.....In the 1990s, price competition got out of control in the long-distance industry — and helped kill that segment entirely as brand loyalty evaporated. The same thing can happen in the wireless and broadband segments, Weber warned.

And to prove that point, Telephony has another column that shows who is seeing growth (here).

The most successful companies have higher ARPU. Remember Nextel before Sprint bought them? ARPU of $80+ while everyone else was at $55. But you have to have a clear message to a targeted market to get there. It isn't for everyone. It's like inviting people to a party. You don't went everyone.

Competitive Advantage

Seth Godin explains Competitive Advantage. When I work with clients, we always work on messaging (or USP). What is your Position in the marketplace? It is usually defined as the Customer asking "What's In It For Me?" Your USP is the answer. And it isn't a list of features nor a larger bucket of minutes.

Seth explains: "Some of the ways you might build or maintain a competitive advantage:"

• Access to hard-to-replicate Talent
• Hard-earned skills
• Higher productivity due to insight or organization allowing you to be cheaper
• Low cost of living for you and your staff allowing you to be cheaper
• Protected or secret technology or trade secrets
• Existing relationships (switching costs working in your favor)
• Virally organized product and organization
• Large network of users already and a network effect to support you
• Focus on speed
• Monopoly power and the willingness to use it
• Unique story that resonates with the worldview of your target audience
• Shelf space due to incumbency
• Large media budget
• Insight into worldview of prospects--making what they care about
• Emotional intelligence of your salesforce or customer service people
• Access to capital and willingness to lose money to build share
• Connection to community

Not on this list, at least not prominently, are "we are #1!", "we are better!" and "we try harder." Cheerleading skills are not a competitive advantage in most settings. And, with few exceptions, neither is "we are new." Also, "we are better and I can prove it," is rarely a successful argument.

I get lists of reasons people should use this CLEC or that ISP or the other VOIP guy. Think about it like you are a Band. Why should people listen to your Music? If you were an artist, why should someone buy your painting? If you were a personal injury attorney, how are you better than that big firm? If you are a Realtor, why you? In some of these cases, it is about WOM (word-of-mouth) spreading and referrals - a great technique that most companies do NOT use. But that will be slow, unsteady growth and has a limit. You need a message and a plan to get it out there. And it is easier today than ever before because great messages spread quicker today.

One final point: It is easier to be the competitor in a smaller world. Find a target market and spread the message there. Not every where to everyone. Disqualify people and prospects. The truth is not everyone IS a good fit for your service. Aim carefully at those that are. Take your best customers - profile them and then duplicate them. Now go sell something.

Lighting Up the Largest RV Park

Outside Tampa is the largest RV Dealer and Park in the US. Lazy-Days. Don Wallace (the owner and Tampa socialite) has had a bad year, so he decided to light it up with wireless Internet Access.

The network provides coverage over the entire 126-acre RV destination complex ... The complex includes an 86,600 square foot main building, 273 services bays, 300 RV campsites, more than 1,000 RV’s on display, and an RV service and collision center. There’s also a Camping World store, Cracker Barrel restaurant and Flying J RV Travel Plaza. The network covers both indoor and outdoor facilities, providing free high-speed wireless Internet access to customers and visitors. It also allows RV sales consultant, on-site factory sales representatives and services personnel to have instant access over the network through laptops, handhelds and other devices for interaction between sales representatives, service advisors, management and other personnel" [TBBJ]

I have to say, I didn't know Strix was still in business. Go figure. And why didn't Wallace go with a local company like Rapid Systems?

Granted Grants

I do some work for one WISP that received some grant money to help it develop its network to bridge that Digital Divide. Actually, some of the money is being used to market the rural broadband to prospective customers via a Guerrilla marketing campaign that I am helping run.

Another WISPA member wrote me to say that "in January I applied for six competitive grants to further build out our network. In the space of two weeks in March I got the responses back and won 4 of the 6 ... These are grants, not loans. Two of the grants ... can be used for time as well as equipment, while the other two grants are just for equipment." Here's the key part: "I've never written a grant application before January." That means you can too!

Donny Smith at Jaguar in Minnesota has explained how he received RUS loans by spending the requisite time to do the paperwork. (Donny will be keynoting ISPCON in November in San Jose.) (Nice write up about him here).

Congrats to the guys out there making it happen!

Gustav Outages

Apparently there are OC-192 outages in Lafayette. 1.5 million without power. (I should start selling generators). Some of the Metro ethernet network is down. Could be a power thing.

Tracking the next 2 storms here and there.