ChannelVision 2018 Partner Directory

53 2018 Directory | Channel Vision BullsEye Takes Aim at SD-WAN, VoIP Migration By Tara Seals PROFILE In the last few months, Bulls- Eye Telecom has continued to grow its portfolio and expand beyond its heritage as a POTS aggregator, with deep expertise in aggregating broadband, as well as SD-WAN and VoIP services. Going into 2018, the company has identified four key pillars for business growth, and it’s making investments in its channel partner program to support them. “We are hyper-focused on mak- ing sure our partner community understands our four pillars in our portfolio: SD-WAN, VoIP, broadband aggregation and POTS aggregation,” said Brian Babich, vice president of channel sales at BullsEye. “We have a complete portfolio of voice and data services, and we recently inked an agreement with VeloCloud that we’re very excited about.” BullsEye also is continuing to focus on business migration. “When we aggregate POTS lines for businesses, we also bring our secret sauce to the table to convert those lines to IP,” Babich said. “Our four-step process to help businesses do that – consolidate, optimize, contain and evolve – is one of our key differ- entiators. We bring companies on and meet them where they are – and then offer a bridge to where they want to go. We are one of the leaders in helping companies go from analog to digital. It’s one thing to simply sell digital; it’s another value proposition entirely to help them get there. Our process al- leviates the concerns they have about transitioning to something new.” BullsEye also has seen a rapid development of market opportuni- ties for channel partners in the VoIP market for its sweet spot of distrib- uted enterprises, tied to the growing demand for SD-WAN. “VoIP growth will continue to speed up in the multi-location space, where many businesses haven’t yet adopted it, contrary to popular belief,” Babich said. “VoIP adoption has been slower in that segment than for other kinds of businesses. Because of the intro- duction of SD-WAN, we can provide even more features and functions than ever before, with an attractive cost model for large multi-location accounts – and we are seeing an uptick in growth in this area.” The other driver, he added, is the fact that many providers are decom- missioning their POTS lines. “Busi- nesses need to move faster than they think they need to or want to, and they need to take that message seri- ously so they’re not waiting there to do it at the last minute,” Babich said. As trends develop in the broader market, the company’s partner eco- system also has evolved. It has for instance partnered with more man- aged service providers (MSPs) and VARs during the last year than in the three years prior. It has also seen more partners selling a combination of VoIP and broadband together. “We’re seeing a lot more of a technical sale,” Babich said. “There’s more consulting work happening during the install and the process of remediating circuits. These are not just consolidation efforts – overall, sales are becoming more complex – and we’re there to help our partners in their role as trusted advisors.” To help partners navigate the changes, the company has contin- ued to grow its channel manage- ment team and offers more techni- cal resources. For instance, it has created an intermediate role that falls between channel managers and sales engineers, with SD-WAN and Broadsoft-specific knowledge. “As we grow, we’re overlaying more and more assistance for the channel in the form of targeted re- sources,” Babich said. “It’s important to us that the channel finds it easy to work with us, so we’ve focused on offering unparalleled compensation and support, including doing things like traveling with our partners to end user locations. We are pushing this throughout the organization as we evolve and make strategic moves that are good for our business and great for our partners as well.” The future is not without chal- lenges for channel partners, of course, notably consolidation among vendors, which has left many rela- tionships in a state of uncertainty. “We are stable and have been in business since 1999, and we find that partners appreciate that,” Babich said. “There’s significant con- cern out there because even master agents are consolidating.” As for 2018, Babich has a simple message for channel partners: “If you haven’t worked with us, reach out, and you’ll be glad you did,” he said. “BullsEye’s goal is to be the best carrier for multi-location national accounts for POTS and broadband aggregation, VoIP and SD-WAN. We offer aggressive com- pensation and a passion to help partners sell into the multi-location space, and we’re committed to our partners’ success.”