ChannelVision Magazine

Whether selling virtual or physi- cal, MSPs unanimously want to grow UCaaS revenues, but they see a crowded, commoditized cloud tele- phony market, suggest the findings. In both countries, MSPs named the amount of competition and difficulties differentiating one offer from another as the biggest challenges they face when selling telephony solutions – a full 80 percent of U.S.-based MSPs checked “too much competition.” Less than four in 10 Canadian MSPs cited that same challenge, but 45 percent found it “hard to differentiate” within the market. Concerns about provider poaching also may be creating trepidations over forging new voice relationships. Among the U.S. MSPs surveyed by Corlea, nearly two-thirds expressed concerns over vendors and master agents billing their customers directly. Likewise, a full 100 percent of U.S. MSPs have concerns about carriers and mas- ter agents selling solu- tions that compete with their core services, with 40 percent saying they are “very concerned.” More than 90 percent of Canadian MSPs harbor such concerns. As for the “Other” challenges to selling voice among U.S. and Canadian MSPs, “both groups mentioned that customers still see the premises solutions as more stable and are willing to ‘run it until it dies’,” said the study. That’s probably why a full 68 percent of U.S. MSPs surveyed by Corlea Group still of- fer premises-based systems in their solution sets. Other comments from respondents include concerns over technical challenges, a lack of end-us- er education and the high termination fees for existing contracts with another provider (particularly among Canadian MSP respondents). Among the MSPs that currently don’t sell UCaaS, the biggest obstacle Core Communications Source: Business Insider What Keeps MSPs from Selling UCaaS Solutions Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence Source: 451 Research No Change On-Premises Private Cloud Company-Owned/Leased Datacenters and Facilities Third-Party Managed Service Provider Facilities Third-Party Colocation Facilities 10. 51% 1-50 51-100 101-300 301-500 501-1,000 1,000+ 52% 13% 9% 11% 11% 6% 4% 4% 5% 16% 19% 2016 2017 Top Challenges MSPs Face When Selling Telephony Solutions Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence 80% 40% 40% 20% 38.18% 45.45% 27.27% 38.18% 29.09% USA CANADA Too much competition Hard to differentiate Other Carriers always undercut my price What ar as your master agent/UCaaS provider needs to improve? Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence 34% 20% 18% 18% 5% 5% Lack of expertise for designing and deploying voice solutions Other Not enough resources for sales and post-project support Poor performance can create a risk of losing customer for other services 80% 60% 40% 40% 40% 40% Deployment Process Post-Project Support MRR/ Payouts Solution Design Pricing Other What Keeps MSPs from Selling UCaaS Solutions Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence Top Challenges MSPs Face When Selling Telephony Solutions Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence 80% 40% 40% 20% 38.18% 45.45% 27.27% 38.18% 29.09% USA CANADA Too much competition Hard to differentiate Other Carriers always undercut my price What areas your master ag nt/UCaaS provider needs to improve? Source: Corlea Group survey for LANtelligence 34% 20% 18% 18% 5% 5% Lack of expertise for designing and deploying voice soluti ns Other Not enough resources for sales and post-project support Poor performance can create a risk of losing customer for other services 80% 60% 40% 40% 40% 40% Deployment Process Post-Project Support MRR/ Payouts Solution Design Pricing Other Swing by #927 for a quick update on our SD-WAN services & snag a CT Panda! Hybrid Networking • Managed Cloud • Global Colocation ctamericas.com Channel Vision | January - February, 2018 40

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