Intelisys formally launched its Channel Alignment Program, designed to helps telecom agents, VARs and IT solutions providers establish business partnerships. Ultimately, the program pairs IT solution providers with selected Intelisys agents.
For the initial phase of the Channel Alignment Program, Intelisys has enrolled 15 of its top agents in major metro areas of the country. It then assigns IT solution providers in the same regions to the appropriate agent.
“Both parties win,” said Andrew Pryfogle, senior vice president and general manager of cloud services and complex bids for Intelisys. “The IT solution provider is able to leverage the expertise of the telecom agent in order to build a coveted recurring revenue stream. The telecom agent gets access to those valuable customer relationships that only the IT solution provider holds.”
According to the company, IT partners can add a cloud and carrier services practice to their business models, with little to no capital investment since Intelisys manages all of the contracts and commissioning processes in a way that does not require IT solution providers to give up account control. The Channel Alignment Program also jump-starts a recurring revenue stream for IT partners, who have seen up-front compensation decline as buyers move away from capex-heavy investment toward cloud-based technologies.
“As an industry, it’s time to realize that VARs don’t need to become agents and agents don’t need to become VARs,” said Patrick Wefers, founder and president of Infinium Communications. “Many have tried that model and failed.”
