A new report issued by Channel Partners and CompTIA (News - Alert) is revealing that partnerships between technology solution providers and telecom agents including master agent relationships are helping to drive revenue within various companies, increasing their bottom line up to three-quarters when inking these strategic business moves.
According to the second annual benchmarking report on IT-telecom partnerships, “Significant change – such as the emergence of cloud computing – is impacting the channels of both the IT and telecom worlds," said Carolyn April, director, industry analysis, CompTIA in a statement. “These changes are sparking new partnerships among unlikely pairs while at the same time inviting new and different types of competitors to the field."
A master agent generally boasts a large amount of expertise in telecommunications sales that is comprised within a recurring revenue model. Thus, the agent and the model are a perfect match for powering cloud services. Some cloud communications providers have partnered with master agents to boost their sales edge. Currently, IT-focused managed services providers as well as those in the cloud are leveraging master agents in order to see just how valuable their process is.
Additionally, the research highlights that fact that companies from both IT and telecom verticals are continuing to forge these new collaborative efforts, with 43 percent of IT firms seeing a significant increase ranging from 50 to 74 percent of their total sales in the last 12 months from these newly established relationships.
Looking specifically at telecom agents such as Telecom Brokerage (News - Alert) Inc., one-fourth admitted that partnerships with IT firms pumped out between 25-49 percent of revenue in the last 12 months, while about one in five telecom agents stated they generated more than 50 percent of revenue from partnerships.
“These positive results speak to the increasing convergence between traditional IT product and service models and the world of telecom services," April added.
So what factors are causing this trend to becoming increasingly popular? The survey points to 84 percent of telecom agents agreeing that partnerships are formed as a way to expand their footprint and draw in more prospective customers. Creating new revenue streams was the second primary reason.
In order for any relationship to be successful, it must be based upon trust, respect, execution and strategy. Be sure that someone you choose to team up with holds these elements in as high as regard as you do to see ongoing success.
Edited by Carrie Schmelkin