Master Agent Featured Articles

Recent research released in conjunction with Microsoft (News - Alert) and 451 Research is highlighting that today’s companies are migrating at an increasingly rapid pace to the cloud to enhance efficiency, expand their footprint and also reduce expenses. Interestingly enough, through teaming with a master agent as well as leveraging the cloud, the door to opportunity in terms of driving profitability is swinging wide open.

• Surveying business decision makers representing small- all the way to large-sized corporations, key findings include:
• 50 percent of respondents will use the cloud to grow their organization
• Only 25 percent view the cloud as a way to cut costs
• While the total worldwide hosting and cloud space accounted for nearly 6.9 percent of all IT operations in 2010, this number will significantly ramp up to 20.5 percent by 2014
• 68 percent of users will transition to a hybrid cloud-based platform within a 24-month period

Marco Limena, vice president of Microsoft's hosting and cloud service providers business, said in a statement, "Cloud is giving them the opportunity to grow business and realign the organization to new company strategies. The benefits of cloud are introducing new products and getting them to market faster and supporting them."

Right about now, you may be asking what role the cloud plays when looking at the responsibilities of a telecommunications master agent. For that answer, we turn to Executive Editor Erin Harrison who penned an article stating, “The implications of the cloud, the adoption of SaaS (News - Alert) software and changes in customer buying behavior creates both an opportunity and a challenge for VARs and master agents. While master agents will continue to be an important distribution channel for core voice and data telecom services, they require training in order to be able to offer managed and cloud services.”

Arguably one of the most well known agencies currently in the space is Telarus (News - Alert). Developing automated technology that can be adjusted as customer demands continue to change, the master agent made headlines just last week when it signed a strategic alliance with inContact.

Under the partnership, the agent will now be permitted to resell InContact’s cloud contact center solutions directly to its wide customer base, assisting them in improving the overall customer/ call center agent experience in addition to driving efficiency within this environment dramatically.