CoreDial offers a complete, SaaS (News - Alert) platform specifically designed for the channel. SwitchConnex provides channel partners with everything they need to sell, support, and charge for cloud-based services such as hosted PBX (News - Alert), SIP trunking, unified communications as a service, and VoIP.

TMC, which holds the ITEXPO event to be held later this month in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., recently caught up with show participant CoreDial to get an update. Here’s an excerpt of our interview with Jim DeBald, vice president of channel sales at CoreDial.

What are you most looking forward to at ITEXPO (News - Alert) Ft. Lauderdale?

ITEXPO is a great opportunity to see what is happening in the unified communications space and the IT space as a whole. I look forward to it every year since I get to chat with vendors about their unique businesses and how they have carved a niche for themselves generating revenue in a continuously evolving space.

Why should attendees come to your session/visit your booth?

CoreDial represents a very unique but oftentimes overlooked business model of white labeling services. Channel partners are always surprised by how much impact white labeling has on their business. They get to maintain their customers and never become the sales agent, ensuring they remain relevant with their end users. We definitely encourage vendors to stop by our booth or session to learn more!

What is the greatest challenge the channel is up against today?

The greatest challenge the channel faces is to avoid being cut out of the service delivery model as everything moves to the cloud. Cloud, while hugely beneficial, also creates potential risk. VARs and integrators, for instance, are evolving away from selling hardware to become service providers through the cloud. For channel partners, especially those with heavy on-premise models, it is important to continuously provide value in the delivery of cloud-based apps for customers.

Where is unified communications in terms of adoption?

We are still in the early phases of adoption with unified communications. We haven’t yet reached a turning point in growth, as there’s a substantial amount of legacy infrastructure still in place in the market. However, this is encouraging as it means there is a tremendous growth opportunity for unified communications solutions and providers. Small and medium-sized businesses, for instance, are excellent targets for providers as they are looking for cost-effective, low maintained solutions and are increasingly turning to the cloud for these services.

What has been the most impactful trend changing our business?

Ultimately, Everything as a Service (XaaS) is fundamentally changing the way IT serves enterprises – hardware, software, IT processes and business process can all be offered as cloud-based services. The telephony component is just another application that can be delivered through the cloud. XaaS is where everything is headed.

To what extent, if any, are you and your partners doing deals with line-of-business leaders who are not in IT or telecom departments?

Telecom departments have become less prominent within enterprises for many reasons, not the least of which is UC has become a data application. Traditional telecom departments are thus being folded in with IT. Our channel partners tell us they very rarely do business with telecom departments. Line-of-business leaders, e.g. finance, HR, marketing and sales, are driving the adoption of cloud apps and relying on their technology partners and/or IT organizations to implement these apps.

Are channel partners keeping up with the latest products and services?

There’s absolutely always room for more training and education for channel partners. Channel partners have been having an increasingly difficult time keeping up with the latest products and services largely due to the fact that technology is changing at an exponential rate. As partners try to grow and scale their businesses, it can prove very difficult for them to also keep up with the latest technology trends. Not keeping up can impact their bottom line so the more informed they are on what’s happening around the industry, the more effective they will be. That’s why we have invested in partner education and onboarding programs to ensure CoreDial partners are set up for success from day one.