Every channel chief in the U.S. is parroting Gartner’s (News - Alert) Tiffany Bova to tell channel partners to shift their business model – or perish. It’s tiring to hear it repeated – like Chinese water torture. Here are the three reasons to start the shift now.

One, it takes time to shift your business to a new model. The CLECs – like Cbeyond (News - Alert) and EarthLink – have had to replace personnel and executives a number of times to shift their businesses over the last two years.

Monthly recurring revenue takes a lot of deals to build up to a number that is meaningful. 

Two, every one of your vendors is shifting its business model. From Cisco (News - Alert) to Microsoft to the CLECs, business models are changing. If your vendors are shifting and you are not, your business will be like a blind squirrel: Sure, you will catch a nut anyway, but not efficiently or sufficiently.

Three, the shift to all IP is on. AT&T (News - Alert) is already trialing it, as it is anxious to get rid of copper and TDM. Verizon wants out of copper, just look at the events after Storm Sandy in the New York area.

Every business – your vendors, your competitors, and your customers – is shifting. Maybe you think your own business is okay and not shifting. However, if you are honest and stop staring at your navel, you will see that like your customers and vendors – and yes even your competitors, your business is trying to handle a number of problems that weren’t a problem two years ago. Utilizing cloud services and mobile devices; handling BYOD; and so many more buzzwords are troubling SMBs – even yours.

IT has gone far beyond what it was just 5 years ago – so have communications, telecom, apps, devices, gadgets and the personnel. Buyers have changed – now the IT budget is spent by the CMO, CEO, CFO and HR.

Can you afford to stay static as the world around you shifts? Last person out, please shut off the lights.

Peter Radizeski is head of telecom consulting agency RAD-INFO (News - Alert) Inc. (http://rad-info.net/).