10 / 24
Masters of
Many Pieces
2016 Master Agent State
of the Market
By
Martin
Vilaboy
S
imilar to just about every
business model within tele-
com alternate channels,
master agents have been
heavily impacted as the market shifts
toward IP services, cloud and mobile.
Indeed, master agents have felt the SMAC
and rolled with the SoLoMo.
“The role of the master agent has be-
come much more complex as we transition to
an IP-based world,” said Denis Raue, president
of Telegration, responding to our informal sur-
vey of master agencies.
“The entire business is radically different
than what transpired in the channel in the
past,” agreed Greg Praske, CEO of ARG. “It’s
far less likely that you’ll be responding to a
request for a PRI, an Internet circuit or
a WAN – where you simply survey the
market and present the most com-
pelling options.”
Rather, in today’s environment, said Praske,
masters and their sub-agents need to be pre-
pared to discuss and advise on matters ranging
from whether a company would be better off
reimbursing their employees for their wireless
devices or purchase them through a corporate
plan, or which hosted providers integrate best
with Microsoft, Cisco or Salesforce, and which
have specific functionality. They may need to
know which data centers meet which compli-
ance, and where the best fits are in terms of
power draw or most-efficient cross connects.
They’ll likely need to pull up fiber maps to
show on-net and near-net and be aware of who
is willing to do a build for free and for how
many feet from the splice point. “And, on and
on,” said Praske.
In short, businesses increasingly are look-
ing for more than just access and feature
sets. They seek communications technologies
and providers that will help them find ways
10
10
THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S
PLAYBOOK