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CompTIA Forms New Telecom Advisory Council(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Feb. 11 -- The Computing Technology Industry Association issued the following news release: CompTIA (http://www.comptia.org/home.aspx), the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry, today announced the formation of a new industry group centered on the growing convergence of telecom and IT. The CompTIA Telecom Advisory Council (http://www.comptia.org/membership/communities/telecomadvisory_council.aspx) will provide strategic insight and vendor-neutral guidance on the evolving and expanding relationships between agents who resell telecom services and IT firms that focus on data needs. "These two channels, once separate and distinct, have come closer together out of business necessity and customer demand," said Jeff Ponts, executive vice president, DataTel Solutions, Inc., and co-chair of the CompTIA Telecom Advisory Council. "The convergence of voice and data, the emergence of cloud computing and the explosion of mobile technology are some of the factors bringing these two groups together." Telecom agent-solution provider partnerships have the potential to be profitable. A 2012 study by Channel Partners and CompTIA found that these partnerships are generating significant business, with some companies earning up to three-quarters of annual revenue from these strategic and tactical collaborations. But there also are potential pitfalls: poor communications, a lack of rules on engagement, failure to understand each other's business model. "We intend to identify the factors that lead to success and to guide the development of education and training regimens, research, credentials and other resources for the industry so that business partners can succeed and their customers can benefit," said Scott Levy, vice president, enterprise development, AOTMP and co-chair of the CompTIA council. Among the issues the council intends to explore are strategies for setting sales and revenue goals and commitments; establishing and protecting account ownership, rules for interfacing with customers; the need for formal contracts and communications; project management rules; adoption of new technologies, business models and vertical markets; and operational process efficiencies. Mike Saxby, president, Communications Management Services, will serve as vice chair of the group. Other members of the CompTIA Telecom Advisory Council include: -Laura Bernstein, president, CRA Telecom, Inc. -Shawn Cordner, chief executive officer, In2itive Marketing -Larry Foster, president and general manager, PINNACLE -Hilary Gadda, director, telepartner channels, Telepacific Communications -Ian Kleninger, chief executive officer, Avant Communications -Jack Knocke, owner, The VAR Advisor -Michael Paynter, chief executive officer, Tier3 Technologies -Greg Plum, vice president, channel development, Start Meeting -Bill Potter, chief executive officer, Message Broadcast -Peter Radizeski, telecom consultant, Rad-Info, Inc. -Meggin Sawyer, vice president, enterprise division sales, ADTRAN -Bryan Schroder, principal, Cynergy Services -Richard Williams, executive director, channels, Verizon "We're extremely pleased to bring together this group of respected and insightful leaders from the telecom industry," said Annette Taber, vice president, channel strategies, CompTIA. "Our industry is certain to benefit from the valuable contributions this council will make." The council will hold its first formal meeting at the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting (http://www.comptia.org/events/events/amm/default.aspx) March 12-13 in Chicago. The Telecom Advisory Council is the third such industry group established by CompTIA. The Partner Advisory Council (http://www.comptia.org/membership/communities/partner500.aspx) solicits input from technology solution providers. Rick Lewis, senior vice president, sales, Network Dynamics, and Jere Brown, chief executive officer, Americas, Dimension Data; are co-chairs of this group for 2013. The Vendor Advisory Council (http://www.comptia.org/membership/communities/vendorcouncil.aspx) gathers input from hardware manufacturers and software vendors who have in-depth channel knowledge. For 2013, this council is led by co-chairmen Mike Haines, director, worldwide SMB channel incentive strategy, Microsoft, and Jay McBain, co-founder, ChannelEyes, and vice chair Frank Raimondi, worldwide alliance program manager, Intel. TNS rd43 130212-4200177 StaffFurigay (c) 2013 Targeted News Service |