Telarus: UC, Contact Center, Cloud Sales Bring Home the Bacon

(Pictured above: Telarus CEO Adam Edwards on stage at Telarus Partner Summit 2019 in Aurora, Colorado, Aug. 8.)

TELARUS PARTNER SUMMIT — Sell more advanced services and you’ll make more money.

That was a simple, yet key message Telarus executives shared Thursday as they kicked off the first full day of the master agent’s annual Partner Summit in Aurora, Colorado.

“If you’re not jumping in the advanced services space, you’re falling way behind,” Scott Forbush, Telarus’ senior vice president of sales, told the partners in attendance. “Those network prices aren’t going up.”

To wit, Telarus execs shared new data on partner growth in cloud, unified communications (UC), contact center (CC) and cloud services sales. In 2017, the company’s partners brought in $2.2 million in new monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for UC/CC. This year, they’re on pace to nearly triple that ($6.4 million).

“We’re in absolute warp drive when it comes to selling UC,” said CEO Adam Edwards.

It’s a similar story for cloud, with $1.4 million in 2017, on pace to double to $2.8 million in 2019. Total new MRR was $13.5 million two years ago, with $25.2 million expected this year.

Partners seem to be getting the message. Telarus had nearly twice as many partners selling so-called advanced services in 2018 than in 2017. The number of orders processed was up more than 20% in one year.

Telarus also says it’s committed to even newer technologies that are starting to offer partner opportunity — think 5G, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company has a product mapping strategy and has built out a product maturity model to make sure it can help partners stay on the cusp of new trends.

Telarus’ Roger Blohm

“The productization [around 5G and IoT] is finally happening where the channel can make money,” said Roger Blohm, Telarus’ executive vice president of strategy.

Blohm says the company continues to expand its team of professionals who can help partners make decisions around these technologies, as well as artificial intelligence, machine learning and more.

“We’re going to add to this team,” Blohm said. “We’re going to watch these technologies and bring the resources to you so you can come to the top of the mountain with us.”

Frank Gomes is the director of technologies for Nadicent Technologies, a Stamford, Connecticut-based Telarus cloud services provider partner. He was particularly interested in the discussion around new technology.

“It’s important we invest with the right master agencies to help us grow,” Gomes told Channel Partners. “Everything is virtualized. There are so many tings going on; it’s tough to predict the future in technology. But with the right partner allowing us to do that, it allows us to feel more comfortable as we start moving forward. As we’re out their focusing on the customer, we need a good master agent out their covering our backside.”

Nadicent also works with master agent Intelisys, but recently joined forces with Telarus because it has a key supplier in its portfolio with whom Nadicent wanted to work — one Intelisys was lacking.

Earlier this year, Telarus made a move to make it easier for its partners to work with the company. The master agent merged six sales regions into three, and tapped three executives to lead those areas. It’s a decision Edwards said is an opportunity to “tackle the bigger picture.”

From the Telarus Partner Summit stage on Thursday, he encouraged partners to lead the way for their customers.

“[Customers] are looking for direction; they’re looking for guidance,” Edwards said. “Make a decision and act on it.”