Vendors are beginning to concede this fact and are preparing to make the necessary level of expertise broadly available. While end users, channel partners and industry analysts likely will cry foul at first, this trend is actually beneficial and, properly managed, will result in happier customers, wealthier channel partners, and healthier revenues for vendors.

Thin Whizards

Pretty GUIs and friendly wizards have become standard in VoIP management, but heretofore these interfaces have simply been a thin veil for configuring very TDM-like PBX/key system features, especially in the branch and small enterprise environment.

Now the veil has been lifted, and end users and resellers alike see that these GUI tools aren’t focused on any of the productivity drivers that enable an IP system, such as presence and IP-to-network connectivity.

And the friendly wizards are only getting the customers going with the most basic configurations.

Now that users have recognized and embraced the need for all the productivity benefits VoIP systems can provide, the management tools necessarily must become more complex to allow configuration of sophisticated services.

Those tools, however, are frighteningly complex and tricky, and the vendors have too few experts on staff to coach installers on their use.

A friend of mine who was taking a sneak peek at the Call Manager Express 4.0 commented that, “There appears to be exactly two individuals at Cisco who have a clue about how to make it work. I don’t know how Cisco is going to pull this off without some incredible knowledge transfer system.”

No doubt this is something of an exaggeration voiced in a fit of frustration-induced pique, but it is revealing nonetheless.

Growing Dilemma

To be fair, Cisco isn’t the only one facing this situation. Alcatel, Avaya, Nortel, Siemens and others do as well to varying degrees, both in enterprise and SMB systems.

And VoIP installations are going to continue to grow more complex and therefore difficult as rank-and-file businesses adopt IP technology and require more sophisticated security, dial plans, interoperability and calling features.

All VoIP vendors must assume responsibility for providing expertise to install and support the seemingly infinite combinations of VoIP platform configurations and applications.

Having expert professional services, managed services and outsourcing offerings in place—both direct and through channel partners—is going to be essential moving forward. But they have to be implemented properly or everyone from resellers to customers is going to be seriously annoyed.

The good news is that VoIP vendors recognize that for now at least, the days of “simple” configuration with a “friendly” interface that meets most customers’ needs are gone.

VoIP Professionals

VoIP vendors are acknowledging—in their actions if not always in their words—that VoIP system configuration is a job for professionals.

They also realize they don’t have enough thoroughly trained professionals to meet the demand and know this shortage of qualified VoIP configuration experts will affect sales if they don’t do something about it.

And “do something about it” means developing their channel organizations into armies of highly trained VoIP configuration professionals.

Plan of Attack

So what’s a VoIP vendor to do?

First, price and schedule partner training reasonably. Remember, these folks are taking their best SEs and salespeople away from generating revenue to learn what they need to know to sell your product profitably.

Next, strike a deal with partners on managed and outsourced services. This is a source of channel conflict, plain and simple. Deal registration is critical, and a standard offer of direct assistance from corporate—and a related policy of how revenue will be adjusted in return—is crucial.

Also, avoid corporate imperialism. Channel partners have a right to self- determination, and you have a right to benefit from it.

Vendors should reward channel partners who develop unique, effective service offerings.

That knowledge should then be standardized and refranchised throughout the vendor’s partner organization—for a licensing fee, a portion of which should go back to the partner who developed the new methodology or service. This will have partners competing to create the most innovative services for you.

Finally, resolve channel conflict over services now. Map out the services that will be offered directly and those that will be offered via resellers.

Be Innovative

And consider the unthinkable: What about selling all services 100 percent through channels? A combination of the franchise agreement, along with an intensive technical training program and a thorough branding agreement could get your services sold more broadly and at a greater profit than ever.

The challenge here is to ensure that channel partners get a piece of the services opportunity that these resellers can get excited about—and can handle expertly.

Cisco has made a first step by requiring that channel partners be able to provide lifecycle services. The news was treated with great consternation at the Cisco Partner Summit in San Diego, but it’s really a blessing in disguise.

Embrace the Opportunity

Channel partners should embrace the services opportunity. Although offering expert services requires a significant training investment, it is definitely where the profit lies.

Second, demand the right to create your own service offerings based on your vendors’ training, but allow the vendor to refranchise it through its reseller organization—in return for a licensing fee back to you, of course.

Channel partners are going to have to become sponges for the massive knowledge transfer that needs to take place to be able to sell its VoIP systems.

The effort will pay off, as my Call Manager Express 4.0 testing friend said, “Once you’ve got it all sorted out, you can do some pretty cool things—things you simply can’t do with a monolithic GUI that only allows specific structures. But getting there is a supreme PITA.”