How One Solution Provider Hit $1M In Monthly Recurring Telecom, Cloud Revenue

"Respond, Deliver, Support," or RDS Solutions for short, is a telecommunications solution provider that knows its way around a recurring revenue stream.

RDS Solutions was named a Platinum Partner this week to Petaluma, Calif.-based master agent Intelisys. The solution provider has achieved $1 million in monthly recurring communications and cloud-based revenue billing through its partnership with Intelisys, a feat that only seven other sales partners have accomplished so far, according to Intelisys.

"When a sales partner achieves Platinum, it is a huge testament to their drive, their top-performer mentality, and their willingness to go above and beyond for their customers," said Jay Bradley, president of Intelisys.

[Related: Intelisys Creates New Position To Help Service Providers Team With Channel Partners]

Clinton, N.J.-based RDS Solutions was founded in 2005 by college friends J.R. Vernick and Darren Jones with a focus on providing carrier-agnostic services to meet a wide range of unique customer needs. The company provides telecom services, consulting and management to midmarket and large enterprise customers, Vernick said.

"Our business is about finding the right fit for a customer," he said. "We don't necessarily focus on the carrier -- we focus on the customer and their requirements."

As the IT and telecom industries converge, many channel partners have had to restructure their selling models in favor of OPEX sales with recurring revenue streams, as opposed to large CAPEX sales. This shift is an incredible opportunity for solution providers, Bradley said.

"As more of them take on the opportunities that cloud has to offer, they’re seeing their MRR [monthly recurring revenue] snowball," he said.

But as an agent partner, RDS has been focused on the OPEX model for the past 10 years. The company's carrier-agnostic offerings are what helps the company differentiate itself from its competition. RDS offers bundled, multicarrier services to its customers, including public and private connectivity -- like MPLS services -- traditional voice and VoIP products, cloud, and colocation design and sizing services. RDS can mix and match various telco and service provider offerings for customers to fulfill their requirements, Vernick said. While most RDS customers are headquartered in the tri-state area, many of these customers have global network requirements.

"Sometimes, one aspect of what a customer needs is something one provider specializes in, while another aspect is a good fit for another provider -- like cloud services from a cloud provider, and connectivity services to get to that cloud [from a telco]. It's about bringing the best-of-breed providers together," he said.

The company also offers a help-desk managed service for telecommunications -- "things that customers don't want to spend the time on, and we have the expertise," he said.

Since its inception, RDS Solutions has been an Intelisys partner. Through this partnership, the company works with all the major telecommunications carriers that Intelisys has a relationship with, including AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. RDS also has direct ties with the carriers they do the most business with, but prefers to work through Intelisys to avoid quotas that carriers often impose on partners, Vernick said.

"We don't want to have to meet a number with a carrier because that changes your position of being unbiased and agnostic," he said.

RDS also doesn't white-label any of its solutions. Customers are very aware of which service providers are available, and RDS provides the pros and cons of those options, Vernick said. "We advise and help the [customer] make the best decision," he said. "We want to show them the benefits of each provider."

While customers are billed directly through their chosen carrier, RDS manages the billing process and negotiates with carriers to get the best price for their end customers. "We review the bills, make sure they are accurate, and fix any problems that might be there. We are a single point of contact for our customers -- they only have one place to go if they have questions or concerns, and we straighten that out for them."

According to Vernick, the hottest services being requested from businesses right now are MPLS and session initiation protocol (SIP) services. Vernick noted that a lot of customers are moving to IP-based communications.

Cloud and colocation services are also picking up steam, he added. "Many businesses are moving into new data centers or expanding their data-center footprint and buying cloud services."

Like the company's name suggests, RDS is relentlessly focused on taking care of customers, which has resulted in growing business from those customers. Business also grows through referrals, and satisfied customers have been critical in driving sales with new customers, Vernick said.

"You build trust with a client, and they are going to continue to come to you and even refer other companies that could use your services," he said. "You do the right thing, and [customers] will follow you."

In an effort to mark the company's $1 million milestone, Aug. 24 will be recognized as RDS Solutions Day, Intelisys said.

"There was a time when many people in the channel said that $1 million MRR for a single sales partner was impossible. It was an outlandish goal. But the pace is quickening now for sales partners achieving it," Bradley said. "When one of them hits a milestone like this, we all celebrate."

PUBLISHED AUG. 27, 2015