Evolving Revenue To A Constant Stream

Company:

Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pa.

Technology Sector: Services

Key Products: Evolve IP Managed Telephony, OSSmossis service management portal

Year Founded: 2006

Number of Channel Partners: 32 in the U.S.

Ideal Channel Partner: Midmarket-focused solution providers

Why You Should Care: Evolve IP offers managed services designed for the midmarket that can capture the majority of a customer's wallet share while creating a recurring revenue stream with as much or as little involvement as a solution provider chooses.

The Lowdown: Money for nothing is great, but it can be hard to come by, which is why Evolve IP has developed a channel program that creates recurring revenue for its partners based on managed services.

Midmarket-focused Evolve IP is a Philadelphia, Pa.-based service provider that focuses on managed telephony, managed network services, hosted applications and security/compliance services. By managing those four broad service categories, Evolve IP covers the majority of the services that a midmarket shop requires, said Gary Coben, vice president, channel services.

"Our channel partners have the opportunity to make more money with us in perpetuity because of the depth of our solution set," said Coben. "Once a customer has the services we offer, it is very unlikely that they will disconnect them."

Evolve Office allows solution providers to bring all of the capabilities that Evolve IP offers under one broad interface that can be managed through its OSSmosis portal, which doubles as a presales tool for partners.

"OSSmosis is based on Salesforce.com and provides access to our collateral library, case studies and Excel spreadsheets," said Coben. "Additionally, it can be used to register deals, build customized proposals and request special pricing."

The sales model for Evolve IP does include a direct sales force which typically targets a different customer set from those its channel partners are interacting with. According to Coben, Evolve IP's direct sales force and its channel partners rarely cross paths.

Solution providers who partner with Evolve IP can choose just how much money they want to make based on their involvement with clients.

Acknowledging that no two solution providers are quite the same, Evolve IP offers a few different ways that partners can tap into the recurring revenue stream it offers, said Coben. One option is for a partner to find a new client prospect, bring it to the vendor and then have Evolve IP close the sale. At that point the solution provider will get a piece of the revenue. In order to realize a bigger revenue stream, solution providers can be more hands-on with their customers.

"We've found that some solution providers want us involved in presales while others just want to do it themselves," said Coben. "If they're more self-sufficient, they'll make more money."