Juniper's Cable Business Service Program: Building New Revenue Streams

Worlds Are Colliding

Telecom agent partners are cashing in on recurring revenue opportunities around connectivity and cloud services. So as the IT industry continues to move in favor of software and services and away from hardware, traditional hardware solution providers are looking to get in on the action.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper Networks aims to help its partners make the shift. Since these traditional solution providers already own the relationship with customers and offer the network hardware sold, why shouldn't they own the network as well, asked David Scholnick, Juniper's director of partner sales, U.S. Cables.

Scholnick sat down with CRN to share the details about Juniper's Cable Business Service Program -- a program that he built -- and how partners can make the pivot and begin selling the connectivity that powers the hardware.

The Program

Juniper has been selling infrastructure to cable providers for years. But now, the IT vendor is combining its own hardware offerings with connectivity services and bundling the two for its channel of traditional hardware solution providers.

Juniper unveiled its Cable Business Service Program in July 2015, which was internally dubbed its "Cable as a Channel" program. The program couples Juniper's equipment -- the ACX Series Universal Access routers -- with voice, Internet and data services from cable provider partners.

Perhaps the most attractive feature of the program is the lucrative recurring revenue opportunities that adding services -- especially connectivity services -- can provide to those partners used to making their money via large, non-recurring-revenue hardware deals.

The Benefits

Juniper's Cable Business Service Program gives cable companies access to more partners that can sell their fiber for them. Juniper also benefits because the vendor's hardware will be deployed within more customer sites.

The solution provider community might benefit the most, Scholnick said. These benefits include:

-- Carrier services can provide a new source of recurring, residual revenue for traditional hardware partners.

-- By way of the program, partners selling a combination of equipment and connectivity services will be able to capture additional hardware and managed services sales.

-- The program can help strengthen the relationship between the solution provider and its end customers. Partners who bring connectivity and hardware offerings to the table will be seen as "complete" solution providers that end customers trust for all their IT and business services needs, Scholnick said.

Why Solution Providers Should Care About Carrier Services

According to research from CompTIA, about 50 percent of small and midsize businesses and 63 percent of large businesses will source cloud services from the channel. To get to the cloud, these businesses will need connectivity.

The combination of equipment and connectivity services gives partners a leg up on those that don't bundle the two. These partners will win more business and, at the same time, give customer retention a boost as businesses are more likely to stick with a technology partner that can fulfill their evolving needs, Scholnick said.

Using The WAN As A Weapon

Considering that solution providers own the WAN hardware, these partners should be leveraging the WAN as a competitive feature for customers, too, Scholnick said.

However, the vast majority of Juniper partners today aren't selling any fiber or Ethernet connectivity services. Making the pivot toward selling services will be critical, he said.

Many solution providers have been successful selling hardware, but paving a path to cloud could help these partners earn even more money, he said.

Qualifying Partners

Juniper has a channel of more than 3,000 partners in the U.S. The Cable Business Service Program will be available to all Juniper partners selling to enterprise and SMB accounts.

Juniper is starting on a small scale with plans to ramp up the program. To date, Juniper has 13 partners signed up for the program and would like to have at least 25 by the end of 2016.

But on-boarding is just the first step, Scholnick said. After that, Juniper is helping these partners build a funnel and close transactions.

Participating Providers

Right now, Juniper's Cable Business Service Program includes Philadelphia-based Comcast.

Juniper believes that cable networks offer a true "last mile" alternative to the traditional telecom business networks and the best path to the cloud. The vendor hopes to add more carrier relationships to the program and is already in talks with several tier-one cable multiple-system operators, Scholnick said.

The program is letting cable companies tap into a part of the partner community they haven't had access to before. Most of these providers work with agent partners, he said.

The Juniper/Comcast Relationship

Of Juniper's carrier relationships, the program between Juniper and Comcast is the most mature right now. The agreement forged in 2015 fuses Juniper's ACX Series Universal Access routers with voice, Internet and data from Comcast Business Services.

The partnership comes at a good time for Comcast, whose indirect sales business is growing rapidly each quarter, Scholnick said.

"As a vendor in good stead with these cable companies, we should be doing more with the business services side," he said. "Every time cable providers sell to customers, there's a need for routers and switches, so one side helps the other."

Teaming With Master Agents

To help solution providers on-board into the program and quickly earn recurring revenue, Juniper has teamed with several master agents that are acting as service-only distributors that pay out commissions for connectivity sales to Juniper partners.

Partners are free to choose a master agent to work with. Today, Juniper has relationships with Petaluma, Calif.-based Intelisys; Chicago-based Telecom Brokerage Inc.; Charlotte, N.C.-based Converged Network Services Group; Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Telecom Consulting Group; Sandy, Utah-based Telarus; and Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based Sandler Partners.

Keeping The Customers

Once signed up with a master agent, partners can sign into Juniper's Marketing Concierge -- a Web-based program that helps partners build a funnel and generate qualified leads for their accounts. The program doesn't end there, Scholnick said. Both Juniper and the master agents will continue working with the partner to develop and close the opportunities they have identified.

Most solution providers aren't willing to give their confidential customer information over to a master agent or to a vendor. The Marketing Concierge program helps VARs maintain their proprietary information, Scholnick said.

Don't Leave Money On The Table

If you don't sell the network along with the network hardware, someone else will, Scholnick said. That someone else is probably a competitor who will take away account control, he warned.

Solution providers selling hardware in a one-time sale might only make one sale every five years with one customer. In the meantime, selling the network provides a monthly check for 36 months or longer if the customer renews the contract, Scholnick said.

Most customers today also prefer a single point of contact for all their networking services and hardware, he added.

"It can be done, and the VARs who have made the transition have wondered why they haven't done it sooner," Scholnick said.