EVENTS Wildix UC&C Summit
“Vampire Vendors are drinking your business blood. They have the same technologies we have
but are destroying the channel by going to your end users.” Steve Osler, CEO of Wildix
Beware of the Vampire Vendors
Wildix held their UC&C Summit back in Barcelona last month which saw their global partner community
congregate to learn about the latest product developments and how they can succeed in a market full of
dwindling margins and competition
Entering the event to
rapturous applause, CEO
Steve Osler had a point
to prove at the latest
Wildix UC&C Summit. Last
year, Wildix had gone with
a zombie theme to represent
the ‘Walking Dead Vendors’
which dominate the Unied
Communications space. Fast
forward to the 2020 event and
the message was beware of the
Vampire Vendors ‘sucking your
business blood’.
Although a similar message,
this year Osler was clearly
taking aim at those vendors
trying to push agent models
onto their partners.
On the competition in the
market Osler said “Vampire
Vendors are drinking your
business blood. ey have the
same technologies we have but
are destroying the channel
by going to your end users. If
you work with them they will
reduce you to nothing more
than a sales agent.”
He continued, “In most
cases they fail you, they even
betray you. Selling your
customer databases to a new
cloud provider to sign directly
with your customers which
relegates you to a position of
a mere sales agent. en we
have the VoIP Truz, they don’t
have any money. ey need to
sell their products at any cost.
You may be tempted to buy
from them because of the high
margins.
Let me tell you a story about
someone sitting in this room.
ey started working with a
VoIP Truz a few years ago and
were attracted by a product
margin of 94 per cent. ey
sold 300 systems in a year,
which is impressive, but then
got overwhelmed by the 300
support tickets issued every
week. ey ended up ghting
to get through these tickets
and they ended up stuck
as a business and with 300
complaining customers.”
Become more than an MSP
At last year’s event Osler was
adamant that his partners
needed to become an MSP in
order to survive. Fast forward
a year and the message is the
same, just with a slight twist.
Osler said “e way
businesses are consuming
communications services has
changed over time and now
it is changing even faster. We
see the market quickly moving
from the product-based supply
model to a managed service
model. Given that change,
every time you sell something
that is CAPEX you are
jeopardising the future of your
company.”
Speaking to the audience
he said “You have to become
a business consultant with
a clear understanding of
the business value your
customers are receiving from
you. Becoming an MSP
skilled in Customer Success
Management is the only way
to hold onto your customer
base, avoid falling into the
commodity market and build
the foundations of your future
development.”
“Stop looking for a better
price! If you focus on price
there is only a casket waiting
for you to bury your company.
Stop being lured by VoIP Truz
with 1000 PBXs for $50! is
is not business! It’s a waste of
time and money. To win in
the market you can’t earn less,
you must earn more.
Get away from the lowpriced
customers. If they only
look for a low price, then they
are not good customers. Walk
away, stop trying to sell them
something at any cost. e
time you save not selling to
those cheap customers you
can invest looking for good
growing customers.”
WILDIX AT A GLANCE
Wildix has reported 32
per cent growth in the last
financial year and has added
offices in Barcelona and the
APAC regions. They are slowly
getting towards worldwide
coverage and in each territory,
they sell 100 per cent through
a partner ecosystem. Globally
they have slightly less than
900k seats on their platform
44 | Comms Business Magazine | March 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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