Not that you asked, but I have some things to say.

Disclaimer : The topic of this entry (POTs lines) was specifically requested by a business partner. When I discuss POTs lines, I get confused looks, and typically even confused responses in that discussion. "Why are you dealing with POTs lines?" It's the lowest common denominator of the telecommunications industry, but only as a product. The need it solves is the core of this blog entry. My ask is that you disregard the "widget" ( an ask that is often a challenge for many of the "widget" minded folks I know) and focus instead on the business problem associated with the consumption of this particular technology.  Let's start with a quick definition...the below is the first hit when you Google POTs lines: Short for  plain old telephone service , which refers to the standard telephone service that most homes use. In contrast, telephone services based on high-speed, digital communications  lines , such as ISDN and FDDI, are not  POTS . The main dis...

I was recently working on a recommendation for a client, specific to a process improvement we were looking to implement. This suggestion had been made to the client half a dozen times and had, outside of agreeable nods, gained minimal traction. I felt myself playing a bit of metaphorical pinball, bumping against the silos within the clients corporate culture (nothing new here), and realized if a bridge was to be made between the silos, I would need to build that bridge. I contacted a senior-level Project Manager (PM) who served a critical role in the process we were evaluating. This person, within the initial discussion, showed to be incredibly passionate in their role and truly dedicated to the success of that role. I explained the suggestions we were making, and looked for input. What was given as response was disappointing. This person, who was just seconds ago a shining example of attitude and aptitude, began explaining their role with more focus on what they didn'...

In my last blog, I mentioned the recent trend of merger and acquisition deals in the telecommunications industry. This M&A fever is one of the answers I give when, say at Thanksgiving dinner, people that have some form of understanding of my industry asks "So, what's the big new thing???" Now, I've seen the adoption of MPLS to replace Frame Relay, I've seen token ring replaced by ethernet, I've seen Internet become the driver of a new economy, I've seen VoIP and SIP discussed for years (without much real adoption for the first decade of the discussion) but TDM is finally beginning to phase out (don't fret old-timers, I still have clients with hundreds of POTs lines...a few with pagers...and I'm not kidding about the pagers).  I've left the Cloud discussion for later. There is so much room to editorialize there, I'll leave that for its own entire blog. At one point in time, the response to any of the above evolutions in technology ...

The past few years have seen multiple mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications industry. I would be hard pressed to name one that hasn't had some form of M&A action, buying or merging with a competitor generally focused on B2B services (AT&T being a bit of an anomaly, their acquisition strategy seems more focused on content and the consumer market). I've seen these happen, over the decades, and generally see a stronger more capable company emerge...at some point...in time...after much, well, pain. For a long time now, I've called it the Tele-Merge Flu. It's cyclical, and I've seen a few iterations over my career. They all seem to have a bit of the following: Disparate systems, painfully complicated to begin with, will now be merged (or attempted to be merged) with generally a Frankenstein's Monster result, a broken shambling, groaning thing, with the local residents always on the verge of storming the castle with torches and pitchfork...

When I began my career in the telecommunications field, it was a sexy industry. I worked for WorldCom, who owned UUNET, one of the original big boys of Intenet Service Providers. We rode scooters, had egos, and were the future of technology. We were the internet. Oh, and about WorldCom...you probably remember them. "One of the largest corporate scandals, ever." heralded the cable news hawkers, and various publications. They made Enron look like choir boys (Enron caused around a $74 Billion loss/impact to the shareholders....WorldCom was $180 Billion in loss/impact. Tyco often gets mixed in when discussing corporate scandals of the late '90s/early '00s. Tyco's impact was around $150 Million...lightweights). The scandal created a crater within the telecom indsutry that we, to date, are still trying to climb out of. The telecom industry lost its luster, pivoted often to a "low-cost/zero-sum-game" approach, and spent the next 20 years losing relevance ...

I mentioned in a previous post a transition in my career, one from sales person to consultant. Now, let me be clear, the act of selling is what generally pays for my consulting (the carriers pay me for the business I bring them, although I do have a fee based set of offerings...let's focus on the grander theme). But, I self identify now as consultant. How did I transform to this new height? Simply put, I just decided to. I found myself in a new role that allowed me to embrace the transformation, allowed me to self-define, allowed me to truly be the franchise that I've been working to become for years. I suppose that I'm being a bit too simplistic. My transformation took the better part of two decades to come to fruition. I possess a wealth of knowledge that can only come from the amount of OTJ (on the job) training, that the better part of two decades brings in my field. Blood, sweat, and tears. Trial by fire. Drinking from the firehose, again and again and again. A...

"First, open a trouble ticket via the 800 number...work directly with the engineers to make sure you don't have a breakdown in translation. Then get the trouble ticket number to my team, and we will break out the whips and bullhorns." The above is an example of a repeated script, used throughout my entire career. Roughly 15 years working in the Telecom/Carrier world, on the Direct sales side of the house. I am now on the Channel sales side of the equation. Nothing has changed in the above scripted response. I spoke with a client the other day, a division of a rather large company here in town, and he seemed baffled by the channel sales model. He posited the following: 1.) "Won't the carrier get mad because I bought if from you instead of them?" 2.) "How can you represent multiple carriers all at once, and still have my needs in mind." 3.) "Since they have to pay you too, will the service cost more?" These questions were excep...