Newsletter | Q4 2020

From the CEO’s Desk

2020 – Embracing Change and Channeling Opportunity

Call me Captain Obvious but, doing the common things uncommonly well got a whole hell of a lot harder this year for everyone. With safer at home orders on, off and back on again, any semblance of normal has been hard to come by. And yet through it all, I’m proud to say the team here at PlanetOne has remained laser-focused on your success and the success of your customers. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been worth it.

When the pandemic hit in Q1, we agreed as a team to push forward with our plans to invest and expand so we could keep business moving forward and help you solve for whatever solutions the market was going to need as a result. Our decision to do more, not less worked to benefit all of us.

• We kept in constant contact, going old school with phone calls and embracing online collaboration technologies and remote training and events.
• We hired wicked smart talent and invested heavily in the technology specializations you and your customers needed and will continue to need most.
• We worked closely with many of you to uncover new opportunities and revive others so that businesses could pivot, digitally transform and securely move to a work from home, work from anywhere routine.
• We said yes, when others said no to creating opportunity, learning more and finding growth by simply asking what more, what else can we do to help you through this?

Again, not easy, but absolutely essential. All of these efforts combined have led us to the strongest close of year on record and an incredible opening pipeline for 2021. But we’re not resting on this revenue. We’re pouring more gas in the tank. We are driving business forward to uncover and create more ways to add value and build recurring revenue streams you can rely on now and in the new future. This isn’t over. There’s more for us to do to help business stay in business and keep people socially connected.

As you heard during our PlanetOne Tech Tour, the time is now to plan for what’s next and build your business better. Whenever you’re ready, let’s do it. Our team is standing by with a blueprint for success with your brand on it. The channel – the agent, the MSP – has never been more relevant and results-driven. Don’t wait until the New Year. Our time is now. Reach out to any one of our team members today and let’s build your business.

Stay safe. Stay focused. And let’s sell through this together!

Ted Schuman, Founder/CEO
PlanetOne

Company Name: NexusTek

Headquarters: Greenwood Village, Colorado

Website: https://www.nexustek.com

Year Founded: 1996

Focus/Services:

Trusted by thousands of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), NexusTek is a national managed IT services provider with a comprehensive portfolio comprised of end-user services, cloud, infrastructure, cyber security, and IT consulting.

Specializations: IT support and outsourced help desk backed by multiple domestic NOCs (Network Operation Centers) for redundancy; hosted infrastructure, cloud services, and Microsoft Azure; professional IT consulting and virtual CIO (vCIO) services; disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS); cyber security services; server and network monitoring; unified communications and voice-over-IP (VoIP); Office 365; enterprise content management (ECM); and many more IT solutions.

Simplifying the Complex: How RingCentral and PlanetOne Became NexusTek’s “Easy Button”

In late 2019, NexusTek, a national managed IT service provider was approached by a large online educational institution with a complex ask – to upgrade its call center, contact management system and call center reporting infrastructure. “The client had been using a local provider for these services for the better part of a decade, but they had outgrown the provider’s capabilities and needed a new solution,” said Pat Lewis, vice president, Enterprise Technology Sales for NexusTek. “They were also paying a lot for their current services and were looking to reduce their spend.”

One of the challenges that the client relayed to NexusTek is that they were worn down by the process of dealing with their local partner. “Some of the requests were being ‘lost in translation’ and issues were not being resolved in a timely and sufficient manner,” continued Lewis.

It’s All About Timing (and who you know!)

Around the same time that NexusTek received this lead, they attended an open house with PlanetOne where RingCentral gave a presentation on its UCaaS and CCaaS solutions. “I had never worked with RingCentral before, but the conversation we had at that open house quickly sparked an idea in my head,” said Lewis. “I knew right away that the request we had received from the online educator would be an excellent fit for RingCentral. The timing couldn’t have been better.”

NexusTek tapped into PlanetOne’s relationship with RingCentral to connect right away with the people who could help their client solve its call center and contact management challenges. “It didn’t take long for us to see that RingCentral were the experts in UCaaS and CCaaS,” added Lewis. “It was teamwork at its best once we brought them in. They did the much of the heavy lifting – bringing both the sales and technical expertise to the table, as well as the right resources for driving a successful deployment for our client. Together with PlanetOne, they were our ‘easy button’ on this deal.”

With PlaneOne, NexusTek Can Focus on What it Does Best

Lewis explains that he and the NexusTek never fully appreciated how easy UCaaS and CCaaS could be until he was introduced to RingCentral through PlanetOne. “I honestly didn’t realize how easy it was. I didn’t need to have nearly as much involvement as I have had with other deals and this was quite a revelation for me,” he said. “I’m really grateful to PlanetOne for making this connection for us.”

Lewis added, “One of the things we appreciate most at PlanetOne is having a single point of contact. Harry House knows exactly what we need and when we need it to drive success, close deals and make more money. They have access to an endless amount of resources and capabilities that enable us to stay up to date on the latest technologies and innovations in the marketplace, like UCaaS and CCaaS. We don’t have to be the technical experts, instead we can do what we do best and we all succeed.”

For more information on the PlanetOne Partner Program, visit https://www.planetone.net/partner-program/.

Rackspace Technology is the multicloud solutions expert.
We combine our expertise with the world’s leading technologies — across applications, data and security — to deliver end-to-end solutions. We have a proven record of advising customers based on their business challenges, designing solutions that scale, building and managing those solutions, and optimizing returns into the future.
As a global, multicloud technology services pioneer, we deliver innovative capabilities of the cloud to help customers build new revenue streams, increase efficiency and create incredible experiences. Named a best place to work, year after year according to Fortune, Forbes and Glassdoor, we attract and develop world-class talent to deliver the best expertise to our customers. Everything we do is wrapped in our obsession with our customers’ success — our Fanatical Experience™ — so they can work faster, smarter and stay ahead of what’s next.

Rackspace Technology + Armor

• Modern SOC-as-a-service solutions to protect all of your environments, applications and clouds.
• Rackspace Technology combines forces with Armor for 24x7x365 SOC services.
• Proven cybersecurity technology packaged with a team of cloud security experts
• Drive new leads to your pipeline
• Enterprise-grade multicloud security services
  Rackspace Technology and Armor are here to support your security strategy with new security solutions to support your clients’ business requirements. Take an action to reach out to your Partner Account Manager to setup a meeting with our security experts and your client. We look forward to supporting all partners!

Read More Here

Earn More with Rackspace Technology Single-Tenant SPIFF

Rackspace Technology Partners can now receive a SPIFF on our Private Cloud Solutions of 1X MRR for deals over $10,000. Private cloud solutions include VMC on AWS, VMware and Hyper-V based dedicated environments.

For more details, including terms and conditions, check out the Partner Portal, contact your Rackspace Technology Partner Account Manager.

Dale Gatlin
Partner Success Manager, PlanetOne

At PlanetOne, we value the contributions our employees make to ensure both our success and that of our providers and partners.

In our newsletter each quarter, we shine a light on one of our amazing employees. This quarter, we are featuring Dale Gatlin, Partner Success Manager.

1. How long have you been with PlanetOne? What did you do prior to joining PlanetOne?

I came to PlanetOne from XO Communications in December 2017. For most of my career at XO, I supported PlanetOne, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the PlanetOne team and their partners. I was thrilled when Ted asked me to join the team in an official capacity and I absolutely love being here!

2. Tell us about your day-to-day role at PlanetOne.

In my day-to-day role here at PlanetOne, I handle post-sales activities such as submitting orders, watching over our partners’ orders, conducting any post-sale escalations and ensuring that partners are being taken care of by our providers. Basically, taking our partners from the sale of the solution to the completion of the installation, to help make this process as seamless as possible for our partners and their customers.

3. What do you like most about your job? Working with PlanetOne?

I love knowing that I am helping people and making a difference as I run through my daily responsibilities here at PlanetOne. I also love the people I work with here – the internal team, our partners and our providers. I get to work with some pretty amazing people and I truly value the relationships that I have established along the way. 

4. What are some of your favorite things to do when you aren’t working? 

Family is a really important aspect of my life. When I’m not working, I love spending time with my husband and children. We like to stay active – I enjoy yoga classes and as a family we like to bike, hike, workout and spend time outdoors.  We also enjoy playing board games, which can at times get pretty competitive.

5. Do you have a ‘bucket list’? What are some of the things you would want to do if time or money were no object? 

I love to travel and one of the places I have yet to see is Spain, so that is on my ‘bucket list.’ My husband and I both come from large families and being able to spend time with our extended families is a huge priority.  I look forward to having the flexibility to do more of that in the future!

6. Do you have a favorite saying, mantra or quote?

This may not be the most eloquent saying, but my dad used to tell me, “whatever you do, don’t do it half-assed.”  This has stuck in my head through the years. To this day, I do not give less than a 100% effort toward anything I set out to accomplish. 

7. Is there anything else you would like to add that our partners and providers should know about you?

I grew up in Hawaii where I learned to dance the Hula, but I never really learned to surf.  Perhaps someday I will master that skill!

Don’t Be Afraid of Contact Center – Get Stoked

Brendan Strain
Director UCaaS & CCaaS Solutions

By Brendan Strain, Director of UCaaS and CCaaS Solutions
PlanetOne

If you’re not familiar with Contact Center, or have tried to jump into it, you know it isn’t like selling MPLS or straight UCaaS. The acronyms alone can be frightening. But don’t be afraid – get stoked!

When you hear RESTful API, CRM, automation, IVR self-service or machine learning – don’t shy away, dig in! Contact center can help you GROW your business, while REVOLUTIONIZING the lifeblood of your customers’ ENTIRE business – how they interact with their customers.

Yes, the sales process is long and complex. Yes, there are a lot of people to talk to. But – it makes you sticky, the deals grow quick, and the payout is BIG.

All contact center deals start with just the agents, but most closed deals include MULTIPLE product sets – UC, Security and SD-WAN.

Don’t pass over a contact center opportunity to sell a circuit. Instead, use it to become an integral part of your customers’ business and widen your services portfolio.

The second you hear contact center – call PlanetOne.  We’ve helped close some of our partners’ biggest opportunities with contact center. Let us do the same for you.

Coming into a difficult holiday season for many, PlanetOne’s From the Heart initiative this quarter is supporting Toys for Tots. Each employee was allocated $25 to select a toy which was delivered to PlanetOne’s holiday tree in preparation for distribution to Maricopa County children in need.

Toys for Tots began in 1947 as the brainchild of Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks and his wife, Diane. Diane asked Bill to deliver a few handcrafted dolls to an agency that supported children in need – but when Bill reported back that he could not find such an organization, she urged him to “start one!” That first year, Maj Hendricks and the Marines in his reserve unit in LA collected and distributed 5,000 toys. Seeing such successful community engagement in 1947, the Commandant directed all Marine Reserve Sites to implement a TFT campaign transforming it into a national community action program in 1948.

Bill Hendrick’s civilian job was Director of Public Relations at Warner Brothers Studios. He was friends with many celebrities who he asked to help support the newly created Marine Toys for Tots Program. As a personal friend and as a favor to Bill, Walt Disney

designed the first Toys for Tots poster which included a miniature three-car train that was subsequently adopted as the Toys for Tots logo.

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, was established in 1991 at the behest of the Marine Corps to help run and support the Marine Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation raises funds, purchases toys, provides promotional and support materials, manages all funds raised and donated, solicits corporate support, educates the public, and handles day-to-day operations. Presently, the Marine Toys for Tots Program distributes an average of 18 million toys to 7 million less fortunate children annually.

Get Involved and Make a Difference
To connect with your local Marine Toys for Tots Campaign to donate, volunteer and help give the joy of Christmas to less-fortunate children visit: https://www.toysfortots.org/donate/toys.aspx

For more information on PlanetOne’s From the Heart initiatives visit https://www.planetone.net/company/fromtheheart/

The PlanetOne Tech Tour consists of educational and networking events focused on emerging technologies, industry trends and valuable product information. In hosting these events, it is our mission is to enable agents with the knowledge and tools to succeed in the ever-changing world of telecom & IT services.

Each Tech Tour event features executive speakers from our Preferred Provider portfolio, creating valuable engagement with some of highest regarded executives in the industry. In November, PlanetOne hosted a very successful Virtual Tech Tour 3.0 with speakers from AT&T Business, Lumen Technologies, The 2112 Group, ZK Research, Masergy, Mitel and Broad Sky Networks.

Please consider joining us for an upcoming Tech Tour event where you will have the chance to win great prizes and receive gift packages just for attending. There is no cost to attend and meals are complimentary. These events are exclusively for PlanetOne agents, prospective channel partners and our Preferred Providers.

Updates on our 2021 your schedule, which will include a mix of virtual and in-person events, will be available soon. For photos from our previous Tech Tour events, check out our photo album on Facebook.