Some customers don't want to work with VARs and integrators on enhanced connectivity services. Part of that reticence lies in the reputation of smaller ISPs as being flaky and unreliable. Security concerns play a role, too. When secure communications are required, some customers prefer direct contact with the telecommunications vendor or provider. For the past year, First Data, which operates a 6,000-node network that stretches through two dozen U.S. cities, has relied on specialized ISP Pilot Network Services Inc. in Alameda, Calif., for its Internet connections.
Pilot has no channel program.
Dealing directly for such services from traditional telecommunications companies and long-distance carriers, however, is another issue. At first glance, a partnership between those who own the communications pipes and those who work closely with the users of them makes good sense. Setting up a channel program for ISPs should be straightforward. After all, unlike channel partners for LAN software and hardware, connectivity partners have no need to make upfront cash outlays or to stock inventory. The reality of such unions, however, has been quite different.