Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Jola was shortlisted for five awards at the Comms National Awards last Thursday night at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster. We won Best Partner Programme over £10m turnover and Best Partner Portal for Mobile Manager®. We also came second with Highly Commended awards for Best Wholesale Service Provider above £10m, Best Supplier Innovation award and the Diversity award.

The judges shortlisted 160 entries from over 100 suppliers and resellers including other well-known channel businesses such as BT Wholesale, Talk Talk Wholesale, Giacom and Gamma. To dominate such a prestigious field demonstrates the strength of the Jola channel proposition.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola CEO, commented, "We were delighted to do so well at the CNAs and to sponsor the Mobile IoT reseller categories. It is an amazing achievement and I would like to thank our suppliers, partners and wonderful team for their continued support and dedication. It was a fantastic evening. Vernon Kay was brilliant as was Fat Tony. A great night was had by all.”

Last Thursday night, the Jola team celebrated exceeding their first-year earn-out target benefiting all Jola employees. Every Jola employee has helped the company to achieve phenomenal growth over the last twelve months and everyone was rewarded with a life-changing bonus. The Exec team treated their other halves to private dining in the London Edition in Soho.

Since Wireless Logic bought Jola last July they have whole-heartedly got behind Jola as their channel arm, collaborating to launch new products such as Conexa Voice and allowing Jola to do what they do best, supporting channel partners.

“What we have achieved at Jola is quite incredible. We enjoy working together and collaborating with partners to win deals with unique solutions they can’t buy from anyone else. We are at the forefront of technology when it comes to products, processes and portals. We have grown our own team, who have developed with us. I would like to thank all of our staff, partners and suppliers for the support they have shown us over the last 12 months. We have another big target to achieve and look forward to celebrating again in FY24!” Adrian Sunderland, CEO.

We help find and close new opportunities

During the COVID lockdown, offices closed, and engineers were banned from installing and maintaining fixed lines and phone systems. Resellers turned to mobile data as very often the only product they could sell, Jola’s partner acquisition accelerated such that in one month alone we signed 34 new partners. The lack of opportunity in those partners’ bases was not an issue – it was finding and closing it. Those resellers that committed themselves totally to Jola gave us their customer lists to evaluate and through that partnership, we developed a unique Partner Programme and called it the MRG™. It combines both sales and marketing and works like this:

Between us we look for their best customers in the most attractive sectors i.e. those where other Jola partners have had success; where competition is weak and margins are high.

1. We evaluate the suitability of their salesforce, collateral, how they present financially, and their capabilities around billing and support.
2. Once we have selected our targets we train their best salespeople on the products and propositions appropriate for the opportunities we have identified.

Over the last 12 months, we have improved and simplified the Mobile-data Revenue Generator™(MRG™) and over 300 of our 1300 partners have gone through it. Thanks in no small part to the MRG™ we have been named by Megabuyte as the fastest-growing Telecom services company two years in a row. 

Innovative products

Our strategy is to give channel partners control of their customers’ experience and deliver well-priced, innovative products, you can’t buy from anyone else to improve their quote-to-order hit rate.

Self-serve fully automated portals

We were the first to market with a real-time automated portal to manage data SIMs We invented the concept of ‘no bill shock’, removing the fear of data overage charges, and helped over one thousand traditional resellers to pivot into mobile data. We have similar portals to manage hosted telephony, SIP and Direct Routing. We have automated quoting tools for roaming SIMs and Ethernet.

Onboarding

We run a variety of set onboarding processes depending on partner type. Some prefer more in-depth training for product, procurement and sales staff, others prefer a lighter touch and a focus on portal training. Every month we run webinars highlighting key opportunities, unique solutions and updates on the portal. Over 200 partners attended a recent webinar on PSTN replacement.

If you are looking for a reliable, wholesale partner for mobile data, consider Jola.

Most resellers and MSPs in the UK either sell or have sold mobile but comparatively, few have productised mobile data. In terms of margin and opportunity, the two couldn’t be more different, but resellers set up to bill CDRs and support traditional mobile have a head start when it comes to mobile data.

For many PSTN replacement projects, mobile data is the only viable solution. If resellers don’t establish a partnership with a mobile data aggregator soon their customers may come under attack from competitors with a full switch-off portfolio.

Jola’s strategy is simply to encourage the channel to get into mobile data by supplying differentiated products, keenly priced, delivered and managed via a world-class self-service portal. The only barrier is mindset and we overcome this through case studies, use cases, and our unique process that helps our partners find, convert and deliver large global projects.

The Mobile-Data Revenue Generator defines the way we work with the channel to qualify opportunities, capabilities and skills. We help our partners to focus on large opportunities and ultimately win large, high-margin long-term contracts.

Jola will help partners to uncover prospects with immediate requirements for mobile data SIMs. We will help develop unique solutions to existing issues, they can't buy from anyone else at a competitive price for them and margin for partners. We are channel-only so by helping resellers fill their pipeline we are filling our own and can help pitch and close big deals. We are on hand to support MSPs and their customers throughout the buying process and post-sale and can help partners use this winning proposition to target and win similar deals.

Channel partners are increasing their reach internationally and demand for numbers over multiple geographies, requiring separate SIP trunks for each country is increasing. This setup often leads to increased costs and complexity for both resellers and end-users. Jola has developed Regional Zoned SIP Channels to eliminate this problem with a fixed fee to protect monthly recurring margins.

Regional Zoned SIP Channels allow resellers to purchase two-way numbers with no per-minute inbound costs. Resellers simply buy the number of channels needed to cover multiple countries. Each zone represents a group of countries and means resellers can buy an aggregated channel for a zone in SIP Manager. Zones are stacked, so Zone 2 includes the countries of Zone 1.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola’s CTO says, “Resellers servicing multi-national businesses often need numbers to cover multiple geographies, such as well-known retailers, manufacturers and gas and oil companies. Our new proposition is available in SIP Manager, so resellers have complete control over their channels as well as their margins.”

Deloitte says diversity takes various forms in a boardroom and can be broadly categorised into skills, expertise and experience. Having the optimal mix is paramount.

At Jola, we believe diverse boardrooms are often more successful because of the way they utilise the wide range of skills and experience at their disposal and the corporate culture they have cultivated. Diversity is part of our values and positively affects how we do business. It starts with an ingrained respect for others and a desire to work together to achieve a common goal. This influences how we innovate, our marketing style and the way we help partners to find and win lucrative deals.

Hiring people from diverse backgrounds can help to foster creativity and offer a range of perspectives and ideas. Employees are more likely to feel empowered to innovate in an environment where inclusivity is a priority.

Our focus at Jola is to find the best people, who share our values and train and support them so that they grow with us. Small things like changing our hours, flexible working, work experience programmes, graduate schemes, and apprenticeship programmes have all been successful for us. We coach people on how we communicate with each other, and we don’t tolerate discrimination of any kind. We are problem solvers, so if we find the right person and they face a challenge, we work with them to overcome it.

We don’t shout about it but we do have experienced channel professionals running our business who are generous with their time and have mentored, trained and inspired many of us in the channel. Watching and learning from others is the key in my view, which you can get from great people you work with, but also from networking both inside and outside of the channel. If we keep learning and inspiring and training others to come with us in our careers, removing barriers in our way, there is nothing stopping us. 

Today channel suppliers need to do so much more than train their channel partners on products and portals, especially with newer technologies such as M2M and IoT. Training webinars are expected but successful vendors go much further than this, taking partners through slick onboarding processes and programmes which generate new recurring revenue streams.

Companies that can demonstrate success not just through case studies and testimonials but through a structured programme are most in demand. Resellers need help to productise solutions, find prospects and close deals. So much time and resource is wasted on chasing deals that can’t be won. Vendors with proven programmes that start with buy-in from senior management, engagement with sales and marketing teams and training of provisioning, support and billing teams are the most successful.

Jola developed the Mobile-data Revenue Generator (MRG™) programme during Lockdown. Openreach engineers were stood down and resellers were looking for alternative revenue streams. A long-standing Jola partner asked us to look at their customer base to identify mobile data opportunities from our experience in different sectors. We found a major retailer providing access to sensitive CCTV via insecure consumer SIMs bought off the high street. The partner replaced hundreds of SIMs with secure Fixed IP alternatives running over Jola’s secure DDOS-protected Cloudflare network and managed within Mobile Manager®. By controlling usage and limiting on-site visits, the retailer saved time and money. The partner instantly added thousands of pounds of recurring 40% margin revenue to their P&L.

Demand

With technologies being switched off (PSTN, ISDN, 3G) and the current economic climate, demand for cost-effective, managed mobile data solutions from the channel, has never been so high. We are seeing an exponential rise in demand for SIMs not only for use in 5G/4G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up but also for digital signage, monitoring and smart devices.  Resellers, manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data daily and, as we accelerate towards 5G, this is unlikely to slow down.

Opportunities

Public Sector

The NHS has rolled out iPads to ambulance crews all over the UK recently. The iPads will help them access medical records to help inform their course of action.

MSPs who help ambulance trusts roll out technology and who previously worked with mobile networks directly have found that partnering with aggregators offering multi-network services and a management portal gives them so much more control and removes the headache of dealing with multiple carriers and manual requests for changes.

Digital signage

AV Specialists are ordering complete, secure connectivity packages for digital signage, to arrive plug-and-play to each site, and consisting of an intelligent 4G router, a SIM and some clever configurations to prevent hackers from accessing the signs. Devices arrived pre-configured with an app, allowing auto-configuration, saving time and money.

Buses and Coaches

Specialists are novating SIMs on various tariffs and price plans with their Private APN for bus and coach companies for cashless ticketing systems and WiFi. End-users can manage data usage directly on their own management portal.

Car Parks

IT Resellers provide both voice and data and data-only SIMs for car parks.  They can use aggregated data SIMs and voice and data SIMs, which means they can share data across sites to avoid data overage charges and use a Private APN for their CCTV cameras.

Monitoring

MSPs are helping property owners and developers to monitor carbon levels. They have created solutions to monitor energy consumption across many different devices within the home. Their devices need 4G to report usage information and for general maintenance of the equipment.

General

Most telecommunications resellers use SIMs for short-term internet connectivity, 4G backup and as part of PSTN replacement solutions where fixed-line connectivity is not practical.

The opportunity for the channel is massive. The challenge is finding the opportunities each partner can win. Suppliers that can help resellers target opportunities they can win are crucial. Solutions need to be easy to sell, roll out and manage.

Key Trends

A key trend driving the as-a-service model is the move to IP and the imminent PSTN switch-off. There are millions of single-call PSTN lines in the UK that are soon to be end-of-life. Upgrading to broadband is expensive and capital costs of converters and 4G routers soon mount up. Device-as-a-service models have solved this problem with no up-front hardware costs and low monthly charges, plus the added benefit of ‘advance replacement’ and free returns for faulty routers.

Look for a channel-only supplier with

• A real-time, fully automated, API-enabled, white-label portal that connects to every mobile network in the world
• A network and internal systems protected from DDOS attacks
• Global eSIM networks
• OPEX and CAPEX financial models on hardware
• Financial stability and demonstrable growth
• A wide range of SIM options across a number of different networks
• Cost-effective SIP-enabled 4G/5G PSTN replacement products
• Routers with proprietary auto-configuration and management software built-in
• A programme to help you identify opportunities you can win

Jola was shortlisted for two awards and won Best Wireless Connectivity Provider at the Comms Business Awards in London on Thursday night. The judges found Jola’s entry to be the most compelling because of its use of case examples.

Andrew Dickinson, CEO Jola, commented, “We were delighted to win this award. We continue to grow and to invest in people, products, platforms and processes. We have a talented team here at Jola who are dedicated to supporting our growing partner base. It is great to see so many Jola partners building profitable revenue streams from our unique mobile data solutions. We would like to thank all our staff, partners and suppliers for all their support.”

5G

4G/5G routers are in demand across the channel and in almost every vertical market our partners operate in.  As intelligent mobile data becomes faster, more reliable and more widespread, end-users are choosing it over fixed-line connectivity solutions for its operational and commercial advantages. A good example of this is the PSTN switch-off. There are millions of end-points across the UK that will use 4G/5G connectivity over more expensive SOGEA connections. 3G sunsetting is also driving demand for 4G/5G services.  There are still millions of devices connected to 3G networks in the UK which need to move to 4G/5G or the services will simply stop working.

Value Add

It is important that resellers and MSPs include hardware that adds value to their proposition.  As an example, we provide a range of routers and gateways that Jola has developed layers of automation and management into. All of our devices are provisioned and managed within our real-time portal Mobile Manager®.  Our partners can view usage, signal strength, and uptime statistics. They can reboot devices and pair routers with SIMs directly.  We have also added a Device-as-a-Service model (DaaS) to our offering, which provides a CAPEX-free commercial model with the added benefit of in-term upgrades and advance replacements that add considerable value over upfront purchases.    

Best Vendors

It's important to work with a vendor that allows you to differentiate your offering and helps you to find and win profitable deals.  Selling solutions as opposed to box shifting will give you the edge when you’re in a competitive bid situation. Jola’s routers are suitable for mobile broadband and large-scale IoT rollouts. Devices are pre-configured with the Jola App, allowing auto-configuration. As a result, there was no need for manual configuration on-site; routers are delivered to site, ready to install, saving valuable time and set-up costs. To bolster security, Jola preconfigures security measures into the devices, to prevent third parties from accessing the routers. Routers are managed in our real-time management portal – Mobile Manager®.