Magazine Article | April 21, 2006

What's Your Wireless Expertise Worth?

By becoming a service-based wireless expert, this systems integrator is projecting $1.8 million sales revenue growth for 2006.

Business Solutions, April 2006
Written by: Jay McCall
Value-Added Services Key To VAD, Integrator Partnership

One of the biggest challenges RF (radio frequency) systems integrator Wireless Resources, Inc. faces on a regular basis is the marketing hype put out by some wireless vendors that leads end users to believe they can easily roll out wireless solutions themselves. “The implication is that integrators aren’t needed anymore,” says Mike Carr, CFO at Wireless Resources. “You just hook up the equipment yourself, space the access points every 60 feet, and the self-monitoring, self-healing network does the rest.” Not only is this message damaging to channel companies like Wireless Resources, it simply isn’t a reality, according to the integrator. In fact, a good chunk of Wireless Resources’ business comes from troubleshooting VARs’ and end users’ botched wireless implementations.

Besides trying to educate its prospects on the intricacies of wireless, Wireless Resources looks for vendor and value-added distributor (VAD) partners that are channel-friendly. As a result, the integrator has invested a lot of time and money into becoming certified to configure, install, and troubleshoot wireless solutions from vendors such as Cisco, Proxim, and Orthogon. And, 90% of the wireless equipment it purchases is through VAD TESSCO Technologies. “Not only does TESSCO offer a wide variety of wireless infrastructure and broadband equipment, it also offers value-added services that give us a competitive advantage,” says Carr. “For example, we’ve gotten help from them in the past for complex wireless video surveillance projects. TESSCO had a design specialist recommend the appropriate bundle of hardware and software for the project, and the design specialist even drew up a Microsoft Visio drawing that showed how the servers, cameras, and other equipment should be installed, which saved us several hours of labor and saved us from having to hire another integrator.”



Don't Let Wireless VoIP Opportunities Slip Away

One of the prominent trends RF (radio frequency) systems integrator Wireless Resources, Inc. has observed in the past year is customers’ desire to send voice packets over their wireless data networks. Even though the integrator isn’t certified to resell VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) hardware such as Wi-Fi phones and IP PBXs (private branch exchanges), its RF expertise has been helpful to knowing how to design a VoIP-ready wireless network. There are two basic differences between a traditional data-only Wi-Fi network and a VoIP-enabled network: The latter requires a VoIP firewall, which performs all the normal functions of a data firewall; plus, it allows for the real-time voice packet transfers. Also, VoIP-enabled wireless networks need QoS (quality of service), which is hardware that is capable of evaluating packets in real time and giving priority on the network to more important packets such as voice and video. Wireless Resources’ VAR partners handle the installation of the VoIP firewalls and QoS appliances, and the integrator handles the other details that make voice applications work on wireless networks. “For outdoor, broadband wireless implementations, we ensure the antennas have unobstructed Fresnel zones [i.e. the elliptical region surrounding the line-of-sight path between transmitting and receiving antennas] and a high fade margin [i.e. a wireless link’s tolerance to inclement weather such as wind, rain, fog, or snow],” says Eric Vahlbusch, VP of sales at Wireless Resources. “We also ensure the customer has enough bandwidth available so it has room to add more users and/or compensate for spikes in network traffic.”

Even if you’ve been reading Business Solutions for only a little while, you know that just about every aspect of wireless technology is in a major growth mode these days. In fact, many VARs use wireless technology as an upsell for complementary technologies such as POS (point of sale), AIDC (automatic identification and data collection), ECM (enterprise content management), networking, or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol).

But, for systems integrator Wireless Resources, Inc., that’s not the case. Wireless Resources does only wireless, and it partners with other VARs to provide a total solution to its customers. Not only is the 16-employee company surviving in a market with a lot of competitors, it is actually thriving. In 2005, sales were up 10.4% from the previous year, and this year the integrator expects sales revenue to be 56% more than last year. The secret to Wireless Resources’ success comes from its decision to develop its wireless services expertise. Doing this has opened up new revenue streams via partnerships with networking, VoIP, and wireless hardware VARs.

Build Up Your Wireless Expertise
Wireless Resources’ engineers and technicians are experts in several wireless services including RF (radio frequency) surveys, RF design, wireless network troubleshooting, and postimplementation testing. To date, the integrator has surveyed more than 100 million square feet of space and implemented 70 outdoor wireless links. According to the integrator, it’s come across just about every anomaly possible associated with deploying wireless networks. But, it doesn’t rely on experience alone to win new business.

Wireless Resources has attained a few prestigious wireless certifications, which help distinguish it as an expert in its field. For example, the integrator is one of only five integrators in the state of Michigan that have achieved Cisco Advanced Technology Partner status for Cisco’s 3200 wireless and AP1500 mesh wireless product lines. Attaining this certification cost the integrator about $15,000 to build a test lab with wireless controllers, antennas, and other components, plus the time it took to have an engineer set up and configure the test equipment. The certification also requires three days of off-site classroom training for its engineers and technicians. “To complete the certification process, our engineers and technicians had to pass written tests, and then we had to provide Cisco with complete disclosure about our financial history and client base via a written application,” says Eric Vahlbusch, VP of sales at Wireless Resources.

Wireless Resources is also one of only two Platinum-level Proxim partners in Michigan. Like its Cisco certification, the Proxim Platinum partner status entailed completing a three-day off-site training course and written exam.

Find Partners That Need Your Wireless Expertise
Wireless Resources’ certifications are proving to be much more than fancy wall decorations. They have become effective marketing tools for forming partnerships with VARs. “One of the first things we tell prospective VARs is, ‘We don’t want your hardware, security, or server business, but we can help with your RF,’” says Vahlbusch. “And, after that, we talk to them about our wireless experience.”

Oftentimes, VARs have to see Wireless Resources’ experience for themselves before moving ahead with a partnership. The integrator gets this opportunity when a potential partner finds itself in a wireless dilemma it can’t solve. One such incident occurred during a remote video surveillance installation that a large VAR performed for a customer. “The VAR couldn’t get the video to transmit across the wireless network after spending several days trying to troubleshoot the problem,” recalls Vahlbusch. “When we got the call, via a referral from the VAR’s vendor, the VAR was in a real bind.” Wireless Resources sent one of its engineers to the site, and within 5 hours most of the problems were resolved. “Using AirMagnet analyzer software, the engineer determined the wireless devices were improperly configured and the VAR was using the wrong kind of antennas,” says Vahlbusch. “We could have charged the VAR a great deal of money, but we helped the VAR for free because we wanted to foster a long-term relationship.”

This led to Wireless Resources becoming a partner with the VAR. Since that time, Wireless Resources has realized significant additional revenue as a direct result of its partnership with the VAR. In fact, in 2005, Wireless Resources picked up eight $100,000-plus deals as a result of partnerships formed through assisting other VARs with wireless projects. And, like any good partnership, the favors go in both directions. “There are several occasions when we bid on a job and are asked to provide the total solution, including wireless hardware, software, and services,” says Vahlbusch. “In those instances, it’s nice to be able to say yes, knowing we can bring our partners in to help us out and still maintain our position as RF experts.”