Articles By Jim Roddy

1. “Who are the New Solution Providers?” And More From RSPA Inspire 2020 4/13/2020

   One question hanging over our channel has been “Who are the new solution providers?” that will backfill for retail IT resellers who are retiring, merging, or selling. The answer to that question could be found in the Inspire audience – the new faces that are engaging with the retail IT channel.

2. 2020 RSPA VAR Sales Compensation Study 3/30/2020

   To help retail IT VARs understand sales compensation best practices in a SaaS world, the RSPA commissioned the 2020 VAR Sales Compensation Study. This first-of-its-kind survey reveals reseller compensation structures for SaaS sales vs. traditional sales, what VARs’ top sales reps earn, how they track salesperson performance, and more.

3. COVID-19 Crisis: Key Points from RSPA Communication Guidelines Webinar 3/24/2020

   To help retail IT VARs and ISVs effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the RSPA has produced several pieces of channel-focused content including a webinar on Communication Guidelines with Employees and Customers during this crisis. The 57-minute session featured insights from RSPA Legal Counsel Bob Goldberg and RSPA Board Chairperson Chelsey Paulson, who works full-time as the Human Resources Director at VAR North Country Business Products.

4. COVID-19 Crisis: How VARs Are Communicating With Employees, Merchants 3/24/2020

   RSPA members Brett Bennett, the President of VAR POSitive Technology and ISV OpSuite, and Chris Rumpf, the owner of VAR/ISV Flyght, provide examples of COVID-related messages they delivered to their employees and their merchants.

5. COVID-19 Crisis: ISVs Focus On Rescuing Merchants, Protecting Staff, Stimulating Creativity 3/24/2020

   In this article, software developer executives from the RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community offer guidance for addressing customer issues, VAR issues, staff issues, and general business issues during the pandemic.

6. COVID-19 Crisis: Leading VARs And ISVs Are Taking Action – Today 3/24/2020

   To help retail IT VARs and ISVs effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the RSPA reached out to several members asking them for ideas and business best practices related to this crisis. Our community has responded generously with several executives sharing helpful information. Our first RSPA Blog post shared examples of how two VAR/ISV hybrids are communicating with their constituents.

7. Your Annual Customer Health Checkup Is Overdue. You Just Don’t Know It. 2/24/2020

   How satisfied are your merchants with your customer service? The answer is … you only know what they’ve told you directly. And because they’re polite like most of us, you likely have a blind spot to their actual feelings and could be at risk of losing them to a competitor. I’ve been working with VAR and ISV executives who have been surprised by what their merchants have told them through the RSPA’s Customer Health Checkup survey. 

8. Winning Recruiting Strategies For 2020 – And Beyond 2/17/2020

   Remember the #1 employee recruiting tool 10 years ago? Newspapers. Today print classified ads are about as effective as inserting a floppy disk into an iPad. So, what is working in 2020? Successful VARs and ISVs are implementing these five recruiting strategies. 

9. The Stories You Haven’t Heard: POS Resellers React To ISV Acquisitions 12/11/2017

   When acquisitions occur in the point of sale channel, we read the vendor press releases and hear the aspirational statements promising a better tomorrow. But often left without a public voice is the POS reseller who is also significantly impacted by the deal. To remedy that, in November 2017 Vantiv’s PaymentsEdge Advisory Services surveyed resellers who resold or still resell Digital Dining, Dinerware, and PC America – three ISVs who were acquired by Heartland in 2015. We believed their experiences over the past two-plus years would be more insightful than extrapolating possible scenarios for more recent ISV acquisitions.

10. 4 Fantastic Quotes: POS Experts Analyze PSA/RMM Report 1/12/2017

    The recent rise of PSA (Professional Services Automation) and RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) software in the point of sale channel has generated some interesting conversations. Unfortunately, most of those discussions happened off the record — until now.