Telecom Reseller / Technology Reseller News

“We work with a lot of MSPs to help automate accounting and bookkeeping tasks they might still be doing manually,” says Alexa Vilca of FlexPoint, speaking at the MSP Summit.

FlexPoint offers a purpose-built accounts receivable solution designed to improve cash flow and visibility for MSPs. The company’s white-label payment portal allows end customers to log in, make payments easily, and choose flexible options, including credit card, debit, ACH, and even short-term financing.

Vilca notes that the short-term financing option comes at no risk to the MSP, while enabling providers to extend flexibility to their clients and accelerate receivables. By streamlining collections and automating manual AR tasks, FlexPoint helps MSPs reduce overhead and focus more time on core business.

Learn more: https://getflexpoint.com

“Something that really sets us apart is that we sell exclusively through our channel partners and managed service providers,” says Matt Stimax of Wildix, speaking at the MSP Summit in Orlando.

Wildix, a global provider of unified communications software, continues to strengthen its position as a channel-first vendor, focusing on enabling MSPs to expand their portfolios with advanced UC and AI-driven solutions. At the Summit, Stimax highlighted the company’s no-code agentic AI tools for voice bots and chat bots, designed to help partners quickly deliver intelligent customer engagement without the need for complex development.

The approach underscores Wildix’s long-standing commitment to MSPs: giving them technology that is easy to adopt, fast to deploy, and profitable to resell, while avoiding direct competition with their own customers.

“MSPs want solutions that bring value right away,” Stimax noted. “Our AI capabilities and unified communications platform are designed to deliver just that.”

Learn more: https://www.wildix.com

“Q1 is right around the corner—are you ready?” asks Stephanie Benzik of GreenStar Marketing.

Speaking at the MSP Summit in Orlando, Benzik noted that the transition into a new year often brings new product launches, fresh goals, and renewed demand for polished branding and digital presence. For many MSPs and tech companies, that means confronting outdated websites, stale collateral, or branding that no longer reflects the business they’ve become.

To help partners get a head start, GreenStar Marketing is rolling out Q4 specials that include:

Discounted website and hosting services

Graphic design support

Branding refresh options

“Whether it’s a new look, updated collateral, or a complete rebrand, we’ve built a program to help MSPs enter Q1 with confidence,” Benzik explains.

GreenStar Marketing works exclusively in the tech and telecom space, leveraging deep industry experience to deliver fast, effective marketing outcomes for MSPs, carriers, and IT providers.

Learn more: https://gstarmarketing.com/

“At GreenStar Marketing, we only work in the tech and telecom ecosystem—and we do it on purpose,” says Stephanie Benzik, who along with Kenny Coulter represented GreenStar Marketing at the MSP Summit in Orlando.

In a conversation at the event, the team explained why GreenStar stands apart from generic marketing agencies: its staff bring deep backgrounds in technology and telecom, allowing them to understand client solutions and audiences without a steep learning curve. That expertise translates into faster ROI, with content that “says it the right way” and connects directly with customers.

“When we create marketing for you, it’s practically ready to go,” Coulter added. “You just give it a quick check, maybe an edit or two—and you’re good to launch.”

Green Star Marketing specializes exclusively in the telecom and IT channel, working with MSPs, carriers, and technology companies to streamline branding, messaging, and campaigns that resonate with target buyers.

The Orlando MSP Summit provided the perfect backdrop: “It’s a great turnout here,” Benzik noted. “If you’re at the event, come see us. If not, reach out—we’d love to become part of your marketing solution.”

Learn more at: https://gstarmarketing.com/

At the recent MSP Summit, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, sat down with Kyri Davis, Co-Founder of Legion at Kraft Kennedy, to discuss how the firm is helping MSPs strengthen their cybersecurity offerings.

Kraft Kennedy, a New York–based MSP with more than 40 years of expertise in the legal and financial services sectors, recently launched Legion, a division dedicated to “left side of boom” cybersecurity. Legion partners with MSPs to deliver penetration testing, security assessments, and vCISO services, enabling smaller providers—many with fewer than 10 employees—to offer enterprise-level security capabilities to their clients without losing ownership of the customer relationship.

Davis, who holds the distinctive title of Aquilifer (standard-bearer in the Roman legion), explained that his role is to carry forward Legion’s vision: building partnerships with MSPs, supporting compliance needs in regulated industries, and educating end customers on security and AI usage.

“Our mission is simple,” Davis noted. “MSPs shouldn’t have to choose between protecting their clients and protecting their business. We handle the security burden so MSPs can focus on growth.”

Legion leverages Kraft Kennedy’s decades of credibility while expanding into broader regulated markets such as healthcare and financial services. The model allows MSPs to outsource advanced security functions while generating new opportunities for their own service portfolios.

Learn more about Kraft Kennedy and Legion at https://www.kraftkennedy.com/.

“The real alternative is a trusted home, a trusted partner, not just a replacement,” says Roman Semionov, Sales Director at CaaB. “VMware’s model shifts have shattered trust, and MSPs are looking for stability.”

In a new Technology Reseller News podcast, Publisher Doug Green speaks with Semionov about why CaaB is positioning itself as a partner-first cloud infrastructure provider at a time of massive turbulence in the virtualization market.

With Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware leading to sharp cost hikes, licensing complexity, and a shrinking partner ecosystem, many MSPs are scrambling for alternatives. Semionov argues that this upheaval presents an opportunity: MSPs can now re-examine how they deliver cloud services and align with providers that prioritize transparency and predictability.

CaaB offers infrastructure-as-a-service with industry-leading margins, white-label branding, and global reach. The platform emphasizes price visibility—partners know their monthly costs before deployment—plus free migrations, 24/7 live support, and regular hardware upgrades without hidden tiers.

Semionov shares the story of a New Jersey-based MSP that faced a 600% cost increase under VMware. After migrating to CaaB, the company saved roughly $200,000 annually, allowing them to expand sales staff instead of cutting headcount.

Looking ahead, Semionov predicts a shift toward hybrid strategies, reduced vendor lock-in, and growing ecosystems around alternative providers. “VMs are still around, but their dominance is broken,” he notes. “MSPs need a stable, predictable, partner-first option—and that’s where CaaB comes in.”

To learn more, visit https://caab.cloud

At the MSP Summit, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, sat down with William Rubio, Chief Revenue Officer at CallTower, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing MSPs as they prepare for 2026.

Rubio emphasized that success in today’s environment requires MSPs to choose the right partners rather than simply chasing products. With CallTower’s expertise in cloud communications—including Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom, and CCaaS platforms such as Genesys and Five9—the company positions itself as an enabler for MSPs seeking to strengthen their portfolios without taking on every capability themselves.

“It’s not about selling a product—it’s about building a partnership that helps MSPs grow their business and support their customers,” Rubio said.

Key themes of the conversation included:

AI adoption reality: While AI dominates conversations, only about 5% of businesses have actually adopted it. Rubio urged MSPs to take “baby steps”—simple automation projects that build champions and credibility inside customer organizations—before pursuing large-scale deployments.

Cybersecurity opportunities: Rubio highlighted the importance of proactive communication. Instead of only responding to attacks, MSPs should show customers the value of the thousands of threats they’ve already blocked and explain vulnerabilities that could become future risks.

The human factor: Despite the excitement around AI, Rubio stressed that relationships remain central. “AI is driven by what humans tell it to do,” he noted, underscoring that trust and tough conversations with customers are key to long-term success.

Looking to 2026: MSPs must refine their self-awareness—knowing their strengths, defining their ideal customer profile, and planning thoughtfully whether to double down in a vertical or expand through partnerships.

As Rubio summed it up, the MSPs that thrive will be those who plan carefully, partner wisely, and maintain strong customer relationships—balancing technology with the human element that drives growth.

More at CallTower.

“You can have the best program in the world, but if nobody knows about it, it won’t make a difference,” says Todd Jordan, who leads United Way of Greater Kansas City’s 2-1-1. “That’s why we run a 24/7/365 contact center—to guide people to real help with a kind, empathetic voice.”

In this special Technology Reseller News podcast, Publisher Doug Green brings together Todd Jordan (United Way 2-1-1, Kansas City), Jill Blankenship (CEO, Frontline Group), and Thomas McCarthy-Howe (CTO, VCONIC) to explore Empathy at Scale: how vCon (styled vCon) data and AI—implemented with strict privacy and security—are transforming community helplines and complex, multi-agency referrals.

The Scale - and the Strain

United Way’s 2-1-1 covers 23 counties and roughly 2.5 million people across the Greater Kansas City region. Demand has surged since the pandemic: 155,000+ calls last year and nearly 500,000 total contacts (calls, web, email, even USPS), with average call times around 7.5 minutes—well over a million minutes of conversations. The mix spans urban, suburban, and rural needs, multiple languages, and highly sensitive situations (from rent and utilities to domestic violence and mental health crises). Protecting privacy is paramount.

From Corridor Conversation to Pilot

Blankenship describes how a hallway conversation about vCon—a new IETF-developed file format for conversations—sparked a collaboration. Frontline Group packaged the idea inside Frontline Quest, their agent-enablement and professional services program, while VCONIC, a spin-out dedicated to vCon technology, provided the protocol and secure data handling. The trio launched a live pilot with United Way 2-1-1 to transcribe calls, structure insights, and surface actionable “signals” for quality, safety, and service improvement—without compromising caller confidentiality.

“vCon is designed to feed AI and protect people,” says Thomas McCarthy-Howe. “Bringing IETF-grade security and openness to conversational data lets us see the dark operational signals—safely—and use them to help people faster.”

What Changed for 2-1-1

Quality & Care Signals: Real-time indicators help supervisors coach empathy, spotting where agents can lean in—and where secondary trauma support is needed for frontline staff.

Searchable Conversations (Not Just Dispositions): Instead of relying on boxes and notes, leaders can now query full conversations to answer urgent policy questions. Jordan asked the system to compare eviction-prevention resources across Kansas vs. Missouri; the synthesized, data-grounded view matched the team’s lived experience and revealed precise gaps.

Multilingual & Multichannel Reality: With 70–80 languages in some school districts, vCon-backed transcription and analysis improve consistency across interpreters and channels—phone, web, email, and more.

Why It Matters

For a nonprofit with finite resources, the team needed technology that is secure, lean, and humane—helping callers in crisis without forcing agents to split attention between empathy and note-taking. The pilot is doing exactly that: safeguarding sensitive data while unlocking insights that mobilize funding, target interventions, and strengthen outcomes.

“We’re at the tip of something transformative,” Jordan says. “Real-time data from our community voices helps us advocate better—and care better.”

About the participants:

United Way of Greater Kansas City 2-1-1 serves 23 counties and ~2.5M people, fielding 155k+ calls annually. 2-1-1 is a North American network covering ~99% of the U.S. and much of Canada.

Frontline Group is a contact center BPO and professional services firm; its Frontline Quest program integrates vCon to enhance agent experience and operational insight.

VCONIC specializes in vCon technology—a conversation file format being developed in the IETF, the internet standards body behind protocols like TLS and OAuth.

Learn more: United Way 2-1-1 (Kansas City),

“Cybersecurity has been oversold for too long—expensive, complicated, and not user-friendly. What small and mid-sized businesses really need are affordable, effective protections delivered with education and consultation,” says Tomas Sjostrom, CISSP and President of Technology Services at James Moore Technology Services.

At the MSP Summit, Sjostrom sat down with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, to discuss his session, Establishing a Successful Managed Security Program: The Consultation Imperative. His message to MSPs was clear: success depends on understanding both the client’s business and the end user’s experience.

Key insights from the conversation include:

Listen first, then recommend: Understanding the client’s culture and user needs is as important as the technology itself.

Focus on education: Solutions like multi-factor authentication (MFA) can initially feel inconvenient to users, but with training, they quickly see the security benefits.

Avoid tech-first thinking: Deployments fail when MSPs expect technology alone to solve problems without preparing end users for change.

Partnerships extend reach: To provide personal, local service across the Southeastern U.S., James Moore Technology Services developed a technical services partnership program, enabling trusted partners to step in as direct resources for clients.

By blending consultation, training, and the right level of protection, James Moore Technology Services is helping small and mid-sized businesses stay secure without unnecessary complexity.

Learn more at jmco.com.

“The Broadcom acquisition changed VMware’s business strategy—and prices—overnight. Our job is to make the exit as simple as possible,” says Peri Uday Bhaskar, of DartIQ.

In this Technology Reseller News podcast recorded at MSP Summit, Publisher Doug Green speaks with Bhaskar about DartIQ’s focus: accelerating and de-risking VMware workload migrations to customers’ preferred destinations—public cloud, private cloud, or on-prem.

Bhaskar notes that VMware’s long-time stability masked how dependent many organizations became on its licensing model and partner ecosystem. After Broadcom’s acquisition, customers reported steep subscription price increases and a shift to bundled SKUs—from roughly 8,000 products to just a handful of bundles—forcing buyers to pay for features they don’t need. He adds that discounts frequently require 3–5-year commitments, and many smaller customers are now confronting a minimum 72-core buy that doesn’t fit their footprint. The result: VMware line items that jump 4x to 10x and a rush to evaluate alternatives.

DartIQ’s answer is vMigrate, a hyper-automated platform that consolidates the multi-step migration toolchain—discovery, assessment, planning, landing-zone build-out, and cutover—into a single workflow, which Bhaskar says can deliver up to 60% time savings compared with traditional approaches. Key capabilities include:

Workload analysis & customized cloud planning: Breaks VMware estates into workload packages, validates readiness, and models target-cloud cost, architecture, and trade-offs before a move.

Automated landing-zone assignments: Translates on-prem VMware constructs into the correct public/private cloud equivalents and builds the plumbing (networking, policies, placements) to ensure workloads run on day one.

Destination flexibility: Supports migrations to public cloud, private cloud, or back to modernized on-prem—wherever the business case lands.

“VMware is a feature-rich, solid platform,” Bhaskar says. “But when costs spike tenfold, customers—especially small and midsized organizations working through MSPs—need a clear, automated path to right-sized alternatives.”

This DartIQ offering is purpose-built for MSPs: the company engages through the partner channel and provides assessments, planning, and migration execution with the goal of reducing both project complexity and services spend for end customers.

Learn more: Visit DartIQ’s website and the team’s blog (referenced as datakey.ai in the conversation) for migration primers, cost-modeling insights, and MSP scheduling via Calendly.