Telecom Reseller / Technology Reseller News

By Doug Green

“Sovereignty really means control—control of your data, where it resides and whether you can move it.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Tim Mandell of Leaseweb expands on the recent TR article, “Sovereignty Is Becoming a Business Strategy – Not Just a Compliance Requirement,” and explains why data sovereignty is quickly becoming an MSP and channel opportunity.

Mandell says sovereignty goes well beyond simply knowing where data is stored.

The bigger questions are who controls the data, who can access it, what jurisdiction applies and whether an organization can move that data when business or regulatory requirements change.

Compliance, he says, may represent a snapshot in time. Sovereignty is about maintaining control as conditions change.

That challenge is becoming more important as businesses have spent years moving workloads and information into the cloud—sometimes without knowing exactly where that data ultimately resides.

AI adds another layer of complexity.

Organizations are creating and storing rapidly growing volumes of conversations, logs, training information and other data. That raises new questions about who can access the information, where it is being processed and whether the organization can retrieve or relocate it later.

For MSPs, Mandell sees an opportunity to ask customers a simple question:

“If you needed to move your most important data tomorrow, could you?”

If the answer is no—or “I don’t know”—the MSP has an opportunity to help.

Mandell also cautions against vendor concentration risk. Putting everything with one provider may simplify purchasing, but different workloads and different types of data can require different levels of security, performance, cost and control.

That is one reason Leaseweb continues to advocate hybrid infrastructure.

Some data may belong in the public cloud, some on bare metal, some at the edge and some in highly controlled environments.

“The technology should follow the business outcome,” Mandell says.

For MSPs, sovereignty therefore becomes another part of the trusted-advisor conversation: helping customers maintain flexibility, avoid unnecessary lock-in and design infrastructure that can change as their business changes.

Read “Sovereignty Is Becoming a Business Strategy – Not Just a Compliance Requirement” on Technology Reseller News, and visit Leaseweb.com to learn more.

“The question is becoming less about how fast the network is and more about whether the customer had a great experience.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Janelle Morse of SCTE TechExpo previews the upcoming Atlanta event and discusses how the long-running broadband conference is expanding beyond traditional network technologies into AI, cloud, streaming, convergence and autonomous operations.

TechExpo brings together the people who build, operate and evolve broadband networks, including operators, engineers, vendors and technology leaders.

Morse says the event is increasingly focused on how different access technologies—fiber, DOCSIS, Wi-Fi, mobile and even satellite—work together to create a seamless customer experience.

AI will be a major theme.

Sessions will examine predictive service assurance, network diagnostics, fault detection, edge AI and agentic AI, including the longer-term goal of creating networks that can identify and potentially resolve problems before customers are aware of them.

That also raises important questions around governance.

“How do you govern that? Where does the human stay in the loop, and where do you establish the guardrails?” Morse says.

TechExpo is also broadening the ecosystem represented at the event. AMC Global Media is joining as a co-host, reflecting the growing convergence between broadband infrastructure, streaming and entertainment.

The event will also address network security and physical infrastructure threats through SCTE’s STRIKE initiative—Strategic Threat Response and Infrastructure Knowledge Exchange—which brings operators together to share intelligence and best practices around theft, vandalism and intentional damage.

For attendees, Morse recommends combining the main-stage vision with deeper technical sessions, hands-on bootcamps, the exhibition floor and informal networking.

More than 250 exhibitors are expected, along with focused meetups and training around areas including DOCSIS and fiber.

“The biggest takeaway from an event can sometimes come from an unexpected conversation,” Morse says.

Visit SCTE.org to learn more about SCTE TechExpo and registration.

By Doug Green

“Your opportunity to demonstrate value is to show that you understand what happens to the data.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Eli Lahr, Senior Solutions Engineer at Leaseweb, expands on a recent TR article examining one of the less discussed challenges of AI infrastructure: the data created around the workload itself.

Leaseweb is an infrastructure-as-a-service provider offering bare metal, cloud hosting, object storage and network services. Lahr says much of the AI infrastructure conversation has centered on GPUs, but MSPs should be paying equally close attention to data.

AI workloads do not simply consume training data. They also generate logs, artifacts, backups, metadata and other information that continues to grow as projects scale.

That can quickly expose infrastructure bottlenecks.

“The minimum amount of data for some training sets is now measured in petabytes,” Lahr says. “The question becomes where all of that data goes and how quickly you can get it back.”

For MSPs, the answer is not simply more storage.

Different data has different requirements. Some information needs extremely low latency and fast access, while logs or backups may be better suited to less expensive storage tiers.

The challenge is putting the right data in the right place, at the right speed and at the right cost.

Lahr also points to “data gravity.” As datasets grow, moving them between providers or locations becomes increasingly expensive and time-consuming. That makes decisions about where data is stored—and how close it is to compute—an important part of AI infrastructure planning.

For MSPs, that creates an opportunity to move beyond simply supplying infrastructure.

Customers may already know which GPUs they want. The channel partner can add value by understanding what happens when the project succeeds: how much data it will generate, where bottlenecks may appear and how the architecture will scale.

“Ask what problem you’re solving and what success actually looks like,” Lahr says.

Leaseweb combines automated infrastructure services with access to engineers who can work directly with customers and partners on those architecture decisions.

Visit Leaseweb.com to learn more.

“Why leave money on the table when you can help the customer at the same time?”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Elie Y. Katz, CEO of National Retail Solutions (NRS), discusses how technology is transforming independent convenience stores, restaurants, liquor stores and other small retailers—and why that creates an opportunity for MSPs and channel partners.

NRS provides point-of-sale, payment, inventory, loyalty, e-commerce, delivery and security tools designed specifically for independent retailers.

Katz says the company’s sweet spot is the one- or two-store operator that needs many of the same capabilities as a large chain but does not have a large IT staff.

The NRS platform can help merchants manage inventory, monitor sales, receive customized low-stock alerts and integrate with delivery services including Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub.

That integration can have a direct impact on revenue. Katz points to his own restaurant, where adding delivery services is now generating several additional orders per day.

NRS also helps retailers address shrink and employee theft. Its point-of-sale system can integrate with video surveillance and generate alerts around activity such as canceled transactions, open registers or other unusual behavior.

For MSPs and channel partners, Katz says the opportunity is straightforward: many already have trusted relationships with local businesses that need these capabilities.

Through the NRS partner program, providers can add point-of-sale, payment processing and other retail services to their existing customer relationships without having to become retail technology experts themselves.

NRS is also targeting newer formats such as food trucks and small QSR operations with compact POS systems and kiosk integrations designed to manage in-person and delivery orders through a single platform.

Visit NRSplus.com to learn more, or SellNRS.com for information about becoming an NRS partner.

“I wanted a to-do list that would do itself.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Jon Cheney, founder of the General AI Proficiency Institute, discusses how GenAIPI is helping organizations move from experimenting with AI to actually putting it to work across the business.

Cheney says GenAIPI began as an AI training and advisory company after he saw how many successful businesses were still struggling to understand practical AI adoption.

That work eventually led to GENA, the company’s enterprise AI platform.

GENA stands for Generative Execution Neural Architecture. Cheney describes it as a central AI brain that connects with the applications a company already uses, including email, CRM, collaboration, finance and project-management platforms.

The platform supports roughly 1,500 integrations and can work across systems such as Google Workspace, Slack, HubSpot, QuickBooks, Microsoft tools and others.

Rather than simply answering questions, GENA is designed to take action.

It can create and assign tasks, draft and send communications, work with company data, participate in meetings, identify follow-up items and execute authorized workflows.

“The more you use GENA, the more valuable it becomes,” Cheney says.

A major focus is enterprise governance.

Companies can define exactly which employees can access particular systems, information and AI capabilities. An entry-level employee, for example, would not be able to access board meeting information simply because the AI has access to it.

That makes GENA particularly relevant for MSPs and technology partners helping customers bring AI into complex existing environments.

For Cheney, the opportunity is not limited to one vertical. Construction companies have been strong early adopters, but GenAIPI is also working with companies across professional services, healthcare, security and other industries.

The larger goal is to make AI useful without requiring every employee to become an AI expert.

Cheney also argues that AI should augment people rather than eliminate the human element.

“People are still going to win,” he says. “AI can do a lot, but it can’t feel.”

Visit GenAIPI.org to learn more.

By Doug Green

“The global ITAD market dynamics have been changing.”

In this special Technology Reseller News and ITAD Association podcast, I spoke with Tom Park of Korea ITAD, a new member of the ITAD Association, about the company’s role in South Korea and why Park believes the global IT asset disposition market is creating new opportunities for mid-sized and specialized providers.

Korea ITAD has operated in the Korean market for 16 years, providing a full range of ITAD services including reuse, refurbishment, recycling, data sanitization, asset auditing, parts harvesting and data center decommissioning.

The company operates two facilities near the Seoul metropolitan area totaling more than 32,000 square feet and works primarily with multinational organizations that have operations in Korea.

Park says the company’s role is often to provide the trusted local component of a global ITAD program.

Large multinational enterprises frequently engage global IT service and asset disposition providers, which then need qualified partners capable of delivering services locally while meeting international compliance requirements.

“They are looking for local ITAD service providers which are very reliable and follow compliance in a global standard,” Park explains.

Korea ITAD handles a broad range of technology assets, from laptops, desktops and servers to networking equipment, phones, displays and other electronics found in enterprise environments.

Park’s own path into ITAD combines two disciplines that are central to the industry. His family business was in logistics, while his academic background was in IT. IT asset disposition offered an opportunity to bring those two areas together.

That combination is increasingly important as ITAD becomes a global logistics, data security, sustainability and lifecycle-management business rather than simply an equipment disposal function.

Park also discusses why Korea ITAD joined the ITAD Association.

He believes the structure of the global market is changing.

“The market has been led by large ITAD players’ domination,” Park says. “But currently, I am seeing that kind of trend moving towards the mid-size or niche service sector providers.”

For Korea ITAD, membership creates an opportunity to build relationships with more ITAD providers around the world and participate in a community focused specifically on IT asset disposition services.

Park also points to the Association’s emphasis on ethics, service integrity and industry standards as an important reason for joining.

In the podcast, we discuss Korea ITAD’s capabilities, the role of trusted regional partners in global ITAD programs, the changing competitive landscape and the value of building an international network of qualified service providers.

Learn more at itad.kr.

“It starts with knowing what to automate.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast recorded at Alianza Navigate 2026, Scott Kendrick of CallMiner discusses new research showing a significant gap between the adoption of customer experience automation and the quality of the experiences it delivers.

CallMiner’s upcoming CX Landscape Report found that 99 percent of CX organizations use automation, but only 24 percent say it delivers very positive customer experiences.

CallMiner is an AI platform for customer conversations. The company analyzes calls, chats, surveys, reviews and other interactions to help organizations understand what customers are saying and determine what the business should do next.

Kendrick says the problem is not simply whether companies are automating, but whether they are automating the right interactions.

One CallMiner customer assumed billing calls were a good target for automation. Analysis showed that many customers were actually calling for help setting up AutoPay. Automating that process could prevent future calls altogether.

“That’s where smarter automation comes in,” Kendrick says. “You need to know what to automate, how to automate it and when a human should be involved.”

CallMiner is also one of the founding experience providers working with Alianza Crux.

Kendrick says the relationship can help CallMiner bring conversation intelligence and automation tools to smaller contact centers by simplifying access to voice traffic and integration.

For MSPs and service providers, that creates an opportunity to help customers extract more value from conversations rather than simply transport calls.

CallMiner can also generate real-time notifications and automated customer outreach based on what occurs during an interaction, helping companies close the gap between identifying an issue and acting on it.

The new CallMiner CX Landscape Report will be available September 15.

Visit CallMiner.com to learn more and download the report.

“AI is no longer just a chatbot. It is becoming a proactive coworker.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Hardik Ajmera, Vice President of Product Management at Extreme Networks, discusses the general availability of Extreme Agent One Coworker, a context-aware AI agent designed specifically for enterprise networking.

Extreme Networks provides secure connectivity across enterprise environments, including wired and wireless networking, SD-WAN, campus, branch and data center infrastructure.

Ajmera says the key limitation of generic AI in networking is context.

A general AI model can explain networking concepts or suggest troubleshooting steps, but it does not automatically understand a customer’s topology, historical trends, policies, operating procedures or live network conditions.

Extreme Agent One is designed to add that context.

Built into Extreme Platform One, the AI continuously monitors the network, analyzes current and historical data and can proactively surface important issues before an engineer asks for help.

“If it sees a severity-one issue, it does the legwork first,” Ajmera says. “It gathers the data, understands the impact and comes back with recommended steps.”

The system can also help with troubleshooting, configuration guidance, knowledge-base access, evidence collection and support-case creation.

For network teams, that means moving from reactive management toward a more proactive operating model.

Ajmera says governance remains central to that transition.

Extreme Agent One provides visibility into what data it used, how it reasoned through a problem and why it is recommending a particular action. Customers can also determine how much authority they want to give the AI.

“Humans are still in control,” Ajmera says. “The key is that customers need a choice.”

Extreme sees repetitive, time-consuming tasks such as issue analysis, troubleshooting and case creation as natural early candidates for AI automation, with more autonomous network operations developing over time as customers build trust.

Extreme Agent One Coworker became generally available worldwide on August 31 and is available through Extreme Platform One.

Visit ExtremeNetworks.com to learn more

By Doug Green

“No physical SIM, no Wi-Fi and no manual step from the end user.”

In this Telecom Reseller podcast, I speak with Cédric Jarkowsky, Head of Product at NTT Transatel, about a major step forward for eSIM technology: giving a smartphone connectivity from the moment it is first powered on.

NTT Transatel is working with Samsung to provide eSIM Bootstrap Connectivity for Samsung Galaxy Z series devices, initially in the U.S. The technology gives a new device access to 4G and 5G networks before the user has installed a physical SIM, connected to Wi-Fi or completed carrier enrollment.

Jarkowsky explains that a bootstrap profile is loaded onto the device’s eSIM at the factory. When the phone is switched on, that profile can provide the connectivity needed for activation, software updates and carrier provisioning.

“Bootstrap turns powering on a device into getting online,” Jarkowsky says, effectively collapsing several steps of the activation process into a much simpler experience.

For Samsung, the approach can also reduce operational complexity. Instead of maintaining different SIM configurations and device SKUs for individual carriers and regions, a universal bootstrap profile can support devices across markets.

The implications extend well beyond the consumer smartphone experience.

For large enterprises deploying phones across a distributed workforce, bootstrap connectivity can simplify the process of getting devices into employees’ hands and connecting them to the appropriate corporate carrier profile. IT teams can avoid some of the logistical challenges associated with shipping physical SIM cards or manually provisioning devices.

Carriers and service providers can benefit as well. Because the connectivity capability is already embedded in the handset, providers can provision their own services through applications, QR codes or remote profile installation without requiring a physical SIM.

Jarkowsky also sees an opportunity for MSPs, MSSPs and channel partners delivering mobility services. Any provider packaging mobile connectivity, devices and related services can potentially benefit from a simpler activation and provisioning experience.

The podcast also explores why Samsung selected NTT Transatel. Jarkowsky points to the company’s ability to provide 4G and 5G connectivity across more than 200 countries and territories, its distributed network infrastructure, and its ability to support deployments involving tens of millions of devices.

Another important distinction is longevity. Rather than functioning only during the device’s first activation, the bootstrap service can remain available throughout the handset’s lifecycle. That becomes valuable when a phone is factory-reset, transferred to another employee, resold or moved to another country.

The result is a technology that may change something users rarely think about until it goes wrong: the first few minutes of a device’s life.

In this podcast, we discuss what eSIM Bootstrap Connectivity is, how Samsung is deploying it, what it means for enterprises and service providers, and how embedded global connectivity could reshape device provisioning in smartphones, IoT, connected vehicles and other enterprise applications.

Learn more at transatel.com.

“Anything that moves, flies or floats needs to know where it is, stay connected and think for itself locally.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Michael Schramm, co-founder and CEO of Nordian, discusses how the company is building infrastructure for physical AI—from autonomous tractors and trucks to drones and other connected machines.

Nordian combines three critical capabilities into a single platform: precise positioning, connectivity and edge computing.

Schramm says manufacturers can already assemble those capabilities individually, but doing so may require five to ten different suppliers and considerable integration work.

Nordian’s goal is to simplify that into a plug-and-play solution.

The company provides centimeter-level positioning, cellular and satellite connectivity, and local computing resources that allow equipment to continue performing important functions even when internet access is unavailable.

Nordian also works with Starlink in South America, including integrating Starlink Mini connectivity into its Ultralink platform.

For trucking and logistics, Schramm says the technology can help eliminate connectivity and visibility gaps that occur when vehicles and trailers travel through rural areas.

“About 70 percent of U.S. roads are in rural areas, so connectivity is not a given,” Schramm says.

Nordian is already deployed across tens of thousands of autonomous devices and works extensively with agricultural equipment manufacturers in South America. The company is now expanding further into U.S. transportation and logistics.

The opportunity also extends to drones, surveying equipment, autonomous machinery and other applications where reliable positioning and communications are mission critical.

For MSPs, carriers and channel partners, Nordian presents an opportunity to participate in the growing physical AI ecosystem by helping customers connect and manage machines operating far beyond the traditional office network.

Visit Nordian.com to learn more.