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Find Out What Makes TSDs Tick

By Dave Raffo | February 25, 2025

Technology services distributors (TSDs) play a major role in the ongoing shift from telcom companies to tech companies. Trusted advisors and other channel partners, vendors, and suppliers all depend on TSDs to do business.

And there is a lot of business to be done. Omdia research estimates the B2B telco market to be worth $340 million annually.

A Channel Futures survey found in the third quarter of 2023, TAs sold with an average of 2.9 TSD. Less than one quarter revealed they only used one TSD in the quarter and more than one TA responded that they used 10 or more TSDs.

Those results show how important TSDs are to TAs, and how many choices TAs have in picking TSD partners. But partners need to take a close look at TSDs before they figure out who to work with. What differentiates one TSD from another? How does each stand out in what from a distance looks like a sea of sameness?

Those questions will be answered at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo keynote session, “CEO Perspectives: The Future of Technology Services Distribution” March 25 at Las Vegas.  During the panel session, Dave Dyson, chief communication strategist at TA firm Eclipse, and Channel Futures senior news editor James Anderson will probe leaders from TSDs Bridgepointe Technologies, Intelisys and Telarus for answers to questions such as:

  • How are you engaging with different-sized partners differently?
  • What are you specifically doing for mid-size to large TAs that have added in-house resources?
  • Are you one-size fits all or different packages for different types of partners?
  • How do your resources factor into partner compensation?
  • What is your role in lead gen and the end customer?
  • What is the role of the TSD in vendor management? How do you balance quantity and quality?

The bottom line is for TAs to find out: “Why should I be working with you? What are the differentiators? That’s what we want to click on,” according to Dyson.

Anderson added: “My goal in this session would be to walk away from this with a sense of how these companies are different from each other. I'd love to get a sense of exactly where the puck is going as the leaders see it, so that the partners in the audience can make their investments accordingly.”

He’ll be talking to people who should know: CEOs Adam Edwards of Telarus and Scott Evars of Bridgepointe and Intelisys president Ken Mills.

“The executive TSD panel is always a good time to talk about industry trends and get a high-level view of what each of the TSDs are seeing,” Telarus CEO Edwards said. “Just think about the number of transactions, the number of suppliers we’re dealing with. We’re also going to be taking about AI and where that goes.

“There’s a lot of things going on at Channel Partners. I think it’s the conversations and the connections we make that shine the brightest.”

  • Edwards, a Telarus founder, shaping its strategy and nurtures its organizational culture. His primary focus lies in defining his TSD’s identity and ensuring it remains dedicated to assisting advisors in achieving success.
  • Evars also helped found Bridgepointe, after recognizing the need for a different type of technology services firm. Under his leadership, the firm experienced steady organic growth, leading to a $100 million growth investment from Charlesbank Partners in 2021. Bridgepointe now has with nearly 200 employees and more than 12,000 clients.
  • Mills leads ScanSource’s independent Intelisys business unit. A distinguished technology executive with more than two decades of experience, Mills previously held leadership roles at EPIC iO, Dell Technologies and Cisco, and served as a fellow with the U.S. Department of State. His strategic mindset has been an integral part of launching innovative products and solutions in the fields of AI, IoT, and 5G. 

 

 

Dave Dyson