Brief Takes From Fall ISPCON 2001

• Nine-Eleven Impacts Las Vegas Gathering
• The Most Exciting Business In The World
• Sun Dance Invitation

by Alex Goldman Associate Editor ISP-Planet [October 10, 2001]

Nine-Eleven Impacts Las Vegas Gathering
There are comparably fewer people at ISPCON Fall 2001 in Las Vegas this year than last. Most say the slim turnout is another effect of recent events we've all come to know simply as "nine-eleven."

Terrorism, Afghanistan, and the war are on the minds of many conference-goers here this week. Bags left unattended at the event are immediately examined by roving security guards. Attendees aren't exchanging stores about the ISP biz, but they are telling tales about how long it took to get through airport security. One attendee drove 12-hours rather than face flying to the show.

On the other hand, we're all Americans now. People are polite to each other, and there are none of the regional jibes that were common in any gathering before September 11th. There's a quiet sense of comradliness, as life presses onward and people go back to work, solemnly.

Work for Wi-Fi vendors appears to be pretty good, especially for Alvarion—the merged amalgamate of Floware and BreezeCOM. Alvarion has a very large booth on the show floor and it's pretty crowded with interested visitors sousing out the latest 802.11 technologies have to offer.

Unfortunately, what's good for wireless does not transcend to digital subscriber line services. While on the show floor I overheard a metro service provider operator laugh at the DSL forum. Still, I also heard the President of New Edge Networks, Dan Moffat, point out to a small cluster of attendees that there are alternatives to provisioning DSL access from Regional Bell Operating Centers (RBOCs).

"ISPs can vote with their wallets for or against the RBOCs," Moffat explained, adding that the decision is up to each individual ISP business.

In the equipment sector, server blade maker RLX Technologies—short for rocketlogix—is demonstrating its Windows Powered servers that come with a per-server instead of a per-client license. "This software license demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to the storage market," the RLX pitch man said. But attendees hardly buzzed with enthusiasm.

In ISP software, Stalker Software, lauded with a variety of awards at recent trade shows, appears to be going head-to-head with arch rival Mirapoint, who indicated they would have something to say about this shortly. I wonder how I'll stand the wait?

Security and data backup are hot topics—more so than broadband access and network buildouts—and the regulatory front has lost a bit of steam since most of this country's lawmakers are focusing on anti-terrorism bills and appropriations rather than the Tauzin-Dingell bill and the Internet tax moratorium set to expire in about 10 days.

Like the rest of the country, the ISP business has changed since September 11, 2001. But it's apparent from attendees at ISPCON that no one is certain how much the business has changed.

What is the near term future of the ISP industry? Well … that depends who you're talking to.

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The Most Exciting Business In The World
"How's business?" I asked.

"We're in the most exciting business in the world," replied Harry Taxin, MegaPath president and chief executive officer.

Appropriately headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., MegaPath Networks is a broadband service provider for small- and medium-sized businesses throughout U.S. The MegaPath broadband network supports thousands of customers in more than 150 major metropolitan areas across the nation, so Taxin has plenty to be happy about these days.

MegaPath recently discovered that establishing a nationwide footprint enhanced its ability to sell to larger business clients. Some of MegaPath's favorite customers are restaurant chains. These franchised, geographically dispersed eateries need to move data between many different locations—from local restaurants to branch offices, branch offices to regional divisions, to the head office, and back—these customers need secure networks.

If a single ISP is tapped to provide such a service, their network must be able to provide secure network connections across the country. The data, time sensitive sales reports and analysis, also needs to be moved quickly, so these business clients need nationwide, secure broadband connectivity.

Enter MegaPath with its independent broadband services providing businesses with secure IP communications via Synchronous DSL (SDSL) access.

But the greatest business opportunity that MegaPath sees is nested within the ISP community, especially competitive metropolitan markets where ISPs can tap into DSL access from the MegaPath Reseller Network.

All told, MegaPath offers three different reseller programs. The Access Partners program is essentially an affiliate program for consultants, and for ISPs that are willing to give up their billing relationships with clients. The second program, the Advantage Partner program, is designed for agents such as value-added resellers that peddle their services to more consultants or other service providers that don't offer direct provisioning of DSL access. It offers monthly recurring revenue to ISPs, rather than the $100 one-time bounty paid to participants in MegaPath's Access Partner program.

The third program—the one that ISP operators might be most interested in—is known as the Virtual Broadband Carrier program for ISPs. This reseller deal allows ISPs to sell its own brand of DSL access under its own brand name—and ISPs get to maintain their one-on-one relationship with their customers.

MegaPath's broadband options for ISPs offer a variety of benefits, including the ability to tap into MegaPath's dedicated sales force, free "second tier" customer care around-the-clock, and experience technical support. The ISP business retains control over all contact with end users, billing the customer directly each month and being there for technical support. MegaPath's expectations are not that grand, ISP partners need only to bill for 10 DSL users each month. But the most important benefit ISP partners can secure with MegaPath is the cost of DSL access. ISP partners get 15 percent off MegaPath's suggested retail prices.

So for MegaPath, business is good. It's one of the few DSL wholesale access providers left standing now that Covad, NorthPoint, and Rhythms have faded from view. As a matter of fact MegaPath's BroadbandRescue program has been the beneficiary of many business-class clients that lost their Covad, Rhythms, or NorthPoint DSL connectivity.

Business may go up, and it may go down. But, as MegaPath's Taxin says, "We're in the most exciting business in the world."

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Sun Dance Invitation
Sun Microsystems debuted its Destination Go-To-Market: Destination ASP program at ISPCON in Las Vegas this week. Although much of the anti-Microsoft hype the Solaris-maker spun last week was aimed at luring independent software vendors (ISVs) away from Microsoft, there is an Internet service provider component confined within Sun's offering this week.

Sun's Get-To-Market Group Manager Seth Pinkham says the new Web site deployed to herald the program introduction brings together various developer programs and different types of service providers under one platform.

"Sun has a variety of programs aimed at developers and providers of all sizes, but that the programs were buried in various parts of the Sun Web site and managed by different SUN groups," Pinkham explained.

Enter Destination Go-To-Market: Destination ASP, Sun's one-stop source for all the latest information about how to adopt an application service provider business model efficiently and profitably. Resources from Sun and its partners focus on helping ISPs, ISVs, and ASPs build, deploy, and market software as a Web service. If you visit the site, bring your reading glasses—it's chucked full of information enveloping more than 100 Web pages.

Pinkham said that at the very top level of Web services companies there are essentially four main providers—Sun, Microsoft, HP, and IBM—which is why Sun wanted to open the door to interact with software developers and service providers on the Web.

"The Web site was not built for one-way interaction," Pinkham said, "We're building a community of winners, and we're here to listen to them, learn from them as well as teach them a few things."

According to Pinkham, Sun is home to the second largest developer community after Microsoft with more than 15,000 individuals and companies toiling away at creating Solaris-based applications. Because it's number two, Sun works hard to grow its working relationships with developers and providers through the SDC program. Certification in the program is free, but does require a detailed application process.

So if your ISP is still thinking about becoming an ASP, or wants to get to know a few ISVs, Sun has created a special place on the Web just for you.

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	[Apr. 7, 2001]	ISPCON Conclusions
	[Apr. 5, 2001]	Spring ISPCON 2001 Fixed Wireless News