Episode 024 - Phil Keenan - MicroCorp's Cloud Elements Division and The Anatomy of a Master Agency

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: MicroCorp’s New Cloud Elements Division and the Anatomy of a Telecom Master Agency, I interview the President of MicroCorp, Phil Keenan. When I first met Phil in Atlanta nearly 3 years ago, it was obvious he was different than every other executive I had met working in the telecom industry. He cut through the typical positioning BS right from the start, wanted to execute quickly, and viewed the industry through the same lenses I did. Truth be told, with the launch of the Cloud Elements Division of MicroCorp in April of this year, the vision of what we planned in our very first meeting has now become manifest. Our conversation covers the specific function and role the “Master Agency” plays in our industry and how a service provider can be successful in the indirect channel. We also discuss the who, how, what and why of MicroCorp’s new Cloud Elements Division. Most importantly, however, we discuss how the lessons Phil learned selling vacuum cleaners door to door in the UK helped shape him into the executive he is today. Show Notes: 1:12 Episode starts 2:15 Phil’s backstory 3:33 How Phil got into tech 10:19 What made Phil switch industries and move to the Channel? 13:02 The difference between the way Phil views the world versus how traditional telecommunication master agents view the world 17:23 What made Phil interested in Open Spectrum? 31:28 How does an indirect channel operate and what purpose does a master agent serve? 34:25 Why can’t carriers and service agents fill that role? 39:29 What’s the issue with letting the service provider do pre-qualification with the customer? 44:16 What is Cloud Elements and how will it empower agents to do more? 50:07 How does Cloud Elements affect the engagement between an agent and their client? 55:02 Phil’s ideas that have been valuable to his interaction with the community he works with 57:12 What will the next few years look like for MicroCorp? 1:00:22 The importance of trust 1:01:34 Phil’s first time walking into a data center 1:03:26 At what point did you realize that this was the industry you wanted to work in? 1:04:58 Common misconceptions service providers have about the channel 1:05:48 What it takes for a service provider to be successful in building relationships with master agencies 1:12:56 What do you think the main component to your success was? 1:14:18 What is some advice that you wish you had had five years ago? 1:18:35 What advice would you give an agent just starting out?