Iridium’s Partner Ecosystem Drives Innovation and Growth

Greg Ewert, Executive Vice President Sales, Global Distribution Channels, Iridium

By Greg Ewert

Greg Ewert has served as the executive vice president sales, global distribution channels of Iridium since 2004. Prior to joining Iridium, he served as executive vice president for marketing, sales, product development, business development and customer service for COMSAT International. Prior to COMSAT, Greg held executive positions within Teleglobe Inc., ranging from vice president and general manager of carrier and emerging markets, to senior vice president of global data services. Before Teleglobe, he worked for Sprint Corporation, where he held various positions including president of Sprint International of Canada. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

Our 2011 Partners Conference in New Orleans was by all measures an exciting and exhilarating event. We had more than 400 attendees representing 130 partner companies from all over the world.

Themed “The Future Is Everywhere,” the conference provided a forum for our partners to meet with Iridium’s management team as well as with each other, to showcase their latest innovations in Iridium-based products and services, and to exchange ideas and explore collaborative business opportunities.

We’ve adopted the term “ecosystem” to describe the unique synergy between Iridium and our network of partners. To our minds, this term aptly describes the way Iridium, our service partners and value-added resellers, manufacturers and developers interact and connect with Iridium and with each other to create innovative solutions within their market sectors leveraging Iridium’s robust global satellite network.

It’s clear to me that Iridium is not only the envy of the mobile satellite service (MSS) industry, but is increasingly becoming recognized as a leading player in the broader wireless communication marketplace. This is an unmistakable testament to our solid partner base. Competitors in the industry follow our lead, which indicates that we’re not the only ones who believe we’re doing something right. The fact is, Iridium’s worldwide partner ecosystem is the primary driver of our surge to a position of market leadership.

Making the Distinction

Each type of partner has a role in the Iridium ecosystem. Our service providers (SPs) sell Iridium products and services either directly or through their own retail dealer networks. Our value-added resellers (VARs) take the raw Iridium data products, combine them with solutions and resell the integrated products packaged with airtime. Value-added manufacturers (VAMs) produce the equipment and have the sophisticated knowledge required to get products and solutions through any necessary certification processes. Value-added developers (VADs) supply the solutions, such as email or specialty billing services, which support the products.

Over time, we’ve seen a blurring of the lines between the various roles of the partners. Many of our SPs, for instance, may also be a VAD, VAM or VAR. This integration among partners allows them to provide more accessibility and end-to-end solutions for Iridium customers.

Our strong partner ecosystem continually feeds, strengthens and grows off itself. For instance, a VAD with an effective Iridium-based product or application from one part of the world can attend the Partners Conference and connect with an SP from another region. Together, they can build a relationship that makes the Iridium-based solutions available to an even greater segment of the market, which alone they could not have reached.

Conversely, an SP who may not have the resources to make a substantial capital investment in developing applications or solutions can join with a VAM who has the specialized knowledge and technology available to develop products and services to be sold through the SP’s retail channels. The structure of the ecosystem provides endless opportunities for the development of professional alliances among Iridium partners.

Changing and growing — evolution of the ecosystem

Over the last decade, our partner ecosystem has grown to include more than 250 companies from around the world. But it’s important to note that we haven’t grown simply for the sake of growth. Our growth strategy is based on quality rather than quantity, seeking out and cultivating relationships with the strongest partners in significant geographical locations and key vertical markets. Our partner base includes some of the most impressive names in the industry from a service standpoint, which results in solid and successful relationships on both ends.

We are seeing a dramatic shift from satellite voice service to machine-to-machine (M2M) data products and services, and this is reflected in the composition of our distribution channels with an increasing number of data-centric partners. This process is being accelerated by the introduction of the Iridium 9602 Short Burst Data (SBD) Transceiver, which is revolutionizing the satellite data communications market. At the 2011 Iridium Partners Conference we announced agreements with several new partners who will spearhead our penetration of high-volume data markets, including our first consumer-facing products with embedded Iridium 9602 transceivers.

Likewise, as additional products are rolled out based on our Iridium OpenPort technology, we will develop relationships with new types of partner organizations who will take the lead in opening the burgeoning market or that will play a key role in addressing the demand for broadband voice and data solutions in the maritime and aviation markets.

The NEXT generation

Finally, let me say a few words about Iridium NEXT, which will provide exciting opportunities for our partners in the future. We are totally committed to a seamless transition for our partners as we began launching the new constellation in 2015. We will make certain that backward compatibility for existing products and services remains a top priority for Iridium NEXT. On the front end of the rollout, we will bring in partners to get a first look at the next-generation satellite constellation, and we will share with them the key elements of Iridium NEXT to better prepare them for the development and introduction of new innovations to the market.

Iridium NEXT will ensure an exciting future for our company and our partners. One thing, however, will not change. We will continue to look to our partner ecosystem as the key driver of our market success and leadership in the mobile satellite industry. We will continue to nurture our relationships with existing partners all over the world, and cultivate new partners to join our ever-expanding, ever-advancing ecosystem.

Not just connected, Iridium Connected

At the 2011 Partner Conference, Iridium was also excited to introduce the Iridium Connected program. In essence, Iridium Connected is the Iridium promise made real — a simple yet powerful way to showcase the real-world impact of Iridium-based solutions and help Iridium partners convey to their customers the real value of products, solutions and services enabled by the only truly global communications network.

Iridium Connected is a way to present the thousands of organizations and countless individuals around the world who are directly benefiting from exceptional reliability of the Iridium global satellite constellation and data connections every day at work, on exploration and adventure endeavors, and during critical disaster relief situations.

The Iridium Executive Team unveiled the dynamic program, its objectives, and its distinct visual identifier — and revealed the new Iridium Connected section at Iridium.com, launched in late January.

Iridium Connected provides an online platform for Iridium customers and partners to connect with each other and share their experiences in the field and on the front lines of innovation. It features video streams, image galleries and first-hand accounts — case studies, and testimonials as a showcase for partner products and Iridium-embedded solutions in real world applications.

From a broader perspective, Iridium Connected illustrates the value and strength of the Iridium ecosystem. It not only drives growth of the Iridium network, it supports partner initiatives, giving them an opportunity to provide customers added confidence in their communication experience at work. It’s more than a promise — it’s a fact. When customers are Iridium Connected, they know they can depend on reliable, critical lifelines over the entire globe. And that’s good for their business, for our partners, and for Iridium as well.