We are excited to announce that Anthony Newton has joined the AireSpring team as Director of Product Management. Anthony has more than 15 years of experience in product management and has held leadership roles at companies such as Microsoft and Lumen (formerly Qwest).

While at Microsoft, Anthony directed all phases of the development cycle for products in the Microsoft market, including SAP enhancements for B2B, web-based applications.

After being promoted to team leader, Anthony led the SAP business process evaluation and reengineering initiative. The team also developed and maintained the SAP Enterprise Information Portal.

After leaving Microsoft to join Lumen, Anthony held leadership roles such as Group Product Manager for the Global Data and IP Product team, and Director of Product Management. In these roles, he managed product portfolio strategy and helped launch iQ Managed Services and IT Security initiatives and set the direction of the channel strategy for their Internet of Things (IoT) initiative.

"Anthony brings deep experience to the AireSpring product management team along with a passion for developing innovative solutions," said David Lonstein, AireSpring Executive Vice President of Product Management. "He will play a vital role in managing our new SASE and other managed security offerings and effectively communicating the value of our entire product line to the channel community and our customers."

Join AireSpring for an overview of IT Security.

Get AireSpring Security Certified and earn a

$50 Amazon Gift Card in the process.

• Hear about the $1 Trillion dollar threat landscape.
• Learn about the 7 Types of Threat Actors and the damage they can cause.
• Understand legacy security terms & functionalities, cybersecurity history, and the origin of firewalls.
• Delve into SIP and wireless security.
• Illustrate how to develop a security mindset and adapt that to new technologies.
• Learn about Gartner's Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) -- the new security paradigm sweeping all major vendors.

Most importantly we will show you how to put a secure infrastructure into action by leveraging AireSpring's managed security solutions that give you visibility, encryption, cloud scale and private transport to deal with a borderless, ever changing network environment with secure communications.

Anything that is not secure, is not truly usable.

Space is limited!

Deadline to Register is Wednesday March 9, 2022.

Reserve your spot and your Amazon gift card now!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BOOT CAMP IS ONLY OPEN TO CHANNEL PARTNERS. SUPPLIERS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO ATTEND.

All attendees must register in advance!

Questions? Please contact Lisa Chow ( lisa.chow@airespring.com )

If you are interested in becoming a partner, please contact Scott.Hailey@AireSpring.com

Start off March with a touch of good luck - SPIFFs on Renewals!

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and now's the time to get that pot of gold! AireSpring's SPIFFs on Renewals is a great way to get a little extra green as you head into Spring.

Our Channel Managers are committed to White Glove and Concierge services, making it easy for you to deliver the best products to your customers and give you a competitive edge. AireSpring has always been 100% channel-focused and has everything you need to provide the best customer service to your clients.

We offer our channel partners some of the best evergreen commissions and bonuses in the industry. In fact, AireSpring is the only supplier to offer SPIFFs on Renewals along with other rewards, including:

• 1x MRC on SD-WAN and Global SD-WAN Services
• 1.5x MRC on Connectivity Services & MPLS
• 6X MRC on Voice/Cloud Services
• $1,600 Cash Bonus on Toll-Free Services
• $800 Cash Bonus on Long-Distance Services
• Earn even more with ongoing extra bonuses on other deals like 5% EXTRA Bonus Residual Commission on AireSpring Network & SIP LD (wholesale accounts do not qualify).

AireSpring provides everything you need to fulfill your service and support requirements, including:

• Project coordinators & managed services engineers assigned to each order
• Free consultation with solutions engineering team
• 24/7/365 NOC Network Monitoring
• 20-second response time to support calls
• Escalation list up to our CEO

Ready to delight your customers and earn extra cash? Contact your AireSpring Channel Manager for details.

ENI ensures that end-user and internet of things (IoT) devices are performing optimally, are secure, and are self-healing enabled through wireless and wired LAN, and SD-WAN as well as the new secure access service edge (SASE).

VMware ENI auto-discovers end-user and IoT devices, recording baselines and monitoring for deviations and anomalies to deliver actionable data and deep insight into networks, devices, and applications that IT operations teams can proactively address and remediate.

Join AireSpring Solutions Engineer, Chuck Long, for an overview of this Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solution from VMware and how it:

• Closes the Visibility Gap
• Facilitates a Proactive, Self-healing Network
• Increases Security
• Complements VMware® SD-WAN and VMware SASE™
• And much more

Please complete the survey after the webinar for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

My background is in cost control and supplier management, and I'm well-versed in technology. I began my career as an intern with Lucent over 20 years ago and since then have spent time with many Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC) and Local Exchange Carriers (LEC).

I started my company, CANDID Solutions, Inc., under a different name back in 2003, and this is my third time building the organization. We've come a long way in terms of how we structure the company, and the focus we have today, compared to nearly 20 years ago. The CANDID team helps business organizations navigate crowded technology landscapes which results in business efficiencies, cost reduction, revenue generation, great customer experiences, and more focus.

CANDID is named for "honesty," and we pride ourselves in living and treating our clients that way. We haven't lost a client in many years and attribute that to treating others with kindness, honesty, and total transparency. It's critical that, as a sales organization acting as an extension to existing client technology teams, we listen more than we talk and take a "roadmap" approach to everything we do.

We help our clients pave the way for the next 5 to 7 years without having to reinvent their IT infrastructure every 3 years. Otherwise, they will find themselves spending more money and time than needed. We are in this with our clients for the long haul and never just looking to make a quick buck. Anyone in the channel who is successful will say the same thing, or they simply are not in this business long enough to make a positive impact.

What do you like about working with AireSpring?

CANDID is only as good as our suppliers. I work with many suppliers and first started working with AireSpring in 2008. Back then, I worked with Charles Lomond (National Channel Director) who was always so good to me. Today, I work with Rick Komon (Regional Channel Manager, IL, MI, MO ), who is incredible. In fact, I nominated Rick as a top manager in the channel!

I love many things about AireSpring. It's an organization that I have watched grow into a compelling offering for anyone looking to migrate to the cloud while building redundancy in their network and keeping everything "under a single pane of glass." Managed connectivity has never been more important to medium and enterprise organizations than it is today and doing more with less seems to be a common theme. Considering the layoffs that have inevitably slimmed out IT teams for many organizations, it's imperative that we align our clients with aggregators like AireSpring. Airespring is a company that is extremely well-run and organized, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction and retention.

For example, I have clients today who ask me, "Joe, why you, and why should I not just work directly with AT&T or Comcast, Verizon, etc."? The answer is very simple, and I usually reply, "When is the last time you had a conversation with AT&T, Verizon or Comcast where you didn't have a sudden increase in stress and blood pressure?"

"AireSpring makes it easy to utilize a single team to offer so many suppliers while providing our clients with nationwide solutions--no matter where their locations may be!"

I have never been told by anyone that they enjoy working with these massive suppliers...ever! The channel is where it's at. We are definitely better together, and CANDID takes pride in our suppliers and our relationships that have been built over the past 2+ decades. AireSpring makes it easy to utilize a single team to offer so many suppliers while providing our clients with nationwide solutions--no matter where their locations may be!

What would you say is the secret to being a successful trusted advisor/sales agent in today's marketplace?

High integrity and a strong desire to get it right for your clients.

We achieve this by being proactive in our approach and start off every relationship with sincere listening and getting agreement in our meeting notes. It's not up to us to tell clients what to do. Rather, we listen to them and apply our "better together" approach that removes the guesswork and finger- pointing for our customers. Otherwise, clients, no matter how big or small, will continue to throw darts at the virtual technology dartboard, hoping to hit a bullseye instead of actually hitting the bullseye each and every time!

"It's not up to us to tell clients what to do…we listen to them and apply our "better together" approach that removes the guesswork and finger- pointing for our customers."

We help ensure that our clients do not make costly mistakes and choose the right suppliers every time with a process internal to CANDID that works. We run every deal through our engineers, and from this, we manage the suppliers like AireSpring, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen. More than 30 COAX suppliers are in our portfolio alone, with over 500 voice, data, security suppliers to choose from. That sounds excessive, but there are a lot of unique needs that clientele have, and we need to be able to serve them all!

What do you foresee happening in the industry in 2022? What is the "next big thing" you think trusted advisors/agents should be aware of or get involved in, etc. in 2022?

Like I said, the channel is where it's at. There is never a time in my mind that a customer should work with suppliers on their own. It never makes sense for existing IT staff to be researching suppliers and placing orders directly with them. There is zero additional cost in having a channel partner like CANDID source suppliers and propose side-by-side solutions in a way that is 100% unbiased and 100% focused on the customer's needs. CANDID does not have quotas. Not a single agreement we have today has any revenue targets that must be met to continue to keep that relationship in place.

"Protecting your network starts at the foundation, with a strong network built by companies like AireSpring and their incredible in-house experts, at zero cost."

Security has never been more important and is something that we unfortunately must discuss with every single client. This is our focus at CANDID and includes educating our clients on ways to improve customer retention through improved and additional methods of communication with their customers. We currently have over 20 of the industry's great cybersecurity companies in our portfolio. Protecting your network starts at the foundation, with a strong network built by companies like AireSpring and their incredible in-house experts, at zero cost.

What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of telecom?

I'm a husband, father, student, coach, and entrepreneur. I have 3 kids ranging in age from 11 to 18, and I love all things outdoors, especially saltwater fishing. I have coached soccer for the past 10 years and have had the privilege of winning 2 championships. I love doing anything with my family, including popcorn and homemade pizzas on Friday nights for Movie Night. We vacation together at least once per year, sometimes more, and just enjoy living life together. We are a very tight-knit family and know that every day is a blessing.

I love spending time learning how to be the best advisor to not just my clients, but my kids. I teach them that it's what you do behind closed doors when no one is watching that defines your character.

At AireSpring, we know that it is our dedication to customer service that sets us apart, and customer service begins with great employees. Here is your chance to get to know the AireSpring team that handles your special pricing. This month we are talking with Ilya Shvartsman, Director of Special Pricing and Offer Management.

Hello, Ilya. To begin, can you tell us about your professional background and your role at AireSpring?

I began my professional career in the world of PC security systems during the Windows 3.1 days, when they were controlled by VCRs and tapes. I worked for Silicor Technologies, based here in Los Angeles, which was one of the first companies to develop security camera software. For several years, I traveled all around the country, training our partners on these systems. Then, I moved to New York to start a company with two business partners, writing software for PC security functions.

By the time I moved back to L.A., the industry was saturated with competitive products. So, I began looking for the next big growth industry, and it was at that time that I was introduced to AireSpring by a long-time employee. I began in the quotes department before the days of SIP and fiber, when everything was T1-based. I eventually worked in several roles at the company, including account manager, learning all I could. But my entrepreneurial nature got the best of me, and I left to start another business, which was a call center company servicing the life insurance industry.

Eventually, my contacts at AireSpring invited me back for another opportunity and the Lonsteins: Avi Lonstein (AireSpring CEO), Daniel Lonstein (AireSpring COO), and David Lonstein (AireSpring Executive VP, Product Management), offered me a new position as an analyst, which leveraged my skills in using the Microsoft SQL data programming language. I worked closely with David on cost analysis, at the same time helping the carrier operations group and the Network Operations Center (NOC) analyze call records. After some time, I decided I wanted to get into sales again, so I left to become a senior account manager at PAETEC Communications.

I returned to AireSpring again in 2017 in a different role, and we've grown a lot over the last 5 years. The scope of doing product and special pricing management was so large that we added additional people, and I took on this very focused role of Director of Special Pricing and Offer Management. It's an honor to be working with a seasoned team of telecom professionals. I've been lucky to have had the opportunity to grow with and mentor them.

The Special Pricing and Offer Management team does two things: we're the middleman between our vendors and our sales folks, and we interact with account management and the sales team for products with special pricing-basically anything you can't find on the rate sheet. It's a complicated world out there, and we're always competitive. We ensure that we've got the right solution and negotiate with our wholesale vendors to meet the needs of specific opportunities. Our team is aligned with a single focus: to help do everything we can to delight our customers.

What do you enjoy most about working with AireSpring?

The things I enjoy most are the people and the growth we are experiencing. I like the fact that the company is growing by leaps and bounds and no two days are the same. The great thing about the people of AireSpring is that we're all aligned with the same customer goals, from the top of the organization on down. It's exciting to always be developing new solutions. I enjoy working closely with the Lonsteins and the whole family of people at AireSpring. A piece of me has always been at AireSpring and I am very grateful for it. It's so awesome to see what AireSpring has become, and how much it has grown over the years.

It's great to be part of an ever-evolving industry at the forefront of the latest and greatest technologies. Customers are buying more and more bandwidth, especially now that more people are working from home. They have more of a need for diversity and redundancy in their networks and are relying more on cloud and security services. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is the next big thing in our industry and we're jumping on board.

What are some of your hobbies or interests outside of the office?

The number one thing is spending time with my wife, Kea, and our two children. My son Kai is 9, and Carla is 7. We especially enjoy camping and hiking along the California coast and in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We camp in the most remote locations possible, far away from civilization, deep into the wilderness where you won't see a single person for a few days. It's so majestic to see wildlife and to experience the silence, with no technology around.

We have a little off-road popup trailer for the kids and a dog who hikes with us. These days, weekends are pretty much nonexistent because my daughter is doing gymnastics and competitive cheer, and my son is doing basketball and Cub Scouts.

I'm also a huge barbecue fanatic. The specialty these days is smoked ribs, with my own sauce. Cooking outdoors in the fire is the best. We make "hobo packets," wrapped in foil-everything tastes better out in nature.

Ilya, thank you for sharing your story with us.

AireSpring is an award-winning provider of Managed Connectivity and Cloud Communications solutions providing fully managed and connected end-to-end, next-generation solutions for multi-location enterprise customers, including:

• AirePBX UCaaS
• MPLS Mesh
• SD-WAN
• Global Managed SD-WAN
• SIP Trunking
• Managed Firewall
• Dedicated Internet Access
• Analog/PRI/POTS
• Wholesale Long Distance

AireSpring's services are delivered over its revolutionary nationwide MPLS Mesh Network, providing customers a fully integrated, end-to-end solution from a single vendor.

sales@airespring.com | 888.389.2899 | www.airespring.com