Since announcing the Global VSAT Forum would be conducting certification classes at Satellite Expo, we received numerous questions about the GVF. We caught up with Executive Director David Hartshorn as he was leaving for SatCom Africa and asked him the questions we have been asked. We thought you might find this interesting.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Lucrative opportunities are being created in enterprise and consumer markets for satellite earth station installers, according to David Hartshorn, Executive Director of the Global VSAT Forum, the non-profit association of the international satellite communications industry. In this exclusive JEM Communications interview, Mr. Hartshorn details how his organization is positioning satellite communications installers to strengthen their business in key vertical markets such as disaster recovery, oil & gas, rural broadband, military, in addition to the consumer market.
JEM Communications: The Global VSAT Forum is relatively new in the U.S. Could you give us an idea of who your organization represents – what is your ‘mission’ – and who you are working with in North America? For example, aren’t Databahn and your organization in a partnership?
Hartshorn: I’ll start with the last part of your question: No, Databahn isn’t our partner. In 2004, the Global VSAT Forum was approached by Databahn who, as you probably know, is a satcom company based in Texas. They asked us to provide access to our VSAT installation training as part of an event they were organizing for dealers. Like many other satellite companies, they paid to have a portion of our course delivered. Installers who passed the test delivered on that day became eligible to take the final course level and become GVF Certified.
JEM Communications: But you are working with partners in the U.S., aren’t you?
Hartshorn: Yes, we certainly are. We coordinate closely with the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, as I believe you have reported in the past. And last week, the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and SatProf, Inc. jointly launched online VSAT installation training that enables more cost- effective delivery of our courseware. Now, installers can take the first two course levels online, and then complete the third and final level at one of our on- site classes – like the ones that we will hold at Satellite Expo 2006, and where we will provide hands- on guidance on how to install a live VSAT. But this partnership is about more than just training: When an installer gets GVF Certified, we post their name – or, if they prefer, the name of their company – on an online database that’s accessible to the major satellite communications service providers. All of the major satellite operators, the manufacturers, the value-added reseller, we are, in effect, putting them together with our Certified Installers, who will have the information tools that equip them to deliver top-level installations for consumer and enterprise jobs.
JEM Communications: Enterprise?
Hartshorn: Yes, enterprise. The Global VSAT Forum’s core activity – our ‘mission’, as you say – has been to promote the delivery of two-way satellite systems and services worldwide. Until recently, all of our activity has been focused on enterprise markets because that’s where 2-way services have traditionally been deployed. Last year, when we opened our U.S. office, we saw a tremendous untapped opportunity for DTH installers to make additional business conducting installations in the enterprise markets.
JEM Communications: You say, ‘markets’. Can you give me a few concrete examples?
Hartshorn: Sure. Take hurricanes Rita and Katrina. GVF Certified installers were on the ground conducting installation of 2-way satellite services used by corporations and government agencies for restoration services. And they were paid handsomely. We will be having one of those installers, Andy Jackson, speak about how to crack into that business during the GVF Broadband Summit that we’re holding at Satellite Expo 2006.
JEM Communications: OK, what other markets?
Hartshorn: First, let me finish on what we’re doing to promote our Certified Installers’ business in the disaster recovery market. Recently, we also reached an agreement with the International Association of Emergency Managers to jointly roll out our organizations’ Certification programs. Installers who get GVF Certified will be recommended to more than 2,000 U.S. emergency management professionals at the local, state and federal levels. And hurricane season is coming up again in just a few months.
We’re taking a similar approach in the other vertical markets, too. Last week, for example, we put our Certified Installers in direct contact with a VAR [value added reseller] that’s involved in the rollout of a 3,000-site VSAT network for the rural broadband sector. Also last week, we met with the U.S. Army and Air Force, which needs qualified VSAT installers. Retail, the cellular industry, the oil & gas patch, we are leveraging strategic relationships in each vertical market to drive business to our Certified Installers.
JEM Communications: So, what do installers do to take advantage and what about consumer installations? There are already lots of training courses out there for broadband satellite services. Why does an installer need GVF training?
Hartshorn: Good question. Some of the other courses are very good, but they are typically specific to the installation of one brand and, in order to train as many installers as possible as quickly as possible, those courses tend to lack training related to key technical concepts. The GVF course, which was developed by and at the urging of the satellite communications industry, serves as a global standard of training excellence, enabling installers of consumer terminals to do more effective installs across multiple brands, to become good trouble shooters, and to provide stronger after-sales services. On top of that, we are training them to do enterprise installs, which is a higher margin business. And as I said before, we are putting GVF Certified Installers in front of potential customers.
For installers who haven’t already taken the first two GVF training levels, they are now accessible at www.gvf.org. Installers can register for Levels 1 and 2 today, and they can potentially complete them before Satellite Expo 2006. Completion of Level 3 – which results in full GVF VSAT Installation Certification – can then be made by taking a short on-site course. Satellite Expo 2006 in Atlanta will be the location of the next on-site class, and we offer discounts for installers who simultaneously sign up for training on two or more levels. For more information on the Global VSAT Forum visit their website at www.GVF.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Lucrative opportunities are being created in enterprise and consumer markets for satellite earth station installers, according to David Hartshorn, Executive Director of the Global VSAT Forum, the non-profit association of the international satellite communications industry. In this exclusive JEM Communications interview, Mr. Hartshorn details how his organization is positioning satellite communications installers to strengthen their business in key vertical markets such as disaster recovery, oil & gas, rural broadband, military, in addition to the consumer market.
JEM Communications: The Global VSAT Forum is relatively new in the U.S. Could you give us an idea of who your organization represents – what is your ‘mission’ – and who you are working with in North America? For example, aren’t Databahn and your organization in a partnership?
Hartshorn: I’ll start with the last part of your question: No, Databahn isn’t our partner. In 2004, the Global VSAT Forum was approached by Databahn who, as you probably know, is a satcom company based in Texas. They asked us to provide access to our VSAT installation training as part of an event they were organizing for dealers. Like many other satellite companies, they paid to have a portion of our course delivered. Installers who passed the test delivered on that day became eligible to take the final course level and become GVF Certified.
JEM Communications: But you are working with partners in the U.S., aren’t you?
Hartshorn: Yes, we certainly are. We coordinate closely with the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, as I believe you have reported in the past. And last week, the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and SatProf, Inc. jointly launched online VSAT installation training that enables more cost- effective delivery of our courseware. Now, installers can take the first two course levels online, and then complete the third and final level at one of our on- site classes – like the ones that we will hold at Satellite Expo 2006, and where we will provide hands- on guidance on how to install a live VSAT. But this partnership is about more than just training: When an installer gets GVF Certified, we post their name – or, if they prefer, the name of their company – on an online database that’s accessible to the major satellite communications service providers. All of the major satellite operators, the manufacturers, the value-added reseller, we are, in effect, putting them together with our Certified Installers, who will have the information tools that equip them to deliver top-level installations for consumer and enterprise jobs.
JEM Communications: Enterprise?
Hartshorn: Yes, enterprise. The Global VSAT Forum’s core activity – our ‘mission’, as you say – has been to promote the delivery of two-way satellite systems and services worldwide. Until recently, all of our activity has been focused on enterprise markets because that’s where 2-way services have traditionally been deployed. Last year, when we opened our U.S. office, we saw a tremendous untapped opportunity for DTH installers to make additional business conducting installations in the enterprise markets.
JEM Communications: You say, ‘markets’. Can you give me a few concrete examples?
Hartshorn: Sure. Take hurricanes Rita and Katrina. GVF Certified installers were on the ground conducting installation of 2-way satellite services used by corporations and government agencies for restoration services. And they were paid handsomely. We will be having one of those installers, Andy Jackson, speak about how to crack into that business during the GVF Broadband Summit that we’re holding at Satellite Expo 2006.
JEM Communications: OK, what other markets?
Hartshorn: First, let me finish on what we’re doing to promote our Certified Installers’ business in the disaster recovery market. Recently, we also reached an agreement with the International Association of Emergency Managers to jointly roll out our organizations’ Certification programs. Installers who get GVF Certified will be recommended to more than 2,000 U.S. emergency management professionals at the local, state and federal levels. And hurricane season is coming up again in just a few months.
We’re taking a similar approach in the other vertical markets, too. Last week, for example, we put our Certified Installers in direct contact with a VAR [value added reseller] that’s involved in the rollout of a 3,000-site VSAT network for the rural broadband sector. Also last week, we met with the U.S. Army and Air Force, which needs qualified VSAT installers. Retail, the cellular industry, the oil & gas patch, we are leveraging strategic relationships in each vertical market to drive business to our Certified Installers.
JEM Communications: So, what do installers do to take advantage and what about consumer installations? There are already lots of training courses out there for broadband satellite services. Why does an installer need GVF training?
Hartshorn: Good question. Some of the other courses are very good, but they are typically specific to the installation of one brand and, in order to train as many installers as possible as quickly as possible, those courses tend to lack training related to key technical concepts. The GVF course, which was developed by and at the urging of the satellite communications industry, serves as a global standard of training excellence, enabling installers of consumer terminals to do more effective installs across multiple brands, to become good trouble shooters, and to provide stronger after-sales services. On top of that, we are training them to do enterprise installs, which is a higher margin business. And as I said before, we are putting GVF Certified Installers in front of potential customers.
For installers who haven’t already taken the first two GVF training levels, they are now accessible at www.gvf.org. Installers can register for Levels 1 and 2 today, and they can potentially complete them before Satellite Expo 2006. Completion of Level 3 – which results in full GVF VSAT Installation Certification – can then be made by taking a short on-site course. Satellite Expo 2006 in Atlanta will be the location of the next on-site class, and we offer discounts for installers who simultaneously sign up for training on two or more levels. For more information on the Global VSAT Forum visit their website at www.GVF.org
