web02.fireside.fm Mon, 25 May 2026 03:51:26 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) CX without the BS - Episodes Tagged with “Ccaas Vendor Risk” https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/tags/ccaas%20vendor%20risk Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:00:00 -0500 Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. en-us episodic Honest takes on customer experience and UCaaS for the SMB and mid-market buyers enterprise vendors forgot... hosted by Brian Nichols. Brian Nichols Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. yes CX podcast, customer experience, UCaaS, CCaaS, contact center, unified communications, technology advisors, channel partners, TSD, SMB technology, mid-market IT, vendor evaluation, CX strategy, customer service technology, Brian Nichols, CX Compass, business communications, cloud communications, customer engagement, sales enablement, B2B technology buying, IT decision makers, Telarus, agent experience, omnichannel Brian Nichols brian@briannicholsconsulting.com Avaya, Mitel, Genesys: How 3 Vendor Collapses DESTROYED SMB Contact Centers https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/avaya-mitel-genesys-how-3-vendor-collapses-destroyed-smb-contact-centers caa7408c-3c8d-4a4d-979e-5bdaa2d93509 Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:00:00 -0500 Brian Nichols full Brian Nichols Your advisor recommended that platform, collected the commission, and disappeared — and when the vendor went sideways, you were the last one standing with the bill and no exit plan. 12:29 no <p>Avaya, Mitel, and Genesys left hundreds of SMB contact centers stranded — today you'll learn why your advisor probably never warned you it was coming.</p> <p>Over 200 vendors are competing for your contact center contract right now.</p> <p>Not all of them are going to survive. When Avaya went bankrupt, enterprise customers got dedicated migration teams and months of runway.</p> <p>SMBs got a letter.Your advisor signed the deal, collected the commission, and moved on — long before the migration notice hit your inbox.</p> <p>This episode is about what due diligence actually looks like for the companies vendors fly over on their way to the enterprise logo.</p> <p>If your advisor hasn't had this conversation with you, you need to watch this before you sign anything.</p> <p>Chapters:<br> 0:00 The $400K Letter Nobody Warned Them About<br> 1:40 Welcome to CX Without the BS<br> 2:15 Why This Matters Right Now for Advisors and Buyers<br> 3:20 Real Names, Real Wreckage: Avaya, Mitel, Genesys<br> 5:05 What Your Advisor Should Have Told You<br> 6:20 A Practitioner Who's Lived Through It<br> 8:15 Back to the Story — Now You Know Why<br> 9:00 The Private Equity Time Bomb<br> 9:45 The Vendor Health Five<br> 10:40 Before You Sign Anything, Do This<br> 11:25 The Close — and One Ask </p> Brian Nichols, CX Without the BS, CCaaS vendor risk, contact center advisor, Avaya bankruptcy, Mitel end of life, Genesys Engage freeze, SMB contact center, mid-market CCaaS, vendor stability, UCaaS consolidation, private equity software, contact center migration, CCaaS evaluation, vendor due diligence Avaya, Mitel, and Genesys left hundreds of SMB contact centers stranded — today you'll learn why your advisor probably never warned you it was coming.

Over 200 vendors are competing for your contact center contract right now.

Not all of them are going to survive. When Avaya went bankrupt, enterprise customers got dedicated migration teams and months of runway.

SMBs got a letter.Your advisor signed the deal, collected the commission, and moved on — long before the migration notice hit your inbox.

This episode is about what due diligence actually looks like for the companies vendors fly over on their way to the enterprise logo.

If your advisor hasn't had this conversation with you, you need to watch this before you sign anything.

Chapters:
0:00 The $400K Letter Nobody Warned Them About
1:40 Welcome to CX Without the BS
2:15 Why This Matters Right Now for Advisors and Buyers
3:20 Real Names, Real Wreckage: Avaya, Mitel, Genesys
5:05 What Your Advisor Should Have Told You
6:20 A Practitioner Who's Lived Through It
8:15 Back to the Story — Now You Know Why
9:00 The Private Equity Time Bomb
9:45 The Vendor Health Five
10:40 Before You Sign Anything, Do This
11:25 The Close — and One Ask

]]> Avaya, Mitel, and Genesys left hundreds of SMB contact centers stranded — today you'll learn why your advisor probably never warned you it was coming.

Over 200 vendors are competing for your contact center contract right now.

Not all of them are going to survive. When Avaya went bankrupt, enterprise customers got dedicated migration teams and months of runway.

SMBs got a letter.Your advisor signed the deal, collected the commission, and moved on — long before the migration notice hit your inbox.

This episode is about what due diligence actually looks like for the companies vendors fly over on their way to the enterprise logo.

If your advisor hasn't had this conversation with you, you need to watch this before you sign anything.

Chapters:
0:00 The $400K Letter Nobody Warned Them About
1:40 Welcome to CX Without the BS
2:15 Why This Matters Right Now for Advisors and Buyers
3:20 Real Names, Real Wreckage: Avaya, Mitel, Genesys
5:05 What Your Advisor Should Have Told You
6:20 A Practitioner Who's Lived Through It
8:15 Back to the Story — Now You Know Why
9:00 The Private Equity Time Bomb
9:45 The Vendor Health Five
10:40 Before You Sign Anything, Do This
11:25 The Close — and One Ask

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