You Don't Own a Commission. You Own a Customer.

The Philosophy Behind akabis — In the Words of Its Founder 

By Craig Young | Director Channel, akabis | Published July 17, 2026 

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with George Sidman, his colleagues call him Butch, the original founder of akabis. He spent over an hour walking me through the founding story, the thinking behind the platform, and the philosophy that has guided akabis since day one. What struck me most was how intentional every decision was and how directly those decisions benefit the MSPs who partner with us today. 

If you're an MSP owner reading this, I want you to hear Butch's story in his own words. Because when you understand why akabis was built the way it was, the value proposition becomes crystal clear. 

It Started in 2008, with a Problem. 

Butch began designing akabis in 2008 and launched it into service in 2009. From the beginning, the company had a single foundational rule: akabis would be a wholesale provider, not a retail one. 

That decision was not accidental. It was a direct response to what Butch saw happening in the market with companies like RingCentral, which was and is operating on a commission-based agent model. 

Butch put it plainly: 

That one statement cuts to the heart of why the agent model is a trap for founder-led MSPs. You're building someone else's business, not your own. 

The Name Has a Story Too 

Here's something most people don't know. The name ‘akabis’ comes from a Hebrew word for spider which was chosen deliberately. 

Butch explained it this way: they wanted a company name starting with the letter ‘A’ so it would appear first in directory searches for wholesale telecom providers. They also wanted the name tied conceptually to the web, because they were offering voice over IP, voice delivered over the internet.

The Core Principle: You Own the Customer 

When Butch built akabis, he made one commitment to every reseller who came aboard: 

This was not just a talking point. It was structural. Akabis never positioned itself to compete with the people reselling on its platform. The moment a wholesaler becomes a retailer, every reseller becomes a competitor instead of a partner. Butch refused to build that model. 

Instead, akabis stepped back:

The reseller handles the customer relationship, installation, interface, and contract. Akabis handles everything behind the curtain. That is the whole model, and it is still the model today.

What MSPs Don't Have — And What akabis Provides 

Butch was direct about the real barriers that stop small MSPs from offering phone services. It is not technical fear. It is three specific gaps: 

1. Billing 

Most small MSPs do not have a telecom billing infrastructure. Building a billing engine that handles product changes, automatic upgrades, and recurring invoices is a massive lift for a founder-led shop already stretched thin. 

2. Regulatory Compliance 

Telecom is regulated differently than IT. Once a reseller crosses $10,000 in annual revenue from voice services, they are no longer considered ‘de minimis’ under FCC rules and must file as an interconnected VoIP provider. Most small MSPs do not know this threshold exists. 

3. Taxation 

Telecom taxes are unlike any other tax structure a small business deals with — gross receipts taxes, communications service taxes, 911 surcharges — and all of it varies by state, county, and sometimes township. Butch said it clearly: 

Akabis handles these complexities, so partners do not have to. 

The Best Evidence: Almost Nobody Leaves 

When I asked Butch about partner retention, his answer was understated in the best possible way. 

For MSPs evaluating a wholesale partnership, this matters. Churn in this business almost always traces back to bad support or a wholesaler that disappears when things break. Low churn is the clearest signal that the back-end support is real. 

The Angle Nobody Talks About: Your Exit 

One of the most powerful things Butch said in our conversation had nothing to do with features or pricing. It was about what your business is worth when you decide to sell someday. 

Think about this from an MSP owner's perspective. If you have spent years building a customer base under an agent model, what do you have to sell? You have recurring commissions. And as Butch already noted, those are not worth much. 

But if you own the customer contracts, if your customers are your customers, you have a real asset. You have a business with genuine enterprise value. Recurring, contracted revenue tied to relationships you control. 

Who akabis Is Built For

Based on my conversation with Butch, and everything I have learned since joining the team, the ideal akabis partner looks like this: 

• Founder-led MSP, owner-operated, under 50 employees 
• Currently doing IT support, managed services, or cabling, already inside the customer's building 
• Either not offering phone services yet (greenfield opportunity) or reselling as a carrier agent and ready to own the economics 
• Wants to add a revenue stream to an existing customer base without building a telecom department 
• Understands that business value depends on what they own, not what they resell 

Butch described it simply near the end of our conversation: 

You already have the relationship. You already have the trust. You are already in the building. Adding voice services is adding a product line to a sales motion that is already working, not starting from scratch.