New BullsEye Telecom CEO To Take Tech Aim To Next Level

BullsEye Telecom is promoting its chief operating officer, Tom Tisko, to CEO as the company continues its tech transformation.

BullsEye, a channel-friendly service provider that does more than 80 percent of its business through channel partners, has turned its attention in recent years to help customers move off analog Internet Protocol-based communications to next-gen technologies, such as VoIP, UCaaS, SD-WAN, and broadband internet services.

The company wants to double down on its digital projects and has aggressive growth goals in mind for its channel strategy in 2019, Tisko told CRN.

"Now was not the time to turn the company over to a CFO or someone coming up from the sales or marketing ranks. This space today is dominated with technology decisions, so this transition from COO to CEO is really a continuation of our technology focus," he said.

[Related: BullsEye Telecom Appoints COO To Raise Profile In VoIP, SD-WAN Markets]

Tisko's new appointment will begin on Jan. 1. The Southfield, Mich.-based company's current CEO, Bill Oberlin, will continue to serve as chairman of BullsEye's board of directors.

BullsEye Telecom today is focused on its suite of advanced technologies, including cloud-based communications and managed SD-WAN, security, and rebilling services for multi-location business customers. The company wants to eliminate the pain points associated with using multiple vendors. The perfect BullsEye customer, Tisko said, doesn’t just buy one of its products.

BullsEye also is helping multi-site enterprises that may have remote locations.

"Partners selling a 100-location deal don't have to worry about the last ten that might have problems. We make all the locations work -- those trouble sites are really how we separate ourselves from the market," he said.

BullsEye plans to not only grow its product portfolio, but its sales efforts, too.

To that end, BullsEye has doubled its staff of channel managers under Vice President of Channel Sales Brian Babich since the spring.

"The channel is a dominant force on our revenue. Partners are a linchpin in our growth strategy, and the channel team has very aggressive growth targets," Tisko said.

Tisko co-founded BullsEye in 1999. Prior to that, the industry veteran served as general manager for former IT services firm AdVal Communications. He started his tech career as a systems engineer and manager at Electronic Data Systems. Tisko was named COO in July 2017 for BullsEye, and since then, the executive has been building out the company's technology product development and distribution of its digital communication products.

“I know that I am leaving the company well-positioned for the future and truly cannot imagine anyone better than [Tisko] in this role. It is [Tisko’s] proven performance during his 20-year tenure that uniquely equips him to successfully lead BullsEye going forward," Oberlin, the company's outgoing CEO, said in a statement.