More breadth needed says Avaya’s new UK channel head

Avaya has appointed Niall Anderson, formally head of channels for Global Crossing, to help steer the firm’s UK channel operations as it gears up for a push into new areas like video and integrated applications.
Anderson believes that the firm is in the strongest position it has ever been in: “I walk into a company and it’s no longer a case of red versus blue, the channel has stayed pretty loyal and a solid and branded [former] Nortel or Avaya partner now has a complete portfolio.”
However, in his view, the firm needs to have “more breadth in the market” through partners who cover specialist areas. “There is enough market share to go after – we are not constrained by the market.” His view is supported by strong revenues for the firm, especially in EMEA where it had 27 percent year on year growth on revenues of $358m to June 2010.
He believes Avaya Aura, its core communications platform for unified communication, is a key strength as it allows partners to extend their reach into a client: “Up-sell and attach is the big thing for this year,” he says, though admits, “we are not always considered as the vendor of choice but that is changing.”
Anderson believes the consolidation in the market through its acquisition of Nortel and the exit of 3Com to HP has made it easier for clients to assess Avaya as a primary supplier.
Another key focus for the year is videoconferencing. Although the firm is not going after rivals in the high-end like Polycom or Cisco (Tandberg) he feels the mid market is ready to embrace better desktop solutions.
The firm will announce certification specialisations around video skills within the next few months.
However, Anderson accepts that there is still work to be done in attracting ISVs to develop innovative application to sit on its platform. “It is an area that we are looking to grow,” he says. Anderson will be outlining the vendor’s position to assembled partners at its upcoming partner day in the Midlands this March.