Avaya addresses partner concerns at Sydney conference

There may come a time when a company has to decide whether it is willing to relinquish part of its autonomy and be acquired by a larger entity to survive in an increasingly competitive IT market.

For Avaya, that moment came in October 2007 when it accepted an $8.2 billion deal from TPG Capital and Silver Lake equity firms. According to Daniel McConaghy, regional sales vice president – APAC, Avaya, the acquisition boosted growth for the vendor, contrary to the ominous sentiment surrounding the agreement that predicted a dive in consumer confidence.

“They’re excited as much as we are because these are what we call value investors – they invest in companies to advance their growth and strategy. Being part of our ecosystem, our business partners can benefit from that,” he said. “There is speculation that the US economy is not as robust and with that you see a lot of public companies pulling back … being private that is not the case for us anymore.”

Avaya is currently holding its business partner conference at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. Andy Hurt, regional director Indirect Business A/NZ, Avaya, claimed this is not a morale building exercise, rather an opportunity to network with Avaya’s various business partners in the region.

“We review the last year, our success and milestones, we actually give out awards and in addition to that we lay out a strategy for the coming year and that’s what this is about,” he said. “There is tremendous talent in the business community of Avaya and we saw the partner conference as a great way of networking.”

Educating resellers about Avaya technology is also a key focus of the conference. Partners have expressed concern that the ambiguity of the term ‘unified communications’ has been a hindrance when taking the technology to potential enterprise customers. McConaghy claimed that Avaya is committed to shedding light on the potential of this technology and providing partners with the tools to demonstrate it effectively, thereby enhancing their sales strategy.

“Large enterprise need a mobility strategy and need the type of access unified communication provides. Our aim is to articulate to partners how to gain from implementing our business strategy,” he said. “We’re showing the conferencing and the mobility, how these solutions can be put in the environment … it’s impactful, it’s going to change the way we work and live in the future.”

McConaghy also asserted that Avaya’s commitment to the channel is unwavering and the company will continue to expand and develop channel relationships.

“Our go-to-market strategy, our whole approach to market is around working with channels,” he said.

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