Concerto signs Melbourne BPO provider UCMS

US contact centre applications vendor Concerto Software has signed a Melbourne-based business process outsourcing specialist, UCMS.

Gerry Tucker, general manager for Concerto in Australasia and Japan, said the vendor had inked a deal with UCMS on Monday, 13 September.

"As we move forward, we'll sign more," he said. "But what we're not looking to do is have a partner on every corner. We're very focused."

Concerto already worked with other vendors such as Cisco and numbered Melbourne's Premier and Sydney's Lake Corporation among its channel partners. Concerto's recent merger with Rockwell FirstPoint Contact had added its partners Damovo and BTAS to the stable, Turner said.

The Australian and Asian regional markets had grown 25 to 35 percent over the last year for Concerto, compared with 20 to 25 percent for its global sales, he said.

"Both [Rockwell and Concerto] had similar growth patterns in Australia," Turner said. "We're expecting the strength to continue for the next 12 to 18 months."

He suggested Concerto was aiming to maximise possible gains while sales of VoIP ramped up in the ongoing telecommunications refresh. Concerto, a voice specialist, was also making inroads into data sales and its investment in professional services.

"Organisations are beginning to refresh their technology and expand into new contact centres," he said.

He cited Avaya and Genesys as major competitors of Concerto. However, Concerto's global market share was larger. "We're definitely considered on a par with Avaya worldwide," Turner said.

Turner was speaking to CRN during a post-merger tour of Australia and the rest of the region. The company had been speaking to its channel partners -- Concerto has an 80 percent channel-driven sales model -- about the road forwards following the Rockwell acquisition, he said.

The merger had so far run smoothly, Turner said.

Post-merger, Concerto expects annual revenue to exceed US$250 million. It claims to have around 1000 staff and 2000 customers in 41 nations.