ShoreTel adds Black Box as partner in A/NZ

With a partnership already established across the United States and Canada, ShoreTel and Black Box plan to build on delivering IP Unified Communications solutions to SMB and enterprise-class organizations, including some Fortune 1000 organisations, said Tony Warhurst, managing director of Sout East Asia for ShoreTel.

Warhurst told CRN that enterprise and SMB customers in Australian and Europe expect and demand local service and support. Black Box has a strong reputation in the enterprise market in Australia, he said.

"By partnering with Black Box, ShoreTel will be able to expand its solution that is reliable, flexible, scalable and easy-to-use to an already established strong SMB and enterprise customer base," he said.

According to Warhurst the expansion of the company’s relationship with Black Box adds local presence in Australia and the UK to Black Box’s global support of ShoreTel customers.

"This new partnership will enhance and expand our customer base further," he said.

He said the vendor will also manage its resellers from crossing over into each other's territories. "ShoreTel's extensive base of resellers are specific to particular verticals – it can be challenging but manageable through ongoing communication," he said.

Black Box is a US-headquartered voice and data networking company, employing around 5,000 staff. It has around 175,000 clients in 141 countries around the world.