Telstra wants partners to tackle the mid-market and security

Telstra has unveiled plans to put its channel to work targeting Australia’s mid-market businesses and thinks its security and IoT offerings will help them to win - and also help its own Telstra Purple services company too.

Speaking at the telco’s investor day today, Telstra’s group executive for enterprise Michael Ebeid announced three areas the company is pursuing: mid-market, security and international growth.

Ebeid did not offer deep detail on how Telstra plans to help partners tackle the mid-market, but the carrier does offer security services that could be white-labeled or resold, and has recently launched new device-tracking hardware and services that fall under an IoT umbrella.

Ebeid said that Telstra will also leverage its channel to grow its security business, including security customers in the mid-market. Telstra will combine its own security capabilities with that of Purple, the company’s new ICT and professional services arm, to create a more compelling security practice, as well as bundle security offerings with its existing networking propositions.

Purple was launched in September 2019 by combining the enterprise services, capabilities and staff from the companies Telstra has acquired over the years such as Kloud, VMtech, O2 Networks, Bridgepoint, Readify, MSC Mobility, NSC, iVision and Company85. The combined entity has been seen as a potential competitor to independent Telstra partners: a CRN poll found that 30 percent of partners felt Purple represented a direct threat to their businesses. A further 41 percent felt Purple does not enhance the Telstra threat.

Telstra has stressed that Purple isn’t a threat to partners, the opposite in fact, and the declaration that Purple will work with Telstra partners to tackle the mid-market could be the first step in conveying that message.

At the same time, Ebeid claimed that Telstra Purple has the largest ICT and professional services business in the country, boasting 1600 customers on the books. We’ll likely know how that translates into dollars next time Telstra releases a financial report, but by contrast, Ebeid said Telstra’s partners generate approximately $1 billion in sales annually.