Avaya extends channel coverage with Telarus

Avaya is aiming to gets its Cloud Office by RingCentral unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) product in front of more resellers by expending its master agent roster.

Having worked with Telarus in North America, the vendor is extending the relationship to cover the UK market and should give it a broader base of resellers to go after.

The comms vendor has been getting the channel ready for the arrival of Cloud Office, which came out this summer, and has been transitioning the business more towards the subscription-based model in recent times.

Recent earnings indicated the progress the firm has made, with software and services now accounting for 88% of its $682m revenues, and cloud and subscription revenues having also increased. The latest offering has a wide target audience and the channel could pitch it at small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprise customers that are looking for UCaaS.

Changes caused by the coronavirus, with more staff working from home, have accelerated the uptake of UCaaS. Avaya quoted Gartner forecasts that 90% of all new UC purchases will be cloud-based UCaaS by 2021, up from 50% in 2018.

Rudo Tielrooij, director of international cloud sales at Avaya, said its latest cloud offering gave customers the chance to take control of their comms and collaboration capabilities.

“With the business landscape changing every second, teams need an agile and flexible solution that can help them keep up with the pace of change and meet their specific requirements,” he said.

Avaya has also been encouraging UK partners to get involved with the master agent model, which is gaining popularity as an approach in the comms and collaboration spaces. Telarus is an established proponent of that approach in the US and Canada.

“With Telarus’s expert knowledge and influence on its wide partner network, we are confident that we can accelerate the adoption of Avaya Cloud Office and provide value to businesses transitioning to the cloud,” said Tielrooij.

Shane Speakman, vice-president of business development – UcaaS at Telarus, said it had already learnt lessons selling the vendor’s solution in North America.

“Having witnessed the strong uptake of Avaya Cloud Office in our Canadian market, we are also excited to replicate this with our extensive partner network in the UK,” he said. “With our portfolio of over 160 leading service providers and the best support organisation in the industry, we are well-positioned to accelerate customers’ journey to the cloud amidst the current shift to new ways of work, as well as help our partners diversify and grow their businesses.”