In April Avaya appointed Lee Shorten as Managing Director, UK and Ireland. His mission is to ensure that Avaya becomes synonymous with Unified Communications.

Shorten is quick to point out that great companies make their name from a technology movement. He cites IBM and servers, Microsoft and the desktop, EMC and virtualisation, and predicts that Avaya will be equally synonymous with Unified Communications. "UC is undoubtedly the next big thing in technology and I want to play a role in making sure that Avaya is at the heart of it," said Shorten. "Avaya is already a front runner in contact centre by revenue and shipments across all measured categories and regions, according to Gartner, so we are well placed to turn our dial tone domination into an intelligent and unifying presence. I see the next couple of years as being a very exciting period for Avaya."

"I see the next couple of years as being an exciting period for Avaya"

Avaya has made its commitments to the channel clear. High-Touch, Channel-Centric (HTCC) is its new model for collaboration with channel partners and their customers. "HTCC is designed to increase customer satisfaction by pushing sales through expert channel partners while retaining enough direct contact to ensure deployments work flawlessly from start to finish," said Shorten. "I'm committed to making this work. My goal, and that of the wider organisation, is to create a framework that helps us and our network of partners to better react to the needs of their customers."

What this means for partners is that they have the flexibility to tailor every transaction to the bespoke needs of the end customer, added Shorten. "The end result, we hope, will be increased deal sizes, repeat business and increased customer satisfaction. It makes partners, customers and Avaya more productive and agile, and better prepared to cope with the ever-evolving market."

Shorten noted that Avaya's channel-centric strategy is a ‘long-term goal' and the biggest hurdle to overcome is partner cynicism. "Those who have been in the industry long enough have heard it before, either from Avaya or one of our competitors. I'm pleased to say that to a large extent we've managed to conquer that challenge," claimed Shorten. "Our partners can see that where we differ from what has happened previously is in our commitment. We're putting our money where our mouth is. Our strategy is supported from the board level down and being rolled out globally. It comprises training, sales and marketing support, compensation-related programmes and financing offers. Feedback from our partners is that we are doing well and they appreciate the process we have gone through to garner their feedback and act upon it."

Before joining Avaya Shorten worked at Irisys, a technology company focused on the retail sector, where he was responsible for worldwide sales and marketing, reporting directly to the executive board. Prior to that, he was the EMEA industry leader for the manufacturing sector at Symbol Technologies. "It's fair to say I understand sales, I understand vertical markets and I understand the pressures and the pain points our partners face when they speak with customers," said Shorten.

His previous experience, combined with Avaya's channel strategy, is a winning combination. "We have taken time to source our partners carefully and ensure that the business partners we have in place really are the experts in what they do. The channel, with its multi-vendor expertise, deep-seated knowledge of vertical industries, and sales-focused organisational structures is well placed to deliver solutions that meet customers' needs. They know their market and this is why we work with them, but nobody knows Avaya technology like we do. By combining our expertise with those of our business partners we can ensure that the end customer really gets the best out of our technology."

In response to the economic downturn, Shorten stated that Avaya has ‘worked hard' on financing, and the feedback from partners and customers has been positive. "Zero per cent finance deals and leasing options enabling customers to move spend from the capex to the opex make it a lot easier to justify an investment in IT, and therefore makes it easier for our partners to close deals," added Shorten. "The other major advantage is that the business benefits of our technology speak for themselves. This is especially true of Avaya Aura, which we launched in March. It has the ability to take UC applications from multiple vendors and manage them centrally. Not only does it breathe life into legacy systems but it is also able to work with future applications as it's based on an industry standard Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) rather than proprietary coding."

According to Shorten, Avaya's business partners can tell prospects, ‘with total confidence', that they can help them achieve a return on investment on their existing assets, immediately deliver savings by routing mobile calls through the network, and centralise the management of all UC applications. "Compare this to the alternatives of a costly rip-and-replace of a customer's existing investments, or sticking with the status quo, and they have a very persuasive argument from the word go," he commented.

SMBs face a number of business issues. Increasing business productivity and cost efficiencies are more important to them than ever. "Finance is never far from their mind in the current economic climate and, of course, they still have to respond to the needs and demands of their customers and staff to attract and retain both. The resellers with a consultative approach that go in and talk about resolving these headaches, rather than the latest, greatest technology they are peddling will almost certainly, win out," said Shorten.

He added that Avaya plans to gain more market share by continuing to deliver transformational technologies that provide a beneficial user experience at a competitive price. Avaya is also staking its future on its ability to be a ‘true partner', working with its customers to help them achieve their business vision. The third strand in its strategy for growth is to continue picking the right partners with a clear market differentiator to help the vendor achieve its goals.

Shorten commented: "The Avaya Business Partner programme will continue to evolve in response to feedback from both our partners and customers. And resellers can expect products and services that build on and consolidate the vendor neutral position that Avaya Aura holds in the marketplace."