Avaya Announced WHAT? Why?
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! Avaya announced on Tuesday, May 26th, that it is “inviting” Nortel and Siemens dealers to join the Avaya team through a fast-track program. My first thought was that I’ll bet the announcement just made the day for current Avaya partners. In many areas, Avaya dealers have already been competing against other Avaya partners – now they’ll have even more Avaya partners to compete against! Whopee!?
My second thought was that if I was a savvy Nortel dealer, I would already have been exploring opportunities to bring my business into the changed world brought about by convergence, VoIP and unified communications – not to mention the current economic situation. I would be looking for new vendor partners with both innovative products and a partner program that’s really a “partnership”. I would NOT be looking for a new partner who is encumbered by years of legacy, even though this might feel like the “safe” option. As a Nortel dealer, I would grab the opportunity to move my company into the fast-paced world of UC by aligning with visionary vendors, and with UC integrators/resellers that have heavy expertise on the data side but need expertise on the voice side to provide UC solutions.
My third thought (yes, I can have more than 2 thoughts at one time….) moves to the question of how many of these Nortel dealers are currently successfully involved in VoIP and/or UC or moving in that direction. Does Avaya need more dealers who are “exiters” waiting to sell their business rather than change to the new model that I describe in “The Industry has Left its Reseller Channel Behind”? Or does Avaya need the “go getters” that I describe in that same article?
Would it be crazy to imagine that every single Nortel dealer is already being courted by the likes of Mitel, NEC, Cisco, Microsoft and too many other manufacturers to name? Right now, these dealers can pick and choose their vendor partners and if they are smart, in some cases, they can set the terms of the new “partnership”. What a fantastic opportunity for these dealers to put themselves in a position to successfully move forward in a rapidly changing technology world…. in an already changed business environment where customers’ buying requirements make the PBX (of any type) a pull-through item. Most of all, this is a golden opportunity for Nortel dealers to shed their own mantle of “legacy” and join the movers and shakers who will be the successful dealers of tomorrow.
Great article Pam. You are right on. As you’ve said, it is certainly a good idea for Avaya (and all the other vendors) to go after channel partners of other vendors who are suffering, but (1) why make a public announcement to do it, and (2) such an initiative should have been started quite a while ago…….
I like your thoughts Pam. You’re absolutely right. Every channel partners of Nortel’s started the process of finding an alternative vendor back in the winter months, unless the owners were asleep at the wheel.
Resellers aren’t going to jump on Avaya because of a “fast” on-boarding program. Smart resellers will align with vendors that: 1) have a partner program that present a clear and non-complicated risk/reward proposition and where the vendors help the reseller differentiate their capabilities, coverage and Csat. 2) Have built and cultivated an eco-system of complementary technology partners for complete solutions delivery. 3) Increased their channel investments, to support the business of their channel partners, despite difficult times.
Pam, you have some interesting thoughts here, but I’m not sure where you’re seeing the data to support them.
First, you’re assuming that Avaya would accept any former Nortel dealer, regardless of how well its area was already served by Avaya or other partners. Why would anyone do that?
Second, Nortel already is a UC vendor, so its dealers have experience with the VOIP technology that Avaya is brings to market. whether it be H.323 or SIP-based. Doesn’t that make them a natural group for Avaya to court, especially at this time when Avaya has been considering acquiring Nortel’s enterprise division?
Third, you are assuming that Avaya has not been approaching Nortel dealers before now. Is that justified just because there is a clear public effort now?
Fourth, you seem to be saying that any (predominantly) Nortel dealer who looks to extend to another vendor is an “exiter”. To respond to this correctly, I’ve read the taxonomy in your “channel revolution” paper and the common element of both your telecoms and network categories is that adding VOIP makes everyone a “go getter”. Don’t you know that Nortel is a VOIP vendor?
One point that I do agree with is that dealers should look to sell products and solutions from multiple vendors. Deep support for standards allows best of breed solutions to be built from the best offerings from each vendor.