The communication conversation around the world is changing, with more focus on the cloud, scalability, and collaboration. During my trip to Israel this year, I had a chance to explore Avaya's R&D centre, and also sit down for an interesting discussion with the Country Manager for Avaya, Rafi Shkolnik.
For years now, Avaya has had a powerful reputation for enabling better communication with companies of all sizes, from a range of backgrounds. I was interested to hear more about how the organisation's intelligent, open and highly customisable solutions translate into the Israeli market.
Tell Us About Yourself
Avaya is well-known for its exceptional leadership and development teams around the world. Rafi Shkolnik joined the Avaya organisation early in 2018, so he's still relatively new to the role and the company in general. Of course, he's got his fair share of background in leadership positions. "I've worked with plenty of global companies over the years, including Hewlett Packard. I've spent most of my life in sales."
As Avaya's Country Manager, Rafi is responsible for keeping the business sector running smoothly, and he does that with the help of a dedicated team of around 13 people.
"It's not a big team, but it's an effective one."
Rafi noted that since the exit from Chapter 11, the Israel team has been growing and thriving, feeling stronger than ever. He started during the first quarter of this new year, and he already sees business booming for the Avaya Israeli sector. "Our community is thriving, and that's important for us."
What Kind of Trends are Evident in Your Marketplace Right Now?
From a European and American perspective, the biggest discussion in communication right now seems to be around the cloud, and the move to more scalable ways of working. I was interested to see if Israel was making the same progress towards the cloud. Rafi told me that at its heart, Israel is a start-up nation, and many new companies are starting off in the cloud because it just makes sense to take that route. However, larger enterprises are slower to adopt.
"The route to the cloud is extremely slow for larger companies. Most of the cloud providers we see today are facing the same struggle, as people still like to have things that they can own present within their business. People also think that it's more secure to keep things in-house too, so the on-premises approach feels safer."
Rafi noted that justifying the cloud to larger companies who have already invested in an on-premise system with a ten-year-plus ROI isn't easy. At the same time, for static businesses that still use voice PBXs, the cloud message just isn't that compelling. "The good news is that they can still get the mobility and scalability in-house too with the right vendor. I think the UK is currently one of the best countries for embracing the Avaya-powered cloud."
