The modern marketplace is changing drastically with huge amounts of disruption, consolidation, and new entrants across the marketplace. For resellers and partners, this means an opportunity to rethink their go-to-market strategy and find a new way to stand out in an ever-more-crowded space. For vendors and service providers, now's the time to either demonstrate value to channel partners and customers, or risk losing them to a new competitor.
We caught up with one company that's doing incredibly well in the new age of vendor churn - Pragma. With their exceptional partnership with Ericsson-LG, Pragma can offer an exciting opportunity for the resellers and channel partners who want to do something new. We caught up with Will Morey, Sales and Marketing Director for Pragma, to discuss what the business is seeing in the industry today.
Legacy is a Positive, not a Negative
As vendors and service providers continue to evolve, with new entrants making their way into the communication space, there are two distinct camps for UK customers. The first is the cloud-focused camp, while the second is often referred to as the "legacy" space. I asked Will what he thought about getting the title of a "legacy" provider, and he told me it's interesting because legacy can be interpreted in many different ways.
"Legacy can be a huge strength in some cases. If you take our relationship with Ericsson-LG for instance. The legacy they have comes from really understanding the voice market. They've been providing business telecommunications solutions globally for more than 30 years, which means that they have an exceptional understanding of the functionality, features, and development of the product they're selling. I think having a legacy player in the cloud space is a phenomenal strength."
Pragma can offer their customers almost anything they could need, with on-premises, private cloud solutions, virtualised products, and the public cloud too. "We can cover all these bases with a product that's been evolving for 30+ years. We wear the label of "legacy provider" with pride."
Is There Still a Market for On-Premises Technology?
Despite the obviously growing importance of the cloud marketplace, it's worth noting that not every company is making a move to the cloud instantly. There's still a great deal of comfort and practicality involved in maintaining some of your infrastructure on-premises. No matter how innovative the cloud might be, many providers agree that the combination strategy is the winner right now.
"I think there's a great argument for both systems. Our on-premises solutions are growing significantly, alongside our cloud solutions. The wonderful thing about our on-premises solutions is that Ericsson-LG is continuing to invest their R&D there too. They're delivering innovative technology not just in the cloud, but on-premises as well."
Everyone is competing with the same product
One of the biggest shifts in the marketplace lately, is that ‘pure cloud play’ vendors who used to take a direct approach are starting to embrace the channel instead. A large portion of the business being done today in the UK is indirect through channel partners. I asked Will what's driving the move to Pragma for their customers.
