One of the most innovative business communications companies in the world, and perhaps one of the most talked-about brands in 2017, Avaya has seen a particularly disruptive and transformative year in 2017. Known for their focus on delivering top-of-the-line technology for business productivity, customer experience, and collaboration, Avaya focus on bringing people together with the right technologies at the right times.
We spoke with Avaya's pre-sales director for the UK and Ireland, Richard Buckley, to learn more about where he feels the market is headed as we head into 2018, and get some insights for CIOs planning their future. Richard runs a team designed to deliver solutions to enterprise and mid-market customers, through the partner channel.
What Has Avaya Done to Help Customers and Partners Succeed?
The first thing I wanted to know, was how Avaya has been focusing on delivering better experiences for partners and customers through 2017 - despite the confusion of Chapter 11. Richard told me that he felt the primary driver for 2017 has been the cloud.
"We delivered much more of a "cloud your way" solution this year, with partners from all backgrounds building out new solutions that are flexible, competitive, and capable of really building the market."
Richard also noted that Avaya has been growing the Sales Engineering team that delivers to partners in their network too, simplifying the process of digital transformation (DX) for the network by ensuring that channel partners have access to all the support they need.
"From a customer perspective, we've been building on deeper consultative experiences with customers. This year, we were more focused than ever on business outcomes for companies, and over the last 12 to 18 months, we found that it's crucial to have a complete end-to-end customer journey with clients to ensure they feel confident going forward. It's been imperative for Avaya to get broader in our conversations with customers to deliver a complete omni-channel experience."
What Have Your Key Takeaways Been for 2017?
With so much disruption in the marketplace throughout 2017, this year has been an incredible opportunity for learning and growth in the UC space. According to Richard, the focus for Avaya has been putting "business outcomes" first in everything they do. "We had to hit the nail on the head very quickly for our customers, by being clear about our benefits and ROI."
A combination of a complicated political landscape in the UK and the concerns around chapter 11 has made it more important than ever for Avaya to show their value to customers in 2017.
"At the same time, we've been concentrating on enabling digital communications for customer experience. With the rise of chatbots and the opportunity to pass the flow of communications between different channels, it's about making sure every customer has the technology they need."
Another lesson for Avaya in 2017, has been the rising importance of the cloud in digital transformation.
"We've got much better at the cloud in 2017, and in terms of digital transformation, we've noticed that a lot of companies have a plan in place. Interestingly, however, we've noted that the customers that are the most successful are those that have an end-to-end strategy - they haven't just approached technology in isolation. This has been really interesting as it's showed us an evolution in the way that people are adapting to digital transformation."
Richard also noted that perhaps the biggest takeaway for him in 2017, has been around the loyalty that customers and partners have shown to Avaya throughout the year. "It's been really humbling."
What Challenges and Opportunities Do You Predict for 2018?
As we head into 2018, there are a lot of challenges potentially saturating the market, from the threat of GDPR to the rise of consolidation in the industry. I asked Richard what he believes will be significant in the year ahead.
