In a UC Today Exclusive Interview, Avaya CEO Alan Masarek Discussed Avaya’s Emergence from Chapter 11 and Company’s Future
UC Today interviewed Avaya CEO Alan Masarek this week, with Masarek discussing Avaya’s emergence from Chapter 11 and the financial mechanics of how it has restructured its debt.
Masarek said that Avaya has “fully emerged” from its recent bankruptcy. However, Masarek explained that it was “tough” to see shareholders and employees struggle during the bankruptcy process. The vendor’s financial restructuring saw lenders become shareholders in exchange for wiping out billions of dollars in debt, which made previous shareholders’ stock worthless. These shareholders included many Avaya employees.
There have been a lot of tough decisions. You don’t go into an in-court restructuring half measure because it has a consequence. The stockholders, pre-filing, were eliminated, which is very bittersweet for me. It’s great that we were able to eliminate billions of dollar of debt, but I hate that stockholders, some of whom were employees, lost their money. These types of transformations have difficult decisions embedded in them.”
The interview covered myriad topics, from Avaya’s new approach to customer experience and its revamped partnership with RingCentral to possible future acquisitions and a potential return to the stock market.
UC Leaders Share Their Insights on Microsoft vs Cisco vs Zoom
In a panel discussion at the Channel Partners Conference and Expo in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft, Cisco, and Zoom leaders discussed the challenges and opportunities for channel partners collaborating with Teams, Webex and Zoom Phone.
DP Venkatesh, VP/GM – Digital, SMB and Global Strategic Partners at Cisco, suggested that market timing and nailing the go-to-market model is as essential as having compelling features. It helps reach customers and win market share. DP Venkatesh also mentioned the importance of contact centres to Cisco’s Webex division, given the contact centre is becoming the experience centre and the market is evolving.
Chris Carabello, Senior Director – Product Marketing at Microsoft, highlighted that hybrid work is driving market momentum. He said new working modes must be addressed, as users are hungry for hybrid productivity. Carabello also discussed the importance of AI. He argued that AI will become the most transformational technology ever with ChatGPT4 and Microsoft’s Copilot integration into the Microsoft 365 suite.
Colby Nish, Head of North America Sales at Zoom, also touched on AI, stating that Zoom’s focus with AI is on time savings, such as intelligent meeting summaries and smart email and message composing. Making meetings more productive is a top priority. Nish also discussed the importance of better user experiences, emphasising that easy deployment is the winning combination in creating intuitive products for users to adopt.
UC Analysts Discuss Industry Impact of Microsoft Decoupling Teams from Office
A group of leading UC analysts spoke with UC Today this week about the potentially seismic impact that Microsoft decoupling Teams from Office might have on the industry.
One significant implication of the news was that Teams will now be considered on its own merits as a standalone solution. Melissa Schwarz, Cloud Phone Expert at Schwarz Consulting, said: “People that would have just said, ‘Well, it’s included, so we’re just going to go with it,’ now have a decision they didn’t necessarily have to make before.”
This potential crisis for Microsoft might also breed opportunities for innovation, however. Sean Spradling, Senior Analyst at Wanehouse, argued, “There could be a strategy behind this that allows Teams to move out from behind Office as a total market offering(…) There’s a real possibility that it incenses innovation, which I’m excited about.”
Evan Kirstel, Social Media Strategist at BCStrategies, iterated his belief that product bundling is the competition killer and will continue to be so in the future for giants like Microsoft, Apple and Amazon. Kirstel argued that U.S regulators aren’t scrutinising the market dominance of big tech closely enough, especially compared to the EU Commission. He commented:
I think it requires a serious look, and despite a lot of talk about regulating big tech and not allowing non-competitive business practices, we just haven’t seen much.”
Zoom Introduces Zoom Phone to India
This week, Zoom received a Pan-telecom license from the Indian government to offer Zoom Phone to India-based businesses.
Zoom received a Unified License with Access – All/PAN India, NLD National Long Distance, and ILD – International Long Distance from India’s Department of Telecommunications. Zoom Phone’s cloud PBX application service can now be offered to India-based multinational corporations (MNCs) and businesses, empowering them to have a unified communications platform for their global workforces.
Abe Smith, Head of International at Zoom, highlighted that the licence would enable Indian-based MNCs to support hybrid work environments, foster greater collaboration among employees and improve customer experience.
“This important milestone underscores our continued focus in countries like India, a strategic growth market for Zoom, and our commitment to bringing new and innovative collaboration solutions to our users,” Smith said.
