BIG UC NEWS From Microsoft, Slack and BlueJeans

Another Friday, another roundup of the news causing a buzz in the UC industry!

The last seven days saw Redcentric splash £9.5m for York-based Piksel Industry Solutions, while a familiar face returned to the Salesforce family as Slack’s new EMEA lead. This week also saw analyst house Canalys host its annual Channels Forum with CEO Steve Brazier declaring the current supply chain crisis as “good news” for channel partners.

Slack Recruits Ex-Salesforce Exec to EMEA Role

Pip White was named Slack’s new SVP and General Manager of EMEA. White re-joins the Salesforce family, having previously worked at the company in several senior leadership positions before moving to Google Cloud last year to lead its UK and Ireland division.

White announced the news on her Linked In page.

“I believe Slack and Salesforce are uniquely positioned to define what work means,” she wrote.

“In my new role as EMEA leader, I’m looking forward to the exciting product roadmap, of bringing the benefits of Slack and Salesforce to customers – new and existing – working in a new way and, of course, the great group of people who believe as passionately as I do about the transformative power of technology”

The Channel Opportunity in the Supply Shortages

At this week’s Canalys Channels Forum, CEO Steve Brazier told virtual attendees that the current global supply chain crisis was “good news” for the channel, as it naturally leads into conversations that could result in greater margins for partners.

“With supply shortages, you change the conversation with your customer from ‘Which product is cheaper?’ to ‘Which product can I deliver first?’ You can also go to the customer and say, ‘You may want to stick with buying that brand but there might be a six-month delay, have you considered an alternative brand?’ – and that choice creates margins,” he declared.

“There is no doubt that one of the reasons why the channel is doing very well right now is shortages. We predict shortages will continue for at least the next 12 months, and most likely well into 2023”

Redcentric Picks Piksel

The MSP acquired Piksel Industry Solutions this week in a deal valued at around £9.5m.

The acquisition is a part of Redcentric’s inorganic growth strategy while giving it skills and capabilities in public cloud and security and enhancing its customer base. It is expected that Piksel will generate annualised revenues of £10m and EBITDA of £400,000.

“This is a great acquisition for Redcentric and combines the secure, asset light, digital transformation capabilities of Piksel with the managed infrastructure, unified collaboration, and network solutions of Redcentric,” stated Peter Brotherton, CEO of Redcentric.

“The combined portfolio will accelerate the group’s ability to deliver industry-leading, transformative solutions to our customers and expands our capabilities in hyperscale public cloud and security”

BlueJeans Launches Virtual Office

BlueJeans has launched a virtual workspace designed to replicate the spontaneous conversations that take place in physical offices.

BlueJeans Spaces lets users start instant conversations with employees or ‘walk’ through the virtual office as an avatar and hear what others are talking about. It is designed as an alternative to video meetings.

“When you are in a Space with your colleagues, you can easily strike up an audio-only conversation with those around you, quickly glance at who’s available for a brainstorming session, or pass through the virtual hallways to simply hear what everyone’s talking about,” it said in a blog.

“It’s a virtual workspace that simulates the social experience of being in an office. With Spaces, we recognized that every interaction doesn’t need to be a video call.”

What’s New in Teams for October?

UC Today’s Rob Scott spoke with Microsoft MVP Tom Arbuthnot about the latest news in Teams this month. The duo discusses Operator Connnect’s general availability and nine new carriers, Microsoft Calling Plans now available in 33 countries, and Zoom’s Five9 contact centre certified for Teams.

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