I had plenty of inspiring and insightful conversations with Avaya this year at GITEX 2017. To get a more complete idea of where the brand is heading in the coming years, I sat down with Emir Susic, the Senior Director for Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, to learn about the growth and evolution of the pro services channel.
Emir introduced me to the journey that Avaya took as a company to become a more open software-based business, and gave me an insight into just how easy it can be for channel partners to find the solutions that they need through the Avaya portfolio.
So How Did Avaya Get to This Point?
Perhaps the biggest theme for Avaya at GITEX this year is on showcasing the focus that the brand has put on understanding the customer journey, and providing a more customised approach for success to each customer, vendor, and partner, regardless of their background or vertical. I was interested to hear more about how Avaya evolved into this new, open platform.
“Four years ago, the company got together and decided that we were going to be “open”. Of course, to do that, we needed to decide as a community what “open” meant to us. So, we went on a journey, figuring out which skills we needed to develop, which solutions and integrations we needed to consider, and what we had to do to make the most out of the open platform. That’s when we started to call in strategic consultants to begin understanding the customer journey and mapping solutions that could help to point us in the right direction.”
So, What’s the Target Audience for Pro Services?
The Professional Services division in Avaya seems to be focused primarily on larger organisations and enterprises, I asked Emir what the target audience was for the segment, and where they were planning on going next.
“With professional services, it’s impossible to scale for everyone. Avaya is channel committed, so we’re here to help our channel partners really start to elevate what customers can get from Avaya services.”
“Right now, we’re focused on giving the bigger companies the right experiences, which is why we’ve started to create package applications and immersion technology to create the right solutions. For us, finding the perfect way to serve our audience isn’t something that can happen overnight. It’s a constant journey, that we’re finally ready to showcase here at GITEX.”
How Easy is it for Channel Partners to Access Avaya Pro Services?
Avaya has certainly made a point of being a channel-focused company in recent months, and here at GITEX too. I asked Emir how easy it is for channel partners in the Avaya network to get access to the pro services they need for support.
“In Pro Services, we start by trying to understand what each of our channel partners is trying to accomplish on the behalf of their customer. When our partners come to us asking for help, we can step up to give them the resources that they need to better understand their customers, with discovery workshops and so on. When our partners need our help, they know where to find us.”
I had noticed that there were a lot of vertical solutions on display at the Avaya stand at GITEX, so I asked Emir whether all the solutions were out there yet, or just preparing to launch. He told me that the current insight provided by Avaya was made up of snapshots of certain customers at certain points in time.
“Even if we don’t have solutions running in all verticals at the same time, the solutions are always there. We’re trying to educate people on the fact that we don’t just have the technology available at Avaya, but the tools for adoption too.”
What Might the Future of Avaya Pro Services Look Like?
Finally, I wanted to know whether Emir had a specific vision of the future for the Pro Services division of the future. For instance, could we expect to see more disruptive technology skills in the network during the next three years?
“We’re definitely going to be seeing new skills. Data scientists are currently the new kids on the block, coming on board and changing the way that we look at things from a communication perspective. We’re working with AI experts, data scientists, and consultants to change the story of innovation, and focus on what our customers need. Avaya is currently on a path to making the entire brand more agile.”
“The job of the professional services division is to discover the needs of new customers and implement the skills required to bring new ideas together. In my opinion, culture is key. If you don’t change the culture and create the mindset to change and resolve problems in the marketplace, then you just can’t be successful in today’s DX environment.”
