For experts in the UC&C market, it appears there are some players that are constantly growing. Mitel frequently make new acquisitions to expand their company. Three years ago, the provider attempted to purchase ShoreTel, and two years ago, they purchased Mavenir, the mobile carrier – a company that they sold shortly after purchase.
In 2016, Mitel missed out on purchasing Polycom, and just last week, Mitel announced it would be buying Toshiba’s Unified Communications assets, after UC announced in March that it would be leaving the market. While the Toshiba deal doesn’t showcase a traditional acquisition, it helps to re-emphasize the Mitel focus on the UC&C environment. By collecting Toshiba assets, Mitel are able to expand their customer base in North America, and deliver a pathway forward for Toshiba.
Moving to the Cloud and Finding New Customers
In the middle of May, Mitel announced that a memorandum of understanding had been signed which allowed the company to transfer Toshiba’s UC business assets and existing inventory over to them. The transaction should be completed by the summer, and Mitel are aiming to provide service and product continuity for all Toshiba customers. The financial aspects of the deal remain undisclosed.
Toshiba focused ultimately on the smaller end of the UC&C market, though it still has some large clients. The company also has customers in the cloud, as well as some hybrid and on-premise customers. Mitel have asserted a plan for their customers, addressing long-term goals. They hope to move the Toshiba customers into the Mitel cloud path.
It’s hard to tell right now, how many customers Mitel will actually gain. Toshiba had around 350 channel partners, but all of those won’t necessarily make the move to Mitel. ShoreTel may also target Toshiba channel partners, according to Irwin Lazar, a Nemertes Research analyst.
The Dominance of Cisco and Microsoft
Various other providers of cloud communications in the UC&C market, including 8×8 Inc and RingCentral, will also keep a watch on Toshiba, according to Lazar. However, the deal is unlikely to make much of a difference to Mitel’s positioning against the giants Cisco, and Microsoft. Though the acquisition will help Mitel to gain some market share, they’ll still be competing at the low end of the market.
The history for Mitel’s acquisition deals so far, like that of other UC vendors, has been rich with misses and hits. The company acquired Mavenir for $560 million in early 2015, and aggressively went on to pursue mobile capabilities, before selling the company in December 2016.
Finding Their Place in the UC&C Market
In part of a previous strategy for growth, Mitel was planning to purchase the UC&C market, targeting Polycom and ShoreTel – but those deals never came to pass. Mitel did get around $60 million from Polycom in a termination fee, and many analysts were surprised that the company didn’t take that capital to make another run at ShoreTel.
Though at this time, Mitel are not commenting on potential future acquisitions, the company plans to remain active in the UC&C market. They’re examining the UC&C space carefully, and are looking to expand their base, moving to the cloud and selling applications.
