cisc oIt might come as surprise to many that Avaya‘s recent financial problems had no effect on the top line revenue of their premier, EMEA, distributor.
John Nolan, Sales Director for Westcon, spoke to UC Today about the results of Avaya’s restructuring and the unusually minimal effect on their Avaya sales.
“Top line revenues have not declined”
After filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection last January many thought it could spell the beginning of the end of Avaya. The Telecommunications giant had struggled to keep up with competitors, such as Cisco, and match the ingenuity of new business-phone start-ups.
Not everyone lost the faith though with partners such as Westcon sticking with their strategy around Avaya. “With the announcements this time last year, I think there was a lot of trepidation in the market place but collectively we have a done a fantastic job of keeping that Avaya momentum going”.
As to why, the dramatic, news of Avaya’s financial difficulties didn’t cause huge losses. John believes there are various reasons. Avaya as a vendor has a loyal customer base within their partners and with their end users.
The largest Enterprise accounts were seemingly unaffected by the apparent uncertainty with large contract renewals continuing as planned. Their annuity business also appears healthy providing a platform for Avaya going forward into 2018.
“We need to continue supporting Avaya around the new technologies they are going to bring to market – such as Oceana, Breeze and the cloud offerings that we can deliver. I’m pretty excited about what we will see as the new Avaya”
The next twelve months, following Avaya’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last Wednesday, will be crucial. Westcon’s approach to the marketplace will only expand in 2018 with further focus on Avaya’s new image under their new management team.
“I’m very positive about our Avaya story over the next 12 months”
It does appear a corner has been turned and the future, for Avaya and their partners, looks even healthier in 2018.
