Talk telecoms today and the vocabulary appears to have evolved as rapidly as the tech itself.
Integration; automation; collaboration: these are the terms that are defining the way in which global business adapts to progressive change.
For the channel – that most mutual of markets where the success of one is shared by many – the language is just as evocative.
Unification; agility; efficiency: all are areas of focus which, when strategically combined, have the power to transform fortunes.
However, all of that counts for nothing unless one other word is ever-present in the conversation – partnership.
Presented with so many opportunities to deploy myriad tools and solutions that possess the power to improve their processes, it is crucial that organisations choose the right partner.
And that applies just as much to channel resellers as it does to their end user customers.
“For us, partnership is key to everything so we invest huge amounts of resource into ensuring we are not just another vendor,” says Sylvain Mogade, newly-appointed Partnerships Manager at French-based global software expert Kurmi, which is dedicated to the provisioning and administration of enterprise unified communications and collaboration tools.
“It is about simultaneously providing best-in-class solutions; improving customer relationships; and growing a global partner network.
“It is about sharing opportunities with our partners by being creative around a value proposition.
“And it is about ensuring the end users’ requirements are met whilst at the same time delivering a competitive advantage for ALL parties.
“Of course the actual technology matters, but it’s that mutually-beneficial partnership dynamic which underpins it all.”
Naturally, any successful partnership depends on many and varied aspects.
Product and price have traditionally dominated.
But now the differentiators are much more nuanced.
“We work hard to ensure we stand out to resellers,” says Debra Perry, Vice President of Alliances at Kurmi.
“We have the agility to work with our partners in ways which work best for them.
“Our culture is important too. We are passionate about team working; we are collaborative by nature; and we are acutely aware that we are only successful if our partners are successful”
Practically – for Kurmi at least – that successful partnership model depends on tangible, everyday deliverables such as product innovation and development; inter-connectivity; integration; reseller and end user simplicity; pre-and-after-sales support; and the provision of sales enablement tools such as go to market plans and marketing collateral.
