RingCentral already has a diverse go-to-market strategy which includes several top technology distributors, but they see additional benefits in adding Westcon to the mix.
Niel Levonius, Director of Product Marketing at RingCentral
Cloud-based business communications provider RingCentral has signed a deal with Westcon which will see Westcon distribute their products in both the U.S. and Canada. It is the first relationship between the two companies.
RingCentral, which started up in 2003, has always been a pure play cloud solution, competing in a market with the legacy on-prem telephony vendors offering up newer cloud hybrid solutions, as well as with other born-in-the-cloud players.
“We differentiate ourselves in a couple different areas,” said Niel Levonius, Director of Product Marketing at RingCentral. “One is all-inclusive packaging. We bundle features together instead of a la carte. We also deliver the solution with unmatched simplicity in this space. There is not a lot of specialized training required, and it is e-commerce-based with almost instant activation.”
RingCentral’s historical sweet spot has been in the SMB space, but over the last three years, they have made a strong effort to expand up-market. They go to market through a fairly diverse set of channels.
Jeff Yakubik, Director of Distribution Master Agent Sales at RingCentral
“The channel for us is a multifaceted way to attack the space, and includes classic telco-based master agency relationships,” said Jeff Yakubik, RingCentral’s Director of Distribution Master Agent Sales. They also have a growing developer and integration partner network of people building applications on top of their platform. In addition, they have strong service provider relationships, which are typically white labelled.
“Telus Business Connect Cloud PBX is RingCentral under the hood,” Levonius said.
Last, and certainly not least, they reach IP solution providers through an extensive distribution system. Their existing distributors include Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Scansource, and Jenne, the latter of which is only in the U.S.
So with such an extensive distribution system, why pay the costs to add another?
“Westcon has an excellent cloud competency and global reach,” Yakubik said. “They have a very solid cloud communications team over there.”
RingCentral also believes that Westcon’s deep focus on the space means that they will add significant new resellers with whom they have not previously been working.
“Their united communications division has a good partner base, and we are looking to get that extra business,” Yakubik said. “Between the enablement activities we will be doing and the marketing activities they offer, we expect this relationship will bring about a very powerful cloud communications story.”
Expansion of their presence in Canada, where RingCentral already has a Toronto office, is expected through the relationship with Westcon Canada.
“We have a modest presence in Canada, but Canada has become a strong play for us, and we want to be able to stand there coast to coast,” Yakubik said.
