Avaya unveiled a key rebranding message at Engage, and while it is essentially a marketing exercise, it will see huge changes that the company believes will position it much better heading forward.
Zang believes that the seven new updates to Zang Workflow will significantly help the channel, by making it easier for them to build customized applications for their customers.
Avaya also rebooted their chatbot strategy with a significant deepening of their AI focus, and they have some things coming in the near future that will be of interest to partners.
Avaya’s restructuring issues in 2017 had an impact in the midmarket in Canada which is served by the channel. Those problems have disappeared, and Avaya is bullish about its Canadian channel business moving forward.
Educating customers – and partners – about pure play and hybrid cloud options is a critical part of the Avaya strategy.
Avaya Canada channel chief Corey Mindel discusses partner momentum selling Avaya’s software-based next-gen products, including Zang, which can be a tricky issue for some partners.
Mutare is one of about 90 strategic ISV partners of Zang, but they were also one of the very first.
Walter Denk, who has a distribution background and has been working for Avaya in Germany, is the company’s new global channel chief. Even more importantly, he says that the job has been redefined and that the channel will benefit.
Zang moves into the cloud PBX market with Zang Office, although at this stage, the channel opportunities, other than referral fees, are limited. Partner opportunities for Zang Space, the collaboration tool, appear stronger.
