7 April 2008
by Alex Scroxton
The long-awaited changes to Avaya’s distribution line-up have broadly been welcomed but insiders believe the firm’s largest distributor, Westcon, should be concerned.
The vendor added ATC Communications-owned Rocom to the pack and opened its mid-market enterprise portfolio to existing SME distributors MTV and Nimans in the largest changes to its channel since 2004.
Westcon held the bulk of Avaya’s indirect UK business after its acquisition of Crane, but volumes have been "less than planned", according to one source who added: "The biggest pitch Westcon made for Crane was that the total business from the acquisition would be greater than the sum of its parts."
"My concern is Avaya could over-distribute and drive margins down to rock-bottom," said another source familiar with the situation.
Avaya channel sales director John Howard insisted the appointment was "focused on new business".
"The goal is not to divide revenues but to reach out to resellers that want to supply IP Office," said Howard, who expected Rocom to bring about 35 new partners to Avaya.
The Yorkshire-based distributor can also usee ATC’s service division, Servassure. It plans to deliver £7m worth of Avaya business by 2010.
Tim Freeth, Avaya business manager at Nimans, hoped the changes would funnel more resellers to the enterprise business.
"There’s massive revenue growth for partners because this will push them into a bigger space. It is also more service-driven for recurring revenue," he said.
Meanwhile, Avaya has been named top European SME communications provider by analyst house Canalys. The vendor claims over four million SME desks use its flagship IP Office solution.
