MARKET REVIEW
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Sales in SMB set to rise
50-100 EXTENSION SEGMENT
Momentum in the SMB market is gathering pace, and according to industry observers the key 50-100 extension segment is set to lead the comms industry out of recession.
A
s the economy starts to spring back into life, the 50-100 user market is an ideal sector for resellers
to capitalise on, according to Nimans and Rocom. “The outlook for this year is still tough but sales are definitely moving in the right direction across all areas of our business,” said Systems Sales Director, Phil Adams. “The 50-100 extension market has proved more resilient than most. Things have bottomed out. We know exactly where we are now and can see the green shoots starting to appear. Momentum is building on a month-by-month basis. At Nimans and Rocom we are achieving success beyond our expectations.”
Unified communications and other IP-based technologies are helping to accelerate sales in a sector that Adams describes as a ‘prime market’. He said: “Unified comms, contact centre, home working and mobility applications are fully tried and tested. We’ve been banging the drum and educating our customers since 2004 on technology solutions and market sectors. The market has got it now. Resellers and their customers fully understand it and have grasped the nettle.”
Adams is also seeing movement in the soft switch environment, but reckons the traditional box is still at the heart of communications technology. “Soft switch voice applications running on existing networks is a growth area for us and may well be the next chapter in communication. The Aastra 800, for example, has made a strong start. It represents a good alternative for those companies looking for complete integration with their IT infrastructure. It’s a
growth market and something resellers should be taking seriously.”
The SMB PBX market was particularly challenging in the first half of 2009, but as the market gradually recovers, Alcatel-Lucent notes a growing shift to IP shipments, with a particular uplift of interest around UC and IP-based applications which demonstrate clear RoI such as audio conferencing and web collaboration. “Simplicity is key for SMBs,” said Brooke Savage, SMB sales specialist at Alcatel- Lucent. “Users increasingly want access to services, applications and integrated features, but not at the expense of complexity or management. We’ve seen a growing demand for UC features and applications like presence and Instant Messaging as well as integrated contact centre applications for enterprise users.”
The demand and trend is around mobility and UC, and more specifically the integration of smartphones such as the iPhone. “As a result, we are accelerating a range of new initiatives around this area,” said Savage. “The enterprise space is increasingly influenced by the consumer mobile market with more users moving to smartphones. Therefore the expectation is a ‘smart’ user experience within the enterprise environment.”
Savage also confirms that demand for IP extensions is strengthening versus TDM, especially in the UK market. “Alcatel-Lucent sees increasing enquiries and demand for SIP trunking, which promises lower call costs and number geographic flexibility,” added Savage. “These are key business benefits for SMEs in particular. Like the evolution and demand for
contact centre deployments with remote agents. DR continues to be a major topic, while SIP connectivity has seen an increase.”
Phil Adams
“At Nimans and Rocom we are achieving success beyond our expectations.”
SIP, SaaS transformation will be progressive so we will continue to see hybrid solutions mixing TDM, SIP/on-premise/off-premise solutions, meeting the needs of a variety of organisations.”
Alcatel-Lucent’s strategy is to advance the users’ environment to a rich communication experience, achieved through a mix of ‘Box and Cloud’ solutions. “Applications will be the key to success here,” said Savage. “As a vendor which plays in both the carrier and enterprise markets, we see a new form of convergence coming into play.”
Dave Garwood, European Product Manager for Siemens at Westcon Convergence, confirms that businesses are buying into the benefits of UC-based applications. “Presence and conferencing are key productivity enhancers and cost reducing tools,” he commented. “The launch of OpenScape Office has seen a rise in desktop UC applications such as MyPortal and Outlook integration. FMC applications have been increasing as demand for mobility grows without any significant loss in functionality. We have also noted a huge increase in home working requirements during the recession, plus growth in informal
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Avaya also enjoys healthy demand for its solutions in the 50-100 extension market. The vendor maintains a concentrated focus on this segment. “Considering that more than 99 per cent of all businesses worldwide are businesses with less than 100 employees, it’s clear that large scale economic recovery will happen in this market first,” said Anthony Bartolo, General Manager, SME and Contact Center Communications, Avaya. “Our resellers know this, and we’ve simplified our solutions further to ensure our resellers can make healthy margins with the attachment of applications and services. We’re optimistic for the remainder of 2010, and we’re seeing signs that point to a stronger year in general for SMBs.”
SMBs want simple solutions that solve real business problems, and Avaya is experiencing growth in demand for its Power User and Mobile Worker applications for IP Office. With the new IP Office R6.0, Avaya introduced the Office Worker application to extend those capabilities to office-based employees. “These solutions bring together multiple capabilities that give workers the ability to stay connected to customers and colleagues in a simplified way. That’s critical for the SMB,” added Bartolo.
“They want solutions that improve customer service and drive customer loyalty through the provision of a better user experience. SMBs are also paying particular attention to business continuity, so we’re helping our customers deploy communications solutions that are resilient and will keep the business functional at all times. In the SMB environment, even an hour of downtime can have a significant impact on the business
through lost sales opportunities.” n
Reseller case study – page 38
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