MARKET REVIEW
www.comms-dealer.com
the Enterprise sector are IP Telephony, Unified Communications and Fixed Mobile convergence (FMC), according to Ian Komor, UC Product Marketing Manager, EMEA, Avaya. “Applications that show a return on investment are clear winners with customers, especially those in the contact centre space,” he said. “Videoconferencing is also expected to grow significantly in the upcoming period.”
Ringing up sales in the E
T
he three main features that customers are purchasing in
solutions together in one location – such as IPT, unified messaging, conferencing and contact centre technologies – and allowing users to access these centralised applications from anywhere, customers can reduce the cost of maintenance as well as reduce the need to use manpower skills to support different applications. This also means software revisions can be used at the same time in different parts of the network.”
In the upper reaches, UC is in demand but it can mean different things depending on the customer and the business. “Sometimes it’s simply moving to unified messaging, other times the customers will ask for their mobile phones to be linked to their PBXs via a one number offering,” added Komor. “In previous years, there was a balanced requirement for technologies that reduced costs, improved productivity, and boosted the top line. Today, the balance has shifted clearly towards cost reduction and is less focused on the intangible benefits. RoI and TCO improvements are key.”
SIP is another technology that is growing in momentum. SIP can link different suppliers’ technologies together through centralised applications and trunking. “Something I like to think of as enterprise cloud telephony,” said Komor. “By bringing different
Flexibility and connectivity are the two areas that also affect buying patterns in the corporate sector. There are great advantages in being able to contact someone directly or being online when you need to be. “One number helps as customers, suppliers, and internal callers only need to dial a single number to get hold of the person they want to talk to,” noted Komor. “Also, mobile devices and softphones can be used securely over the corporate network from anywhere, using simple broadband access.”
Reaching a decision-maker in the Enterprise market often requires a matrix approach, with channel and high-touch sales teams working together to identify the right individuals, noted Komor. “In the SME market, often the person to contact is known locally by the local partner and it’s more a case of knowing when to contact them, rather than who to contact,” he said.
Sales and engineering training is even more important today than a
The Enterprise market has proved resilient against the recession and 2010 should see the market to grow further, driven by applications that deliver concrete RoI.
A deep dive into an application is not critical, but an understanding should be in place that allows the channel to spot an opportunity and bring the correct individuals together to formulate a plan of action,” said Komor.
few years ago, as new technologies mean that a much wider understanding is required by both parties when dealing with customers. “In the past, customers would only want to know about the voice network. Now, they want to understand the impacts on the data network or applications that may be linked to the unified network in the future,” stated Komor. “The key is having good response teams. It is one thing getting a solution up and running but quite often it’s the support afterwards that requires investment.”
Larger customers often want trials of equipment and test plans run through. These take time and commitment from both parties and can add significant cost to a sale for a small organisation.
The Comms National Awards yet? Visit
cnawards.com
Have you entered
34 COMMS DEALER MAY 2010
Supply and Service Category
www.comms-dealer.com
sponsors the
“Making headway into the Enterprise market often adds significant cost to the support structure within an organisation, and only becomes a revenue generating area after a critical mass has been achieved that can take many years,” said Komor. “The main challenge for moving into the Enterprise space is the potential investment required in terms of skills, demo equipment and training etc. However, once you have a few customers in place, the benefits can be delivered through upgrades and service up-selling.”
Training is key to resellers in gaining a better understanding of the Enterprise market. “It’s imperative that all members of the team are kept up to speed with the latest developments.
Unified communications solutions with a particular focus on collaboration are shifting like hot cakes in the Enterprise space, observes Marcus Jewell, Sales Director, Mitel. “Companies are looking to increase flexible working patterns and mobile working,” he said. “People want to collaborate across different departments or different countries. Fundamentally, the decision making and problem resolution needs to be a lot faster than was the case previously.”
The number of people involved in the decision- making processes at Enterprise level increases dramatically and access to them is often difficult to achieve. “In the SME market there is usually one or two people making the decisions on strategy, procurement and on the technical side. In the Enterprise market there are often between 10-15 people in the decision- making process. Mitel assists channels through a combination of vertical marketing, demand creation, and using a High Touch team to drive revenues through enterprise channels,” said
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56