INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: LINES FROM O2 Maggie Kennedy


“Your existing base is, without question, your single biggest opportunity.”


I’M PASSIONATE about the success of British business, and this includes the success of all the partners who work with O2 and our customers. I often get asked, ‘what’s the biggest opportunity at the moment?’, and I truly believe this lies in helping our customers join up all of their communication needs. It’s about more than mobile, more than fixed line, more than broadband and more than managed services. It’s about one commercial negotiation, one contract, one bill, one number to call and one person to talk to when things go wrong (or right).


Without a doubt, having multiple suppliers leads to unnecessary complexity, extra costs, hassle and admin. Often it’s not until you really talk to a customer about their pain and their challenges that this becomes clear. So I encourage all of my people to put themselves in their customers’ shoes. At O2, we’ve seen that customers who buy multiple products are happier, stay longer and spend more. It’s perhaps not a surprise, but it’s certainly a compelling reason to have broader and deeper conversations with your customers. For the fixed and IT reseller market this means talking to your existing customers about mobile, mobile data and broadband. Your existing base is, without question, your single biggest opportunity. Your customers trust you implicitly, they view us as a trusted advisor, so why would they want to go elsewhere for these services? And, why would you let them? A ‘joined up’ approach enables you to bill your customers for mobile and broadband, as well as the services you traditionally sell. For more info drop me a line at O2PartnerComms@o2


Maggie Kennedy, Head of Partners, O2


Comms One claims a fi rst


A PARTNER program launched by Comms One signals a new approach to doing business in the channel and a ‘first’ for the industry, claims the firm’s MD Paul McEwan.


The significant aspect of the programme that marks it out as disruptive, according to McEwan, is the offer of every- thing at cost in return for a management fee fixed for 12 months. According to McEwan it’s ‘as simple as that’.


Comms One uses its buying power to deliver attractive com- mercials that, says McEwan, improve reseller margins and helps to increase their win rate and the size of the deals. “The market needs a new approach,” said McEwan. “We’re


not afraid of changing things so that they suit our partners better. For the first time, our partners will benefit from a level playing field, enabling them to compete for any deal of any size.” Partners can still work with the firm on the current pence per minute model, but McEwan reckons Comms One’s new way of working will be the future of wholesale trading.


He said: “Wholesale telecoms is a competitive market and we want to continue to do what is needed to keep ourselves at the cutting-edge, ensuring that we approach things differently for the benefit of our partners.”


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Nimans is positioning itself as a VAD having adopted new technologies such as hosted, mobile and SaaS, underpinned by its wholesale Network Services division. Head of Network Services, Mark Curtis Wood, said: “UC is another key strand of our strategy as we develop from the voice arena into a fully converged value add distributor.”


Comms-care has enabled channel partner MCI Diventi to complete a major Cisco Wide Area Application Services solution across a global WAN. John Marriot, BDM at MCI Diventi, said: “Comms-care allowed us to add value to the Cisco WAAS solution and deepen our relationship with the customer.”


Avaya unveils branding initiative


AVAYA has unveiled its latest corporate branding initiative that goes under the banner ‘Avaya. The Power of We’. The brand is designed to underscore the importance of collaboration and bringing the right people together with the right information in the right context, says the vendor. Kevin Kennedy, CEO, commented:


BCH signs partner deal


BCH Digital has signed its first channel partnership agreement with wholesale IVR solutions provider Evolution Networks. Evolution Networks works exclusively through the resell- er channel and will be official distributors of BCH’s hosted solutions, which include the recently launched Outbound Call Recording on the new Gravity platform, as well as the enhanced Queuing solution with multi-distribution methods. The agreement will see Evolution’s product range


incorporate BCH’s web-based call handling solutions, such as Virtual Receptionist and Pay- Tel, the PCI compliant phone payment solution.


BCH Digital will also pro- vide support, when required, for Evolution Networks’ broad- er marketing strategy which includes webinars for resellers (designed to assist in pitching for and closing bespoke deals), as well as ongoing off-the-shelf product training. Andrea Wilson-Brown, MD, BCH Digital, commented:


“This is our first channel part- nership agreement and an excit- ing time for BCH. We look for- ward to working with Evolution Networks on developing and bringing more sophisticated sol- utions to the reseller market.” Jon Birchall, MD of Evolution Networks, added: “We have already had a great response from resellers regard- ing Pay-Tel, now we have signed up for the whole of BCH’s product portfolio, and in particular its next generation platform Gravity.”


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DATASHARP has revved up its green campaign with a new fleet of eco-friendly vehicles for its engineers. Paul McIntosh, Datasharp’s CEO, is a green champion and often cycles to work. He commented: “We believe this is a crucial investment that benefits everyone. We’ve had positive reactions from our customers who recognise and appreciate our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.” Jonathan Tremain, New Car Sales Director at Vospers, added: “These estate vehicles not only have powerful diesel engines with 285Nm of torque, but also boast over 67mpg and have one of the lowest CO2 emission figures in its class of 109g/km.”


“Avaya’s vision is clear: We help our customers bring the right people together with the information and context they need to help deliver business results in real time.


“Our objective is to give them the best collaboration experience, regardless of the devices, locations, or media they choose.”


Dan Murphy, VP Global Marketing, added: “This shows Avaya’s shift to today’s Age of Collaboration where workers are more mobile and globally distributed and are expected to produce more with less resources at a faster pace.” The new brand will be supported by an integrated marketing campaign.


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