Unify announces that it plans to spend on aggressively expanding its channel activity in 2015, aiming for a 35% year-on-year growth target in sales in its core unified comms and services. “The market is crying out for dynamic and collaborative unified communication solutions as organisations of all sizes seek to find new ways to work, while also exploring the dynamic opportunities that communications software can provide. In fact, UC attach rates alone have risen significantly from 4% to 21% over the last twelve months,” comments Tony Smith, UK&I channel sales director at Unify. “Our continued investment into the UK channel market signifies Unify’s commitment to its transformation into a channel-centric business.”
Unify has been dedicated to transforming its business to be channel-centric for a while, hiring seven new channel team members and overhauling its operations, but this is just the beginning, it says.
With Unify’s new software-led communication and collaboration technology offerings, the company plans to continue driving into the channel through dedicated partner recruitment and strategic investments. The latter includes a major expansion to its sales and marketing team, to help the channel to maximise market opportunities, and the provision of attractive incentives through the recently launched Unify Partner Program.
Over the next twelve months it plans to run a channel recruitment drive, encouraging dynamic channel businesses that are geared for growth, to join the Unify Partner Program. “We are looking to recruit high calibre partners from both the traditional voice space, but also IT and software partners that can drive our virtualised solutions and our new ground-breaking SaaS solution, Circuit,” adds Smith.
Since November 2014, the company has hired seven new members into the channel team to deliver increased levels of service to resellers, spanning the OpenScape Business unified communications and collaboration range of solutions. This includes a number of strategic hires. Michelle Jones has been appointed as Vice President of Marketing for Channels in EMEAR. Jones joined Unify in January from Avaya where she was the Director of Channel Strategy & Development for APAC & EMEA. In her new role, Jones is responsible for evolving and driving the company’s marketing strategy across Europe and Asia as it continues to expand its partnership network. Unify has also hired Owain Dobson, Head of Global Pre Sales and Technical Operations, Ritesh Patel, Channel Finance, both who join from Avaya, and Paul Riordan, VP worldwide channel sales operations. Unify is also actively recruiting for two additional people to join its channel sales team.
Nimans, Unify’s UK & Ireland distributor, says the launch of the Unify Partner Program is proving a significant step forward in helping resellers drive revenues in minimum timescale. “We are playing a front line role in embracing the many opportunities this programme creates,” says Richard Carter, Group Sales and Business Development Director at Nimans. “So far it’s been a resounding success, generating lots of business opportunities and positive feedback.”