Mitel offers creative finance deals

Enda Kenneally: The key thing a vendor needs to do is take care of its existing channels

Communications vendor Mitel is aiming to cause a splash with other vendors’ VARs by bolstering partner financing deals.

The Canadian vendor’s UK sales director Enda Kenneally claimed: “The key thing a vendor needs to do in this climate is take care of existing channels and customers. But Cisco is putting up its prices and Nortel’s long-term viability is challenged so there is a chance to be aggressive. We have focused on selective channel recruitment.”

Kenneally claimed Mitel had earmarked three key ways to support VARs, the first being to ensure money is spent on developing new products. She indicated being communicative and providing assistance with lead generation and marketing was also essential.

Offering creative financial support was also singled out.

“We provide flexible and sophisticated structuring of finance around large managed services deals,” she added.

Figures published by analyst MZA this month revealed Mitel bagged 15 per cent of the UK PBX market in the first quarter. This put it in third place, just two points behind leader Cisco.

Kenneally claimed her firm’s UK business was now evenly split between SME and enterprise.

The vendor’s chief executive Don Smith said: “SME is the market’s fastest-growing sector and is an important place to be, but we have had significant large enterprise wins and are gaining share in both markets.”

Ty Gardner, managing director of partner Comms Solve Technologies, said: “Financing is something every vendor needs to do and Mitel’s package is great. The applications it launched recently are also fantastic.”