Avaya targets Mitel resellers

Telephony vendor Avaya has unveiled plans to aggressively target Mitel’s reseller base following its rival’s shock decision to dump its five UK distributors.

John Howard, channel sales director at Avaya, said that Mitel would find it difficult to offer resellers the same level of finance and logistics as a distributor.

“Some Mitel resellers are disappointed,” Howard said. “We’ll be talking to them when they come up against supply and credit issues.”

Howard said Avaya intends to introduce a ‘no lose’ campaign for Mitel VARs unable to obtain products at short notice.

“If a reseller can’t get hold of a Mitel product, we will do next-day delivery at roughly the same price and with our usual credit terms,” he pledged.

Meanwhile, there are signs that distributors are also rallying against Mitel’s move, with Nimans refusing to sell its backlog of Mitel stock citing concerns over the vendor’s service and support strategy.

Chairman Julian Niman said he was “disgusted” by Mitel’s tactics, and apologised to customers for “not being able to support what we promised”.

However, John Pritchard, vice-president UK and Ireland at Westcon Group, said: “I don’t think it’s grown-up to say we won’t sell Mitel anymore. We’re keen to ensure that there is an orderly transition.”

Mitel refused to comment.

Mitel ditches distribution partners