Aastra has launched its UK and Ireland channel programme with the aim of mixing the best parts of the Canadian vendor’s traditional offering and the old Ericsson scheme.

Aastra bought Ericsson’s enterprise communications arm last year and the new programme aims to unite Aastra’s historically SME-focused partner base with Ericsson’s traditional enterprise resellers.

The programme has four levels: Certified; Select; Premier; and Elite. Features include pre-sales resources, sales incentives, dedicated account management and a training academy.

Michael Calvert, Aastra’s UK and Ireland general manager, claimed he wanted the channel programme to be as flexible as possible.

“Others try to have a one-size-fits-all approach, but we want to be easy to do business with and tailor the level of support to the partner’s requirements,” he said.

Calvert claimed the market development funds on offer would be particularly appealing to VARs.

“Many partners do not have a dedicated marketing department,” he said. “We will support our channels, not just with money, but with tools to give them best value.”

Elite partner Damovo comes from a staunch Ericsson background and portfolio manager Chris Richardson said: “When the acquisition happened there was a lot of apprehension as not many people had heard of Aastra in the enterprise space.

“But that has changed and people see the investment that Aastra has put into the portfolio.”

Damovo is taking on the Aastra 5000, a SIP-based enterprise IP telephony software application.

“It is a very resilient and high-availability platform,” he added.