Mitel and Aastra VARs welcome 'bigger and more stable' partner

Channel upbeat on comms mega-merger, but rivals question whether Mitel can afford to support newly expanded portfolio

Partners on both side of the fence have welcomed the recent merger of comms vendors Mitel and Aastra, with senior management at the former stressing that the two operate "similar [channel] models".

Graham Bevington, executive vice president of international markets at Mitel, claimed that the two firms "do not have much in the way of shared channels" in the UK, with only four VARs being members of both partner programmes.

Since cutting ties with its distribution partners in 2007, Mitel has always stated its preference for operating a one-tier channel model, even after signing Trust Distribution in 2011 to distribute its small business wares. But Bevington claimed that Aastra's route-to-market model in this country - in which Nimans distributes the Aastra MX-ONE system - is comparable to that of its new owner.

"We actually operate a pretty similar model and I do not really see any change in that model," said Bevington.

Partner praise
Simon Payne, UK managing director of Damovo - one of the handful of VARs to work with both vendors, welcomed the merger.

"We are very positive about it; I think if you look at where Aastra is strong in western Europe and where Mitel is strong [in the same region], there is a really good complement," he said. "Mitel is really strong in the Netherlands, but not Belgium, where Aastra is very strong with Damovo. In Germany Aastra is also strong, but Mitel isn't. There is very little conflict, and this now makes them the strongest UC player across western Europe."

Payne (pictured right) indicated that he "does not think there will be a big degree of [product] rationalisation", and that any moves to trim the portfolio are likely to be two to three years off yet. When asked if the deal might cause some cannibalisation for partners, like Damovo, that have sizeable practices for both brands, Payne said "I do not think so, because the two products have a very different technology implementation".

"The Aastra reseller community is relatively small in comparison to Mitel, and most Aastra resellers do not also sell Mitel. I do not think there is a huge amount of channel conflict," he added. "We have skills across both portfolios, which makes us fairly unique. It also makes us one of their (Mitel's) biggest partners in the UK - we have 80 per cent market share with Aastra in the UK, and are by far their largest partner."

The missing Lync?
James Richards, product manager, systems and unified communications at Mitel partner Daisy, was another to welcome news of the merger.

"It works very much in line with what Daisy are looking to do," he said. "We are heavily moving into the cloud, and Aastra really fits in with our future plans. Some of their technology will find its way into our portfolio - collaboration is a big area for us. I can really see the application space is where they are going to add value."

Bevington claimed that Aastra can deepen Mitel's reach into markets including transport and utilities. He also picked out the Microsoft Lync world as one area where combining the two firms' portfolios will be of real benefit, and claimed he will be looking to recruit a clutch of new partners with a software background.

"Aastra has a fabulous range of Lync [technologies] that have been sold into a Microsoft environment, and Mitel has a contact centre that fits into that world. We can put together a very strong portfolio for Microsoft channels," he added. "We are looking for people with an IT background; there is a whole world of Microsoft partners out there that we haven't necessarily worked with before."

Rufus Grig, chief technology officer at Mitel partner Azzurri, agreed that the Aastra gives its new parent a little something extra in the Lync world.

"I think Mitel's Lync strategy is pretty sensible, and this does add to that," he said. "We are pretty involved in the Lync world, and you cannot walk away from the fact that it is only going to grow and become a more important need for businesses."

Buy in bulk
The Azzurri technical chief added that the increased scale and stability that that the deal brings to Mitel will ultimately be beneficial for partners, who may have wondered what the future held for the vendor following its troubled initial public offering on the NASDAQ in 2010.

"My gut reaction is it is good for Mitel - it puts them in a bigger and more stable position, and that can only be good for the partners," said Grig. "Even if nothing else changes, from where they were post-float, you did wonder ‘will they be acquired?'. This is a very good deal for them: it makes them a seriously substantial business, and has done a lot for their balance sheet - the market has reacted positively."

But Adrian Hipkiss, EMEA managing director of rival ShoreTel, claimed there will be a number of partners across the channel feeling uneasy about the merger. He claimed his firm is ready to help partners seeking an alternative to the newly united Canadian vendors.

"It creates a natural opportunity and we plan to take advantage," he said. "They now have significant debt and are supporting, at last count, 15 platforms. If I were a partner that had built their business around one of those platforms, I would start looking at alternatives."