Datapoint bullish over global Avaya alliance

UK integrator aims to mop up formerly direct Avaya deals after teaming up with US and Singapore firms

Land grab: Avaya's indirect drive has freed up 180 global accounts

Integrator Datapoint has hailed the success of its global coalition with two other Avaya Platinum partners after landing several meaty contracts.

Avaya’s efforts to drive more business indirectly have left about 180 previously direct contracts up for grabs. Brentford-based Datapoint teamed up with Singapore’s Jebsen & Jessen and New Jersey VAR Strategic Products and Services to form the Intelligent Communications Alliance (ICA) in January.

Between them, the companies have almost 350 Avaya accreditations and a 9,000-strong customer base across more than 60 countries. The ICA has a direct presence across Europe, Asia and North America, with strategic partners in South America, Africa and Australia.

Martin Hill-Wilson, director of strategy for Datapoint, claimed the ICA’s combined muscle could compete with big vendors for multinational contracts. He revealed the trio had already grabbed several deals.

“We have positioned ourselves as a systems integrator -­ a single-stop shop for design, billing, support and deployment,” he said. “Many of the solutions we sell have Avaya at the core but we can wrap other vendors around that.”

Keith Humphreys, managing consultant for analyst EuroLAN, said: “Partner collaboration is effective in the market and this is an illustration of that. Vendors like IBM, Microsoft and SAP are all encouraging partners to collaborate geographically or to add new skills.”