Avaya revamps partner scheme

Avaya has appointed a new channel chief to revamp its business partner programme and provide more focus to its channel

Moreno Ciboldi has been appointed vice-president for indirect channels in EMEA. He joined the telephony vendor in 2003 as EMEA vice-president for the SME space.

Ciboldi told CRN he now wants to offer a sector-based focus to Avaya’s channel partners.

“We have optimised our business partner programme so that our distributors will have the right account manager for the sector they operate in,” he said.

“In the UK we will have a SME team that will focus purely on the SME channel. The SME side is totally indirect and two-tier. We want to be consistent across the market segments.”

Ciboldi claimed the business partner programme launched by the vendor two years ago has been a success, with 600 active partners appointed. But he added the time is right to push Avaya as a key channel player.

“Now is the time to become a vendor that has strong partnerships. We want to make the programme more flexible and improve our go-to-market model,” he said.

Ciboldi said the new business partner programme has been pencilled in to start in October, and will be firmly in place by the end of the year.

Rob Coyne, chief commercial officer at Avaya reseller Xpert Communications, said he is satisfied with his Avaya shipments, and that the vendor’s business partner programme has been solid over the past two years.

“We already have good account management from Avaya and have been doing particularly well in the contact centre and IP telephony spaces. We expect the relationship to continue in the same vein,” he said.

Ciboldi previously worked for Alcatel as enterprise sales vice-president for EMEA and India.