Zultys targets former VARs as it aims to get business back on track
UK singled out as one of four strategic markets
The UK has been primed as one of just four strategic markets for IP telephony vendor Zultys, as it attempts to win back disillusioned resellers under the direction of its new owner.
Zultys’s assets were bought at auction for $2.65m in October by Pivot VoIP, a vehicle set up by Telrad Connegy owner Avi Weinrib (CRN, 6 November).
In a letter this month to partners, customers and colleagues, Weinrib claimed Zultys is experiencing ‘a new lease of life’ after re-establishing ties with its Asian OEM partners and overhauling its sales processes.
In the UK, which is supported from Israel, Zultys claimed to have already re-built strong ties with its two former UK distributors, equIP and Siracom.
Weinrib, Zultys’s president, told CRN: “We’ve decided to focus on the UK, the US and Australia, and additionally Israeli. We’ll continue to support the UK market and when we reach £2m in annual sales we’ll add an office. This will probably take two to two-and-a-half years.”
Weinrib attributed Zultys’s former setbacks to “the growing pains typified by many early stage companies”.
A major issue, Weinrib added, was Zultys’s former pricing structure, with the new team currently working on chopping the vendor’s basic line-item brochure from 15 pages to just one or two.
“Our priority is to win back our old channel partners before we go after new resellers,” Weinrib said.
Zultys’s manufacturing partners in China and Taiwan are also back on board after freezing operations late last year.
Dave Thompson, managing director of Siracom, said: “Zultys executives came to see us and the new development and support teams are in place. It’s business as usual.”
Grahame Smee, former managing director of equIP, said: “Zultys is getting back on track, but it will be difficult because it left it so long.”
Dave Smith, senior vice-president at rival Swyx, said: “Zultys’s visibility is not as strong as it was 12 or 18 months ago. We do not see it as a competitor.”