Avaya denies bypassing distributor

Vendor reaffirms commitment to the channel

Avaya has reinforced its commitment to the channel after rumours that the vendor was approaching resellers directly.

One reseller claimed it was offered a direct account with Avaya, bypassing its relationship with Crane, the only Avaya Diamond certified distributor outside the US. The reseller turned down the offer.

Avaya has vehemently denied that it approached the reseller without first consulting the distributor.

"If we wanted to change the status of a partner we would do so through its distributor," said Tanya Steele, marketing director for Avaya in the UK and northern Europe.

"We said 12 months ago that we would go through the channel, and it is absolutely our intention to continue doing that."

The reseller, who asked not to be named, said: "We do deal directly with a few vendors. There are good and bad aspects to it, but we're happy with the support that Crane provides."

Avaya does deal directly with some resellers, and in some cases with end-users, but the majority of its resellers go through distribution.

The firm has said it wants to put three-quarters of its business through resellers.

Currently, half of its business comes through the channel. "From a policy point of view, we have a multi-channel strategy," Steele said.

"We generally go through distributors such as Crane, but we do have some resellers on a managed account basis."

Tim Brooks, Crane's Avaya product director, said Avaya did talk directly to resellers, but added: "Avaya has increased its investment in the channel, and we're very happy with it.

"We have seen a lot of Avaya's business go indirect, and both we and the reseller community have benefited from this greatly."