ShoreTel angles at R&D

Telephony vendor pushes for greater market share

Rob Bamforth: ShoreTel has a good set up in terms of technology and marketing.

ShoreTel is to reinvest its 2008 growth in research and development to try to swell its market share.

John Combs, chief executive of the IP telephony vendor, told CRN that investing in technological development could help his firm guard against the economic slowdown.

“The investment community, who are looking for some near-term stock appreciation, are a little bit upset with me. We are re-investing the 32 per cent revenue growth in the business,” he said.

Combs revealed that ShoreTel had recently signed a new five-year lease on its EMEA headquarters in Maidenhead. “To be a player in the market, we have to get our market share up to more than 20 per cent. The UK market is significant for us and it is important to get a foothold.”

Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca, claimed ShoreTel has to ensure it offers the right products to the right potential customer base. “ShoreTel has a good setup in terms of technology and marketing. Whether it can get 15 or 20 per cent market share depends on the execution of its strategy,” he said.