Butt heads for Avaya exit doors

Jeremy Butt's role, and the channel organisation he leads, will become part of Avaya's GMT organisation after he leaves in March

The man who has led Avaya's efforts to embrace a more channel-friendly model in recent years is leaving the comms vendor.

Vice president of worldwide channels Jeremy Butt will head through the exit door in March, ending a four-year reign characterised by a desire to push more business through the channel and crackdown on grey market activity.

Butt's tenure was also dominated by the integration of Nortel's portfolio and channel following Avaya's acquisition of its fallen competitor in 2009.

The news of his departure was first broken by our sister publication CRN US on Friday.

In a statement, Avaya confirmed that Butt's responsibilities, and the channel organisation he leads, will become part of Avaya's GTM [Go To Market] division.

"His departure is part of a natural evolution of the organisation and is not reflective of any gaps in personal or channel performance," said Avaya.

Avaya said the GTM organisation, which has been in place for two years and is headed by Tom Mitchell, will now craft the vendor's channel strategy. Butt will be part of the design team until he leaves.

"The GTM Organisation will be viewed as a competitive advantage to Avaya and will position Avaya as the leading industry vendor for channel partnerships in our marketplace," stated Avaya.

Butt joined Avaya in 2008 after a five-year stint at Motorola and roles at Cisco, Watchguard and Hayes Microcomputer.

Following Butt's attempts to push more business through the channel, Avaya claimed that about 90 per cent of its EMEA sales come indirectly at last count.