Avaya back in recruitment mode after 400-VAR clear-out

Non-performing partners shown the door as vendor seeks 90 SMB specialists and four big-name integrators for UK expansion

Avaya is planning to add a handful of top enterprise integrators alongside 90 SMB resellers after culling 400 partners from its UK channel roster.

Simon Culmer, who joined Avaya as UK country manager in May, told ChannelWeb the vendor's UK partner base had been cut in half from its previous level of 800 under his watch.

"Four hundred of those were doing less than $5,000 (£3,000) a year, with a total spend of under $1m," he explained. "We are now back to recruiting and are looking for four strategic integrators for the enterprise and 90 to focus on the SMB space."

The country boss claimed he is particularly keen to add partners that can focus on Avaya's video and data portfolios. To help with the recruitment push, the vendor launched its ROADS (recruit, onboard, authorise, develop and sustain) programme at a UK channel get-together in Birmingham this week.

The programme is designed to make it as easy and profitable as possible for resellers to team up with Avaya, with the aim being to allow VARs to begin selling the vendor's wares within 60 days. Distributors have the task of leading the recruitment charge and can earn rewards of up to $3,000 per reseller upon the achievement of training and sales targets.

"We are set up with three distributors and we are happy with that. They are stable and they complement each other well. I have no plans to add more, we do not want to become over-distributed," added Culmer.

To support the channel expansion drive, the comms firm has launched the Avaya Virtual Learning Campus, an avatar-based online learning tool. Partner representatives can make use of content on the site at any time and can also connect with Avaya mentors.