nconnect to give UK data resellers a voice
New cloud telephony entrant lures IT VARs with promise of high margins for little upfront investment
Germany's top cloud telephony vendor has touched down in the UK with the aim of shattering the barrier of entry for IT VARs looking to sell voice.
nconnect plans to sign up 40 UK resellers by the end of the year after launching a four-strong operation led by former 3Com and Allied Telesis executive Rami Houbby.
Houbby said IT VARs have until now been effectively frozen out of entering the voice market due to the "prohibitive" costs involved in getting accredited with the hardware-based PBX vendors.
"One big IT reseller mentioned that the cost just to get accredited and get the necessary demo equipment for a particular vendor was £100,000," he said. "If you have not had a core focus on telephony, that's a big investment."
In contrast, higher-level Gold and Platinum nconnect partners must pay £1,000 for a starter pack that will give them access to training and demo kit and enable them to set up on its platform.
nconnect works through 200 partners in its native Germany, where it has amassed 5,000 enterprise customers. Early VAR UK recruits include Parachute IT, XSS and Inter Solutions.
Houbby said commission is deliberately structured to reflect how IT VARs have traditionally been rewarded for selling hardware. On top of lifetime commission, top-level partners can earn 75 per cent of the £25 activation charge on each seat. With typical deal sizes of 200 to 500 seats, upfront earnings per deal will typically be between roughly £4,000 and £9,000.
Lower-level Silver partners, who require no upfront investment, act like agents.
"The engagement is very scalable and it is extremely easy to start with us," Houbby said. "From a resource point of view, any data IT reseller is more than capable from a technical and sales point of view to sell the solution."
Most other UK cloud telephony vendors have operated a mixed channel model, Houbby claimed, which has caused "confusion and conflict" among VARs.
"We are 100 per cent channel and it's part of our DNA," he said.