Avaya appoints ScanSource for cloud push

After rivals used cloud as a stick with which to beat Avaya, the vendor is looking to drive channel uptake of its new Powered by Avaya midmarket cloud offering

Avaya has appointed ScanSource as the first wholesale distribution in the EU for its new midmarket cloud solution.

The vendor, which is looking to bounce back financially after entering bankruptcy protection in January, today hard launched its Powered by Avaya cloud communications offering for mid-sized firms.

Powered by Avaya has already been rolled out with a select band of Avaya resellers in the UK, including Six Degrees and Formation Tech.

Now ScanSource - Avaya's largest distributor globally - has been appointed as the first wholesaler for the solution in this region.

Rivals have seized on Avaya's financial turmoil as evidence that it was caught cold by the rise of cloud, with RingCentral, for instance, writing a letter to Avaya customers under the headline: ‘The cloud has won: Avaya declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy'.

In the letter, which was shared on LinkedIn, RingCentral claimed the on-premise communications system on which Avaya made its name are no longer the right choice for customers for today's mobile and distributed workforces.

However, talking about Powered by Avaya last month, Avaya's UK managing director Ioan MacRae rebuffed claims that Avaya had not transitioned effectively to a subscription-based revenue model, saying that almost 75 per cent of its 2016 revenue was software and services based, rising to 80 per cent in 2017. He claimed the Chapter 11 process is purely about debt restructuring, and not for operational reasons.

MacRae conceded that Avaya is "a year to 18 months" behind Mitel with Powered by Avaya, but insisted the delay has enabled it to develop a good product that is easy to deploy, configure and invoice.

In a statement released today, MacRae added: " The mid-market sector is the engine room of the UK economy, but is all too-often overlooked, with vendors either focusing on larger enterprise customers, or providing solutions that don't deliver the scalability, resiliency, and flexibility mid-market customers are looking for.

"'Powered by Avaya' will give growing, mid-sized companies access to a robust business-grade cloud option with their UC, CC and video communications for the first time, with the same reliability and security expected by end-users and synonymous with the Avaya brand."

Avaya's rivals are attempting to make hay from its financial predicament, with ShoreTel CEO Don Joos saying last month that he is looking to exploit the vendor's "death spiral".

Last week, it emerged that Avaya is seeking court approval to pay top executives up to $3.7m in bonuses to reward them if they successfully stop rivals from poaching customers.