SPONSORED: Avaya to refresh partner programme at upcoming Dubai event

Vendor planning to launch a raft of new measures at partner conference, which it claims will enable growth in emerging technology for the channel

Avaya is set to announce a raft of changes to its partner programme at its upcoming partner conference.

Avaya Partner Summit 2019 will take place on 4 and 5 December in Dubai, with 400 EMEA channel partners in attendance.

The updates to the Avaya Edge partner programme will provide a path for channel partners to move from one value proposition to more advanced ones, Avaya says, from box-shifting to solution selling; from solution selling to innovation building; and from innovation building to enabling true business transformation.

The updates to Avaya Edge also place an emphasis on partner inclusivity, aiming to enable growth regardless of the size or business model of the channel partner.

Fadi Moubarak, who runs Avaya's channel business outside the US, said Avaya's programme is set to become the only channel programme in the world to provide equal growth opportunities to partners of any size.

"We want our channel partners to continue growing - pure and simple," he said.

"As a result, in 2019 we'll be focusing our efforts on three key areas to enable that: a bigger emphasis on cloud; larger enablement for delivery of complete solutions; and a great push ahead on our API-driven ecosystem.

"Our own growth is inexorably linked to the growth of our partners, regardless of where they sit today on the Avaya Edge Program. Our growth strategies need to align with those of our partners if we're to succeed in our goals."

Avaya said it has already taken great strides in its quest for inclusion, with the number of partners eligible for rebates increasing 281 per cent between 2017 and 2018. The number of partners seeing more than 10 per cent growth with Avaya increased 159 per cent in the same period, it claimed.

The company's strategy for 2019 will be to build on these positive results, Moubarak (pictured) said, with a particular focus on empowering channel partners to more easily roll out cloud-based products as cloud adoption continues to skyrocket.

He added that - following the success of the company's UCaaS solution to the mid-market and the launch of the Avaya Public Cloud in Germany - the summit will represent "a leap-frog" in Avaya's expanded cloud value proposition to the channel.

"It is our role as a technology vendor to provide our partners with opportunities to continue growing and transforming as the market shifts," Moubarak added. "Our aim with this event is to continue in our efforts to empower our channel partners, enabling them to realise even greater levels of growth with Avaya.

"Avaya is also leveraging its market-leading, open standards-based communications platforms to encourage and empower channel partners to provide holistic solutions to their customers.

"Solutions made available through the Avaya DevConnect and Avaya AI Connect programs, for example, bring leading technology disruptors with readily integrated technology solutions into Avaya's channel. Through the programmes, these solutions are made available to channel partners, who can use them to propose innovative, vertical-specific technologies for their customers."

Avaya claimed that many of its partners are also seeing success by building their own intellectual property on top of the vendor's solutions, with the firm set to roll out new tools and APIs to unlock innovation soon.

"From embedding AI and biometrics into communications workflows to creating seamless omni-channel experiences, summit visitors will find real, working solutions for the biggest business challenges that companies face," Moubarak said.