Avaya has overhauled its channel programme in a bid to to provide greater differentiation among its partners.
The vendor is adding six new Solution Experts designations to its Avaya Connect Channel Partner programme: enterprise unified communications and contact center, midmarket unified communications and contact center, networking and video.
To achieve the Solution Expert designation in any one of these areas, partners need to acquire credentials in sales and design, achieve certain revenue thresholds, and demonstrate customer satisfaction, says the firm.
Avaya is also revising the requirements for achieving Silver, Gold and Platinum level status, which will be determined by the number of Solution Expert designations achieved by each partner company.
The programme supports both CAPEX and OPEX sales models, allowing partners to support premise, cloud and hybrid cloud models. They can also take a ‘full stack’ approach to Avaya’s portfolio, or they can focus on a particular area such as networking or contact centre.
“Business challenges require the expertise of a trusted partner who understands how technology can be applied to achieve the desired business outcome,” comments Andy Litherland, recently-appointed vice president of European Channels for Avaya.
“It’s rare that a customer will require a single isolated product. The changes to Avaya Connect address what we as a vendor need to do to encourage our channel partners to develop the expertise to help ensure customer needs are met to the highest level of their satisfaction and reward them for doing so.”
The firm says the programme changes go into effect on October 1, 2014 with Avaya’s fiscal 2015, allowing partners a transition year during which they can earn their status levels based on current or new requirements, whichever works in their favour.
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