How do you look at India from performance point of view?
India is in a very unique positive situation as the country is going through a very stable economic condition. There is a lot of positive messages from the government in terms of increasing investments in the country. The second thing is that if you see our solutions. We are no more voice telephony company. we have enhanced our horizon in both the directions – enterprises in size and type of solutions we provide to the market. We have a very robust solution for the mid-market with cost effectiveness having features matching the large enterprise products. We have seen the very good market for us. We will continue to seize that opportunity in the coming years.
The enterprise arena is more around outcome based for the customers. It is about keeping the products on the background understanding the customers’ requirement and devising solutions that is helpful for the customers. We see a great potential in that area.
Lastly, a lot of investment is happening around the government space – be it smart government, education, power, surveillance, video conferencing. We see a great potential for Avaya. Given the opportunity, next few years are going to be very good for Avaya.
Government sector is where Avaya does not have much presence in, why?
We did not approach that sector correctly earlier, which we are fixing now. We were not so focussed in the past in this section. Our GTM was not right. Our partner ecosystem was not rightly aligned for this sector. However, we have started making investment in the digital India programme. We see significant play in the smart healthcare, smart offices, women safety, etc. We see a great potential in disaster management space as well where Avaya can play.
What is channel growth for Avaya India?
We are working towards making the partners more viable and empowered to serve the market. We are also working with our loyal partners and helping them to grow the market. In the under-served markets, we are trying to recruit more partners. We have around 200 partners right now. But certainly we are looking at enhancing the number though I do not put my fingers on any number but what matters the most is the quality and reach.
How about solutions selling from Avaya?
Everything we are talking is available in solution mode because the customers do not care about what the technology is. He cares about how does it fit into my business needs. India continues to be a very strategic location for Avaya. Today we have three development centres including one in Hyderabad, from KnoahSoft acquisition, along with the ones in Bangalore and Pune. We have service delivery centre in these locations also.
Any progress on the Avaya solution as a services in India?
We are working on this. Along with a partner called NextGen, we have launched video as a service. So you need not to buy any licence but can use the service on per-month basis. We are working with some partners and service providers on the contact centre space as well.
What is your final message to the partners?
We are looking at building a smart foundation. We believe that India is a very high-potential and high-growth market for us and we are very well poised from solution and coverage stand point supported by a very strong channel ecosystem. Avaya as a corporation is committed to this market and we see a great growth going forward.
