Each year analyst firms keep on predicting strong growth for UC-enabled technologies – predictions show a further 20% market uplift for 2018. But it’s fair to say that there’s still some way to go in terms of untapped market opportunity when it comes to providing truly collaborative UC-enabled solutions, particularly at an enterprise level.
While it’s been relatively easy for smaller organisations to make the transition towards UC, larger enterprises, invariably with a much more significant legacy infrastructure, have been more cautious. Most understand the logic behind the potential of unified communications; however, with the UC technology sector often seen as in a state of flux, it’s hardly surprising that many corporates still feel it’s just easier to delay making a buying decision for another six months.
Is UC just too complicated a concept?
Perhaps, as an industry, we’ve made UC seem too complex? Having been involved in multiple successful UC deployments, I’ve no doubt that powerful UC capabilities such as team collaboration and true mobile-first communications can deliver real benefits in terms of productivity and operational costs. So, I get frustrated when too many ICT vendors and their partners confuse the UC story with too many industry buzzwords and acronyms. Whenever we approach potential customers and tell them they really should be focusing on /unified-communications/ucaas, CCaaS, /unified-communications/cpaas, PaaS, IaaS and the latest SaaS offerings, it’s hardly surprising that they get confused!
Vendors and their sales partners also don’t always help by focusing on specific technology features rather than focusing on what integrated UC services such as voice and telephony, conferencing solutions, messaging, presence and web clients can actually do for a customer’s operations. Until IT buyers can identify a clear business case for the technology, then it really doesn’t matter what you call the solution or whether it’s delivered as a service or on premise.
Making the conversation about business needs
Organisations appear to be cautious about transformative technologies such as UC. CIOs have a lot on their plate – they perhaps already know that a UC-enabled infrastructure could make a real difference for their business, but they’re also having to deal with other business challenges associated with innovations, such as ensuring digital security, preparing for AI, and taking advantage of Internet of Things. If they’re going to get serious about UC in 2018 then it’s got to be related to a specific business-focused project with costed goals and minimal risks.
That’s why it’s critical for channel partners focusing on UC opportunities to find ways to get even closer to their customers so that they can zoom in on those specific business scenarios that could benefit immediately from a UC solution. Simply focusing on a standard PBX replacement proposition is likely to be a lengthier project that’s likely to be targeted by a number of channel partners or direct vendors.
A more positive outcome may come from actually engaging with the customer to establish some of their current challenges. Are they struggling with mobility? Perhaps they’ve got an issue with integrating remote workers? Each of these discussions can provide a great opportunity to illustrate how you could help them leverage capabilities such as IM, presence, chat or call launching. They also represent great potential use cases for video-to-video interactions. However, instead of just discussing these features, it’s much more productive to have really good demos that clearly illustrate just how UC can actually improve the user experience. Equally important will be an awareness of how different UC elements can help potential customers to be more productive, save money and drive additional revenues.
Becoming a trusted UC adviser
Maybe it’s time for resellers to flip the traditional channel sales model? If you’re a sales partner that’s tasked with selling a high volume of specific solutions from UC Vendor A or Vendor B, then the chances are that the customer’s requirement will invariably end up being addressed by a solution based on these technologies. How much better if the customer could work with a vendor-agnostic, non-sales targeted partner that could actually help them make the best choice for their business?
Working with a specialist Technology Services Distributor gives channel sales partners access to a much broader portfolio of skills, technologies and expertise. This allows them to seek out more complex – and higher value – UC and cloud business opportunities, safe in the knowledge that they always have access to best practice solutions from pre-vetted supplier partners.
Customers, in turn, benefit from this kind of constructive discussion, feeling that they’re working with a genuine trusted adviser – one that can help them make sense of the multiple UC and cloud technologies. Having access to a broader services portfolio also means that channel sales partners will find themselves with many more reasons to stay close to their customers. Previously, they may have had to hang around, perhaps waiting for a specific PBX replacement or WAN upgrade deal to drop – now they can keep talking to customers, effectively transitioning to a higher value Managed Services engagement.
With no pressure to sell specific vendor products, the channel partner is free to introduce only those UC solutions that really answer the customer’s unique needs. From the customer perspective this means that they only have to hear about appropriate, pre-qualified potential solutions that are being presented to them by a vendor-agnostic, non-sales targeted trusted advisor. They will have already considered your needs, identified appropriate solutions, and also lined up the specialist services that you’ll need to manage the project going forward.
How to avoid leaving potentially valuable UC business on the table
Becoming this kind of trusted partner is the critical next step for many sales partners – particularly when there’s such a strong managed services opportunity around UC going forward. Addressing this will require a leap of faith for many resellers, particularly those who have until now been reluctant to expand beyond their current field of expertise. Too many channel sales partners are still leaving valuable potential UC business on the table because they simply don’t have the specialist sales expertise or confidence needed to bid for some of today’s more complex sales opportunities.
That’s not to say the channel isn’t already highly skilled, it’s just that the sheer pace of change and growing complexity of UC solutions can prove challenging. According to one of our UC supplier partners, the sheer range of choices available to customers can be daunting. In the cloud contact centre space alone, for example, there are now 150 different options available, and customer organisations are genuinely concerned that they could easily make the wrong choice. Having access to a trusted technology partner – one who knows exactly where to go to find them the right solution – could prove a winning argument when it comes to UC.
Guest blog by Stephen Hackett, Managing Director of Technology Services Distributor Intelisys Global. Stephen believes that technology businesses are still making transformative innovations such as UC far too difficult for customers to understand. Buying really shouldn’t be such hard work.
