Avaya has claimed positive market momentum as the vendor clings on to its deep customer base.
Fears ran rife that these customers would turn their backs on the brand following its second skirmish with bankruptcy.
Yet, much of its customer base remained remarkably loyal throughout its financial woes.
Indeed, new figures from Avaya show that six million contact center agents still leverage its solutions alongside 90 million UC seats.
Some of those customers include 90 percent of the largest US companies – alongside the top ten global airlines, auto manufacturers, and banks.
However, most surprisingly, the brand is winning considerable new business.
Indeed, the vendor added 599 new logos last quarter, with 39 seven-digit deals and four worth more than $5MN.
“We set the foundation for growth and have already seen our focus pay off,” concluded Alan Masarek, CEO of Avaya.
The revitalized Avaya is investing in and delivering next-gen technology with an ‘innovation without disruption’ approach embraced by customers and attracting the best talent as a destination place to work.
That “revitalized” Avaya has refused to get caught up in the swirl of success stories from market rivals, poaching from its legacy base.
Instead, the vendor is staying customer-focused and doubling-down on where prospects are showing interest. As per the repetition of this “innovation without disruption” mantra, that interest seems to be focused on a more pragmatic, cautious approach to CCaaS migrations.
Recognizing this, Avaya is channeling much of its efforts into presenting itself as the “evolution, not revolution” vendor.
Much of its marketing efforts align with this messaging, with little talk of innovations that the vendor is slowly adding to its new-look portfolio.
The focus is very much on ensuring customer trust in its long-term strategy.
Seemingly supporting that approach, Liz Miller, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, recently told CX Today:
No one really has a mystery secret sauce in communications. Where Avaya can step forward is in quality, consistency, and openness in how they move forward as a company.
In achieving that openness, Avaya is releasing much more of its financial information than is necessary for a private company.
For instance, it is revealing insight into its debt and has shared that – even if its post-bankruptcy transformation goes to plan – it won’t reach profitability until 2025.
Avaya could avoid those topics altogether, engage in linguistic basket-weaving, and focus chiefly on adding its voice to the AI and cloud hysteria.
Yet, after a tumultuous 2022 and early 2023, the vendor likely recognizes the need for more transparency.
“They need to be honest, transparent, and ahead of time,” concluded Miller. “That is the only thing that’s going to give that underpinning of trust that Avaya’s customers must have in that company.”
To sustain that trust in a swirl of noise, Avaya needs to stay focused on amplifying what it’s delivering, what it has delivered, and what the impact is.
That’s crucial. After all, the next couple of years will prove an acid test, with more licenses set to expire and legacy customers getting pulled in by the allure of the cloud.
If the vendor can demonstrate further “business momentum”, Avaya may cement its enterprise communications stalwart status.
Nevertheless, if the vendor goes quiet, that trust may slip, and rival vendors – in an increasingly crowded market – will seize upon the chance to tempt customers away.