PARTNERS ’ PERSPECTIVE very much at the heart of the digital strategy of many organisations , as it brings the ability to communicate , share information thus making businesses to be able to respond to opportunities . In this instance , collaboration is multi-faceted , involving tools , people and processes . Tools can ’ t self-function while there is dearth of a cohesive strategy from the organisation . There is a lot of efforts being put in by leading UC vendors to create programmes that foster a collaborative culture within organisations .
With broadband Internet penetration in the consumer and commercial segment one of the highest in the Middle East , this is pushing growth and creating opportunities for solution providers in the UC and collaboration solutions . This increase in Internet broadband penetration is driving a greater need for enterprise mobility in the workplace .
Channel partners who successfully help their customers to adopt mobility and flexible working in their organisation can now be considered a critical requirement in staying ahead of workplace trends , and indeed the competition . This change in the workplace is further supported by the fact that more and more employees have embraced BYOD through mobile technology and has the ‘ always on ’ mentality that we also see in the corporate world . Overall , it provides ample of opportunities for UC solution providers in the region to innovate their products and offerings to make office communications less
While there is no doubt that there are more opportunities for solution providers in the UC and collaboration solutions sector , channel partners are still finding this segment challenging .
about the boardroom or meeting rooms , and more about human collaboration .
That being the case , the Digital Transformation wave has encroached upon the regional workspace and the market is experiencing a shift in ICT decision making process towards the line of business related to employee engagement , productivity and customer experience . As a result , UC and collaboration solutions have become a crucial platform that integrates these stakeholders
to generate such healthy outcomes . In view of this , most of the key vendors and channel partners in the region are evolving their resources to stay relevant to this new age of a smart end-user work force .
While there is no doubt that there are more opportunities for solution providers in the UC and collaboration solutions sector , channel partners are still finding this segment challenging .
One of the challenges faced by channel partners in the UC and collaboration solutions market is ensuring that they are equipped with the appropriate skills and knowledge to provide the right solution to the customer . I believe that the onus is on channel partners to ensure that the solutions they are taking to market fit the business challenges of the customer . You need to bear in mind that the processes you are working with are usually mission critical and so , the deployment needs to reflect this .
The main challenge remains as not being able to create a need and make the business leaders realise the importance of collaboration in their day-to-day work . Although a considerable amount of daily work is with the partner and vendor community , these are being unmeasured through the customer systems of insight . The cycle times to close transactions aren ’ t available as metrics in most of the customer systems thus making it difficult to retrospect and cite improvement areas . The existing state of business due to lack of collaboration has to be reported with supporting statistics , which is possible through a consulting exercise .
There are tremendous opportunities in Digital Transformation and delivering “ smart ” solutions if partners grasp them . The UC and collaboration industry is transforming to a commoditised / subscription model , which is increasing the adoption of solutions into various applications in the digital workplace . This requires the channel to resource competent staff to build and deploy such solutions but are challenged to invest against a recurring revenue model to that of a CAPEX revenue model that they were historically used to .
Given that service-related sectors such as banking and financial services , hospitality , travel and tourism , retail , distribution , transportation and logistics , government and , oil and gas are constantly innovating their UC and collaboration solutions for resource optimisation through work force automation applications , collaboration through voice , video , IM , social and utilising video streaming for continuous learning , resellers need to develop domain expertise to address these sectors . •
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