Avaya Taps Access Distribution To Woo Data VARs

Avaya on Wednesday authorized Access Distribution to carry its full product portfolio and Avaya Global Services offerings to bring more data expertise into the telecommunications vendor's partner base, according to Avaya's North American channel chief.

The move comes two days after Avaya unveiled management changes that included the naming of Louis D'Ambrosio as its new president and CEO.

With the agreement, Access becomes Avaya's third North American distribution partner, along with ScanSource's Catalyst Telecom division and Westcon Group's Voda One division.

Access works with more than 600 partners, most of which carry data experience from work with vendors such as Sun Microsystems. It's a partner pool that proves attractive to Avaya as it works to add data expertise to its voice-centric channel in support of its convergence business, said Ken Archer, vice president of North American channels at Avaya, Basking Ridge, N.J.

"What prompted us to look for a third value-added distribution partner is we believe there are a lot of data VARs interested in getting into voice with the advent of convergence," Archer said. "We believe these are partners we couldn't reach through our current Catalyst Telecom and Voda One relationships."

Avaya is the first IP telephony vendor to join Access' line card. It's an opportunity that the distributor has been eyeing for some time, said Scott Zahl, vice president of vendor relations at Access, Westminster, Colo.

"It's of interest to us because of the growth opportunity [in VoIP] but also as a point of convergence. We see several different communities coming to VoIP: telephony specialists and more traditional telco resellers. We believe the network expertise our partners extend is a good fit," Zahl said.

Recruiting efforts around the new partnership will begin in earnest at Access' New Frontiers Conference, its annual partner event, which runs Aug. 14-16 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Avaya will have a big presence at the event, including a hands-on network that solution providers will be able to use, Zahl said.

Avaya will closely monitor recruitment efforts to ensure that solution providers brought on through Access fill gaps in the vendor's channel coverage and don't saturate its geographic exposure, Archer said.

"We had discussions with Catalyst Telecom and Voda One, and they had concerns," Archer said. "But we have assured them that through careful planning, the contractual language and the intent of this partnership, we're looking to drive net new business through net new partners."

Executives from Catalyst Telecom and Voda One declined to comment.