Avaya welcomed attendees from 90 countries to its Avaya Engage conference in Orlando last week, just a few months after undertaking an intense financial restructuring. "Avaya is back," was the message from CEO Alan Masarek during his keynote on day one, as he kickstarted the vendor's revamp, which has seen it trim its workforce and product portfolio.
Here, we round up the highlights from the event.
Public Cloud is Not Necessarily the Goal
Avaya execs spoke more about its on-prem customer base than it has done in recent times, claiming the public cloud is not the goal some vendors insist it is. Avaya backed this up by bringing high-profile customers onto the stage during CEO Alan Masarek's keynote. Jason Stump, CIO at Wynn Resorts, for example, said he has no intention of moving communications to the public cloud. He revealed that some 70 percent of his vendors had announced end-of-support for much of their on-prem tech and are trying to force him to the public cloud -ultimately driving him away as a customer. That's not to say Avaya didn't tout the benefits of the public cloud, led by its recently rebranded Experience Cloud customer experience product.
Partnerships are Expanding
At the start of the event, Avaya revealed it had deepened partnerships with two key vendors: Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Google. Avaya's Experience Platform has received contact centre technical validation for Chrome Enterprise Recommended for ChromeOS. This program helps organizations find web and cloud applications that improve productivity and security. Avaya said the collaboration between ChromeOS and Experience Platform enhances agent productivity and security. Elsewhere, Avaya has enhanced its partnership with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise to assist customers worldwide in achieving their digital transformation objectives. This collaboration enables both companies to accelerate customers' transition to the cloud and provide exceptional user experiences, particularly in critical situations. Avaya said its Experience Platform offers a robust portfolio that helps businesses of all sizes transform their communications. The partnership supports customers' digital transformation goals by combining the strengths of the Avaya Experience Platform and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Digital Age Networking.
