By Prebashini Reddy
In no industry is the power of partnerships more evident than in the channel. Vendors, distributors, and resellers combine to form an essential value chain that delivers innovative products to end customers, whether consumers or businesses. But it is in finding the right balance between the respective vendor strengths to create a solution that delivers the most value that is the key differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace.
As an experienced distributor in Sub-Sahara Africa, Westcon-Comstor prides itself in the breadth of its vendor relationships and the highly sophisticated channel environment it has put in place for partners. Through this, it has developed a unique solution that combines the expertise of three global players in the communications, calling, collaboration, and productivity segments.
By integrating Microsoft Teams, Ribbon Connect, and Poly, the Westcon Cloud Connect app reinvents the unified communications environment in South Africa with a user-friendly, cloud-based solution delivering on the unique needs of local businesses.
Three giants
By now, most businesses have embraced the Microsoft Teams communications and collaboration platform to deal with an increasingly hybrid work environment. This tool sees users effectively operate in business teams and communicate with customers and partners regardless of their geographic location. Teams provides the foundation on which messaging and collaboration takes place at a time when employees no longer need to be physically present in one location to be effective.
But that is just one leg of the bespoke Westcon Cloud Connect pyramid. Ribbon Communications has the most extensive portfolio of Microsoft-certified session border controllers available for Microsoft Teams. This means that the Ribbon Connect solution can transform any Teams environment from a single-user one to an enterprise-grade communications offering. With Ribbon in place, an organisation can connect its IP-PBXs and cloud unified communications to a traditional fixed-line operator reinventing how business communication occurs.
The final component of Westcon Cloud Connect is the sophisticated and robust communication hardware solutions delivered by Poly. Poly devices are designed to fit the unique workstyles of every person in an organisation. The company specialises in audio and video solutions that enhance productivity while catering to any budget – a critical function in today’s challenging economic environment.
Everything for everyone
Westcon-Comstor has married the strengths of these three industry leaders to deliver a solution that delivers the best of all worlds for local partners and their customers. And as the name suggests, Westcon Cloud Connect is a cloud-based software-as-a-service solution that injects scalability, agility, and price competitiveness into this integrated offering.
By giving partners a combination of Microsoft Teams, Ribbon Cloud, and Poly devices, they have a comprehensive, unified communications environment that can be tailored to suit any local business need. With the focus on delivering a seamless user experience, enterprise communications with Westcon Cloud Connect deliver the one-click simplicity that many competitive products have strived for but have failed to deliver.
Through the environment, Westcon-Comstor is increasing the cross-sell opportunities between Microsoft, Ribbon Connect, and Poly while targeting a wider range of partners. In turn, partners extend their own value propositions to customers by having access to an enterprise-class unified communications solution. Ultimately, the focus is on increasing the partner’s reach, frequency, and yield with the proven expertise of Westcon-Comstor.
Agility meets function
When a partner deploys Westcon Cloud Connect at a customer, it scales out Microsoft Teams for any communication need. More importantly, this includes gaining the ability to make voice calls without relying on a traditional phone line infrastructure. Because Westcon Cloud Connect attaches Ribbon Connect to the base Microsoft licenses to deliver call function services over a SIP line and offers access to Poly headsets and speakerphones – every organisation is now able to move the office to wherever their employees are based.
Even better, customers do not lose out on any existing investments they might have made into their existing PBX or cloud communications services. Westcon Cloud Connect can seamlessly integrate into any environment, run without a PBX, or blend the two according to the business need. But what truly sets Westcon Cloud Connect apart from the rest is that there are no minimum quantities, no minimum spend, and all purchases are billed per user per month, as can be expected from a truly cloud-driven solution.
Prebashini Reddy is the Microsoft Product Manager at Westcon-Comstor