Risk free migration to state-of-the art UC infrastructures is the key to unlocking mid-market potential, according to Tony Smith, Sales Director for the Indirect Channel, Siemens Enterprise Communications.
Siemens Enterprise Communications is in the midst of an aggressive sales campaign designed to ensure that the mid-market is no longer the forgotten third of the UK economy. "The UK's mid-market businesses are the unsung heroes driving the economy," stated Smith. "However, they are too often forgotten by the policy makers. Large organisations have easier access to finance and, traditionally, small businesses have been well supported by government policy. Now, as we emerge from five years of recession, the sometimes neglected mid-market could provide a new catalyst for growth."
A report into the European mid-market sector undertaken by GE Capital demonstrates the potential opportunity, pointed out Smith. Turning over £2.2 trillion between them, the mid-market employs around 11.2 million people and contributes £307 billion to the UK's GDP. In simple terms, 1.67 per cent of companies in the UK contribute over a third of private sector GDP, revenues and employment. According to MZA, Forrester and Frost & Sullivan, the UK mid-market opportunity for IP and UC systems sales in 2013-14 is five times greater than in the large enterprise space, pointed out Smith.
Supported by a new UC product portfolio that includes the OpenScape Business and OpenScape Enterprise Express, Smith is looking to build on the foundations the company has established in the enterprise market. According to MZA it's the leading vendor in the segment for 1,001-plus extensions with 34.73 per cent of the UK market. "Our partners are already driving growth in the SMB space," explained Smith. "Systems sales are up 23 per cent year-on-year. We have the experience, channel partners and, for the first time, a UC product portfolio to excite the mid-market."
For customers who are currently using OpenScape Office or HiPath 3000, OpenScape Business offers a simple and cost-effective migration to UC while leveraging their investment, claimed Smith. "Existing cards and handsets can be re-used, and we will migrate the licenses for free until the end of September," he said. "This also means that increasingly mobile SMB employees can benefit from OpenScape Business on a wide variety of devices, giving them the device flexibility they want."
OpenScape Enterprise Express is a single integrated solution for mid-sized companies delivering VoIP, UC and contact centre capabilities. "For existing partners this is the most important technology we've launched to the mid-market," commented Smith. "The OpenScape Enterprise Express solution lowers the complexity and risk of introducing VoIP and UC solutions into the enterprise, increasing RoI and reducing TCO as well as offering streamlined purchasing options. Partners can protect their customer base and upsell additional products and services, driving higher margins. Partners are already realising the opportunity, and we've put a six figure investment into driving market awareness to aggressively deliver new business for our partners."
Channel partners are asking for more support from vendors in end user demand generation and Siemens Enterprise Communications has responded. Following the launch of the new UC portfolio it has kick started a campaign to book 300 face-to-face appointments between July and September 2013. By the end of July, it was already two thirds of the way towards this figure. To deal with this growth, channel partners like Integra have reacted by hiring staff to cope with the demand.
"We're seeing substantial growth in the mid-market as organisations are keen to reap the benefits of Siemens Enterprise Communications OpenScape Business and OpenScape Enterprise Express solutions," said Pas Ruggiero, Managing Director, Integra. "Through increased awareness and ongoing conversations with our customers we are committed to driving growth and supporting the mid-market in its migration to UC infrastructure."
Smith also notes that through Siemens Enterprise Communications involvement in the Public Services Network (PSN), a framework that enables the delivery of government services from any provider or location, channel partners can access an audience that they would usually have been unable to reach. Siemens Enterprise Communications is one of only 29 IT vendors in the framework, giving partners a significant opportunity.
"Our experience in the enterprise market is feeding into the mid-market push too," added Smith. "A bid management facility provides sales content and support for channel partners in the tender process, and both the direct and indirect channel work hand-in-hand meaning that the combined sales proposition is significantly strengthened. This is also supported by our vertical experience from high touch projects in the healthcare, contact centre and education sectors."
Smith believes that there are common misconceptions around migration to UC that need to be properly addressed. Customers are still risk averse and a 'rip and replace' strategy isn't an option for end users. "With Siemens Enterprise Communications' new SIP DG, risk averse customers can gradually migrate from their existing legacy PBX to a SIP solution with significantly reduced risk," he explained.
The SIP DG (a piece of middleware that customers can use in a low cost rental model throughout the migration process) is a SIP to DPNSS gateway used to connect legacy platforms that support DPNSS from any vendor. The product is fully tested with OpenScape Enterprise Express and OpenScape Office, meaning legacy migration to the new product portfolio requires no operational downtime. "This migration process is also supported by a displacement promotion meaning that customers benefit from an enhanced purchase price when replacing legacy systems," added Smith.