A combination of what you know and who know helps when building new channels. Likewise, a reseller product with legs is a boost to any start-up leaving the blocks. Combine these attributes with corporate backing and an ambition to expand remarkably across new territories and you have a story to tell, according to seasoned channel builder Viv Singh, Senior VP EMEA at Phybridge.
The name Phybridge is a new addition to the UK's comms lexicon but the company is well known in its homeland Canada for providing switch innovations that enable users to simply migrate to IP Telephony. Having swung its gaze onto Europe the firm wants to replicate its north American success in EMEA by building on existing alliances with UC vendors such as Mitel, Avaya, Cisco and ShoreTel. "We are aiming to bring strategic partnerships into the UK and EMEA," stated Singh, who is at the vanguard of a channel campaign that, he hopes, will generate up to £7.5 million next year from a standing start. "Our EMEA business is a start up, although we have backing from our corporate in Canada. In five years time we would like to see EMEA revenue at £30 million. This is an ambitious target but the nature of the offering and the patent we have on this technology is compelling."
A big objective in Singh's expansion plan rests on recruiting four to six strategically placed distribution partners while establishing link-ups with five global partners. "I have been in the industry for more than 20 years and have never seen such interest from various partners including distribution, carriers and system integrators," he claimed. "The solution gives channel partners repeatable, predictable, scalable business whether targeting five or 5,000 users."
One deal of importance cited by Singh involved the deployment of a Phybridge solution that saved a customer wanting 1,400 endpoints more than $1.5 million. "We are confident that by working together with our new and existing business partners in EMEA we will secure these types of project," he added. "We are able to provide a number of case studies where we have helped our business partners to secure a significant number of deals using our solution."
Singh's strategy is to build on existing partner relationships using his contacts which have built up over the last 20 years. "I would like to think most of the channel partners I know would spare an hour of their time for me," he said. "We have a key offering for any partner looking to migrate their customers from TDM to IP Telephony. In just a few weeks we have a number of interested distribution partners and Nimans for example has on-boarded our solution already."
Despite the upsides in his campaign Singh notes that a big challenge is to change the mindset of channel partners who need to think differently in order to fully understand the Phybridge proposition. To help educate partners the firm is holding weekly webinars and attending end user meetings with partners. A key point of understanding is that the Phybridge switch innovation delivers Ethernet and Power over Ethernet over a single pair of wire with four times the reach of traditional switches. "They allow businesses to leverage their existing voice infrastructure and transform it into an IP path with power ideal for IP Telephony," added Singh.
According to Singh the Phybridge switch innovation eliminates many of the local area network barriers and costs associated with IP Telephony migration. "Quality of service, voice continuity, elimination of risk and disruption, a highly secure network and a lower total cost of ownership are some of the benefits being realised by the 1,000 plus customers using the Phybridge switch offering," he stated. "Phybridge technology has successfully been deployed throughout Europe including embassies around the world for one of Europe's largest governments. The launch of the PoLRE (Power over Long Reach Ethernet) family of switches combined with the increasing interest and demand from EMEA customers and partners warrants a local presence."
These are bold claims indeed that will no doubt catch the attention of resellers, especially when you consider that the evangelist promoting the Phybridge solution has built a solid reputation over time as a trusted advisor to channel partners. Most notably, Singh became known as a channel stalwart during a 15 year stint at Aastra Telecom before taking time off to assess his next career move.
"After leaving I looked at various opportunities in the UC market space," he explained. "I knew it was going to be difficult to find another senior executive role within the current market conditions, so I spent time looking at a number of solutions in search of a company that had a stand out offering that I could bring to my contacts in UK and EMEA market space. This is exactly what happened when I met Phybridge in London. The timing was perfect as Phybridge was looking to expand its business in the UK and EMEA, and I have 20 years experience of building and reshaping channel businesses."•