Gamma has leveraged the best of its strategic planning to create an interconnected and expanding channel proposition that enables partners to sell more and stay ahead, according to CEO Andrew Belshaw and Gamma Business Managing Director John Murphy.
In a business update delivered by Murphy and Belshaw at Gammaverse, the company’s annual partner conference (October 10th, QEII Centre, London), the pair lifted the lid on how Gamma has accelerated a set of strategic actions to drive portfolio optimisation through technology partnerships, value added services and acquisitions. Gamma’s top leaders also re-affirmed the company’s catalytic role in driving growth for partners through bundling new solutions specific to the UK channel, and that these investments underline the imperative for resellers to evolve, especially in key markets, says Murphy.
After being appointed Gamma Business Managing Director in June this year Murphy (pictured above) went to work on solidifying his priorities for the coming two years – and taking precedence are the UCaaS, IoT and security high growth markets. He outlined Gamma’s plans to drive the acceleration of these opportunities and elevated the need for an urgent and comprehensive response from partners. “There’s a ticking clock on the traditional comms market and channel partners who ignore this evolution risk being left behind,” warned Murphy. “It’s important for partners to get into new markets.”
There’s a ticking clock on the traditional comms market and channel partners who ignore this evolution risk being left behind
A sharp focus on the requirement to develop portfolio propositions dominated the Gammaverse conference. This was especially highlighted by Murphy’s emphasis on UCaaS. “There are six million UCaaS seats still up for grabs in the UK, and Gamma now has UCaaS products that cover all parts of the market,” added Murphy.
“UCaaS delivers improved margins and stickier customers. It offers flexibility, complete integration and scalability. But this isn’t just about upgrading technology, it’s about embracing the evolving collaboration landscape. Partners need to push the SIP to UCaaS transition. Sticking just to what you know for too long and not adapting to the evolving market could result in a lost foothold.”
UCaaS roadmap
Murphy set out a clear and coherent pathway for partners to become fit for growth in the UCaaS space, and explained how Gamma’s partnership with Cisco has entered a new phase with the mid-September launch of Horizon with Webex across the UK. The move brings together the calling features of Gamma’s Horizon product and Cisco’s Webex collaboration features. “This launch is significant and enables partners to enter new markets,” stated Murphy.
At the time of the Gammaverse conference, over 3,300 customers were using Horizon with Webex, indicating a clear demand swell. Murphy also noted that Gamma will implement an automated upgrade tool that enables partners selling Horizon Collaborate to move to Webex and continue receiving the full Gamma wrap. The Webex for Gamma Wholesale launch is planned for H1 2025.
These developments are part of a broader strategy to deliver and support new propositions, not just through important technology partnerships but also through acquisitions that bring additional revenue opportunities – such as Gamma’s acquisition of EnableX in January this year (encompassing Pragma, Techland and Candio) which enables partners to reach all parts of the UCaaS market, according to Murphy.
This is because Pragma distributes Ericsson-LG’s iPECS UC solution which Murphy says has the ‘firepower’ to build out UCaaS portfolios. “iPECS offers something different, enabling companies that want to make a first step to the cloud from traditional PBX features,” he explained. “Delivering iPECS provisioning and support through the Gamma portal is a priority.”
Key opportunity
Another of Murphy’s priorities, the IoT space, is growing 18 per cent a year according to Analysys Mason, which says there are 32 million IoT devices in the UK today and expects that figure to hit 75 million by 2028. “IoT is one of the fastest growing technology markets,” added Murphy. “It’s a massive opportunity to unlock new revenues based, in large part, on the IoT’s ability to underpin automation and processes and improve the efficiency of business operations. It’s important for partners to be in these markets and think about future growth – and it’s our job to make sure they get there.”
Murphy told delegates that Gamma’s Fusion IoT product is due to launch in Q1 2025. Gamma on-boarded this capability through the acquisition of German company Epsilon in 2022, which is a leading provider of mobile connectivity in the German market. It introduced Fusion IoT in 2018 and now has circa 30,000 customers. “It’s a mature platform with access to multiple European networks and we’ve transported this product to the UK channel,” confirmed Murphy. “The platform comes with a removable eSIM capability which opens up the eSIM market.”
Big global tech companies want to sell their products to the UK SME market and they can only do that through the channel
For channel firms, adapting to market trends today equates to an ability to compete tomorrow, and with this in mind Murphy flagged up that Microsoft Teams is set to dominate a large part of the UCaaS market, and that while it’s not right for every type of business, with Cavell forecasting 24 per cent market growth Teams can’t be ignored. “In response Gamma is launching Service Suite for Microsoft Teams, which provides an opportunity for partners to introduce complementary software and hardware around the Teams platform and add more value,” said Murphy, who also noted that Gamma is kicking off beta trials through the launch of reporting and analytics, call recording and hardware such as handsets and headsets.
There’s more: The UK’s cyber market is worth circa £11 billion and growing 12 per cent annually. And Gamma’s acquisition of Pragma also brings forward Candio’s SafeWeb product which protects company data from the dark web and is said to be straightforward to deploy. “This is an easy way for partners to get into the cyber market and drive high recurring margins,” stated Murphy. “There are 30,000 customers on the platform which shows strong demand for the service.”
Establishing the right technology portfolio is one thing, forging a strong link between enablement and outcomes – in other words, capabilities and generating value – is another. Gamma has taken these together and is investing millions in its portal, while helping partners to address all of these market opportunities with greater speed and agility through the launch of white labelled managed services as a new channel proposition. “This will help partners become more streamlined, simplify their business model, lower overheads and get to market quicker,” stated Murphy.
One stop shop
Just like channel firms, end user organisations are also under pressure to steal a march in their chosen markets, and ICT buyers are aware that they can go further and faster through single supplier technology relationships that drive outcomes versus simple deliverables. Customers are now the change-catalysts, and to remain relevant channel partners must be in a position to respond with a broad scope of customer solutions. This puts more pressure on resellers and MSPs to evolve their tech stacks and overall portfolios, which for Gamma (as a catalytic intermediary) means increased engagement with technology giants and the channel to accelerate growth.
Even a casual observer can see that Gamma’s core strength resides in strategic partnerships that give resellers a competitive edge. And developing relationships with tech giants in ways that reshape enterprise products for general consumption by the channel and smaller businesses is currently a priority for Gamma CEO Andrew Belshaw (pictured left). “These partnerships will get broader, deeper and stronger,” he told Gammaverse delegates. “Big global tech companies want to sell their products to the UK SME market and they can only do that through the channel.”
As well as collaborating with the likes of Cisco and Ericsson-LG, Belshaw is immersed in an ongoing dialogue with Microsoft around how it can work with Gamma to support the UK channel more effectively. In similar vein, Gamma works closely with regulatory bodies behind the scenes, Ofcom especially. “Why? Because we are too often the only people in the room standing up for small businesses and the UK channel,” stated Belshaw. “It is vitally important they are represented when new legislation is under consideration. We see acting on behalf of the channel as our job, especially as the regulatory landscape becomes more complicated.”
Gamma is far more ambitious these days and the company’s growth plans are accelerating, which is evidenced by five acquisitions within a year and the work Belshaw is doing to build Gamma in Europe. For the record, Gamma now has more than 3,000 channel partners across Europe and enabling all of them to be more competitive is a key driver behind Gamma’s acquisition strategy.
In addition to the acquisitions already covered in this report, consider the purchase of Dublin-based Coolwave Communications in February this year: It enables Gamma to support customers in Ireland – and routing international inbound calls through the Coolwave platform means Gamma can ensure end-to-end service quality. “This also allows us to provide voice enablement in many countries from a channel-first perspective,” added Belshaw. “This is typical of our acquisition strategy, bringing technology and skills we can share with partners.”
It’s worth pointing out as a footnote that Belshaw emphatically quelled rumours about possible changes to Horizon, which has 850,000 users. “We are building on what we started with Horizon,” he explained. “Horizon doesn’t suit every end user therefore we’re working with Cisco, Ericsson-LG and Microsoft to create solutions that enable partners to bid for any size customer, in any industry and virtually any location.”
Editor’s comment...
Critical to long-term revenue creation is having the right technology and service proposition portfolio, an equation that has driven Gamma to execute a number of successful acquisitions that deliver complementary capabilities and bring new market opportunities that build value for partners and their customers. The speed and depth at which Gamma is evolving its portfolio and go-to-market strategy highlights how responsive channel partners need to be to stay ahead of the curve and create a sustainable competitive advantage. These aren’t new themes – successful organisations have always adapted to change – but the laser focus and strategic clarity displayed by Gamma’s leaders alongside the acceleration of their intent feels like a step change that should not be ignored.