Avaya engages channel to design solutions

Custom services for clients.

Avaya is inviting solution providers to take part in the design of custom managed services and outsourcing services to customers, the latest in a number of recent offerings specific to Avaya's channel services business.

The offer is called Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions, or COS, in which Avaya takes over managing all of a customer's communications operations, including multi-vendor deployments.

Under the program Avaya and channel partners collaborate with a customer to design custom communications management packages, priced on a case-by-case basis. COS includes multi-vendor worldwide communications support using Avaya's nine global Network Operations Centers (NOC), applications support, and operating expense procurement covering hardware, software and additional services.

The offering can also include customised service level agreements (SLA), use of Avaya's communication management platform, Matrix, and what Avaya says is a typical 15 to 20 percent TCO improvement behind its managed services delivery.

Ed Nalbandian, vice president, Avaya Operations Services, said that the COS offering targets two types of customers in particular: those looking to update their aging infrastructure but needing to be cost-conscious about what and how they upgrade, and those who are happy with their infrastructure but want to improve performance and remove unnecessary cap-ex and op-ex costs.

"It's a custom managed solution," Nalbandian told CRN this week. "We're finding that as the complexity of environments goes up, particularly in multi-vendor environments, they can be difficult to manage. We're also finding that many enterprises selectively outsource as opposed to a mega-outsourced deal."

Nalbandian said Avaya has opened COS to all Avaya partners, but the program by its nature depends on the requirements of the customer. Avaya doesn't charge partners to participate in COS or to sell Avaya Communications Management Services in either retail or wholesale models, although there is a branding fee for a private label wholesale arrangement.

COS is the latest launch in Avaya's expanding services strategy, around which it implored VARs to become more active -- particularly around maintenance renewals and managed services -- at last fall's US partner conference. Among other releases, Avaya in May 2011 debuted Support Advantage, which offers several levels of 24/7 remote software and hardware support for customers.

This article originally appeared at crn.com