The conference theme, “Advance: Choose your next move” focused on how Unify supports partners on their journey to the cloud – at their pace and with the technology that fits their individual strategies. With more than 150 partners in attendance from around the world, the event also reiterated Unify’s commitment to a channel-first business strategy and its mission to be the partner of choice in the communications and collaboration industry. In fact, today more than 57 percent of Unify’s product revenue is through the channel. In the last year, Unify’s partner base has increased by 34 percent, adding 437 new partners to total 2,809 partners in more than 119 countries.
“We are excited to see the continued dedication and investment from Unify to focus on driving growth via the channel,” said Haskiel Can, Product Manager at Unify partner, Swisscom (Schweiz) AG. “Seeing Unify’s technology in action during the conference - learning more about how we can maximise our value and minimise uncertainty – has re-energised our team and equipped us with the insight we need to be successful.”
Guest speaker Nicklas Bergman, serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and futurist, helped to kick the session off with a discussion on “Surviving the Tech Storm” and providing insights on how to be competitive in today’s landscape. At the event, Unify also debuted its new OpenScape Cloud offering, delivering cloud-based communication and collaboration for the modern digital workplace. The launch was shared via live stream to analysts, consultants and partners around the world.
“During an immense time of change in the industry, it’s inspiring to learn that Unify’s channel-first strategy is delivering results, which is good for their business and its global partner network,” said Bernard Frossard, CEO of swisspro Solutions AG. “As we move forward, we’re excited to tap into OpenScape Cloud technology to help accelerate our business goals. In particular, it is an advantage to be able to take our customers through a journey – along their path and at their pace, via on-premise, hybrid OR cloud. Unify makes this possible.”
Unify introduced several new programs aimed at strengthening collaboration with its partners and between its global partners, including ServiceConnect, a service-based community hosted within Unify’s Circuit technology.
At the conference, Unify recognised several partners with awards, nominated and voted on by both Unify and its partners.
Award winners included:
- Partner of Year – StepLogic - Russia
- Distributor of Year - Telenet - Spain
- Above & Beyond, for the partner exhibiting exceptional dedication, passion and expertise – Swisscom - Switzerland
- Rising Star – Telvoyant - US
- Innovation, for creativity and thinking out of the box to deliver to the customer – PFH - Ireland
According to a recent survey among Unify’s key strategic partners, respondents lauded Unify’s reliability in a volatile market and its superior technical support, training and content. In addition, partners recognised Unify’s extensive experience in the communication and collaboration market and noted the company’s portfolio strength and breadth of products. The majority of the partners surveyed were very optimistic about expanding their Unify business over the next 12 months.
“Unify has demonstrated that it truly understands the complexity of shifting to the cloud, and has put in place the technology and program that will support our business on that journey,” said Sameer Parekh, Managing Director at Intellicon Pvt Ltd. “We look forward to working closely with Unify and leveraging OpenScape Cloud to increase our business.”
“The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Choose Your Next Move,’ and Unify really showcased that it offered its partners and customers the choices they need to optimise their business and communication process – whether it’s on-premise, hybrid or cloud,” said Soami Bhatia – Director for Gurusons Communications Pvt Ltd. “All businesses advance at their own pace, and Unify offers the ability across its portfolio to advance in the direction that’s right for Gurusons.”