Channeling the Opportunity at Microsoft World Partner Conference 2015

[La Toya Hodge (Polycom_LaToyaH)]

Polycom and Microsoft have a track record spanning more than a decade.  Together we build innovative solutions that support large enterprises as well as small to medium businesses (SMB). This partnership provides several unique opportunities for Polycom’s channel community to:

• Drive Skype for Business license adoption with Polycom’s voice and video devices
• Grow revenue with increased service engagements with Polycom’s meeting room solution integration
• Deliver a complete, high quality, comprehensive communications experience with natively integrated voice and video devices

We sat down with Randy Riebe, Director of Business Development at Polycom to discuss the untapped opportunity for the channel:

Q: Describe how the Polycom + Microsoft relationship benefits Polycom’s channel: 

Randy: Polycom and Microsoft deliver high quality, comprehensive communication experiences for companies looking for a rich communications solution by offering a breadth of natively integrated voice and meeting devices, supported by deep expertise and global reach. Only Polycom offers a comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions spanning voice, video, telepresence  and services, all certified for Skype for Business. The Polycom RealConnect solution is just one example; it is the ultimate door opener within an account because this solution provides:

• Improved productivity
• Outlook scheduling for conference calls supporting any modality from multiple platforms  using a familiar calendar solution with no plugins
• Customers can join a conference call as they would in a typical work day and collaborate fully with non-Skype for Business/Lync participants for voice, video, and content sharing
• Investment protection across both traditional room systems and Skype for Business/Lync deployments

Q: How do we stack up against the competition? What accounts are the best candidates for our joint solutions?

Randy: Global corporations across virtually every industry and vertical from manufacturing, banking and financial services, retail, the auto industry and more are perfect candidates.  For example, progressive solution providers can take a leadership position within the public sector from local municipalities to large administrative offices within the government. There are also lucrative opportunities within large national hospitals to regional clinics. Public policy is shifting in favor of investing in technology to improve workflows within these types of accounts.

Q: What are the implications for partners if they drive Skype for Business adoption and usage with Polycom voice and video devices?

Randy: The numbers tell the true story, according to IDC the Unified communications and Collaboration market is about twenty seven billion dollars. Today there are ten thousand Skype for Business/Lync server domains, ninety percent of Fortune 500 companies use Skype for Business/Lync and sixty percent of enterprises are deploying or planning to deploy. The opportunity for the channel is massive.

Q:Describe the opportunities with regards to service engagements?

Randy:The revenue opportunity with servicing ten thousand Skype for Business/Lync server domains is vast. Consider the myriad of opportunities within the sixty percent of enterprise accounts that are deploying or planning to deploy Skype for Business/Lync. There is an inherent need for design, implementation, network monitoring and other advanced services.  Providing a worry-free experience via services provides incremental revenue both in the short and longer term.  These services provide a clearer and more predictable path to technology upgrades and more for solution providers.

Q:What does our native integration mean for the channel?  How will their customers or prospects benefit?

Randy: Polycom provides direct integration versus a gateway approach which reduces implementation issues, network overhead is not required and there are absolutely no additional hardware costs which are all common pain points for customers.  More often than not these concerns can derail a deal, but due to our long standing partnership and joint development these issues are completely eliminated. Polycom is the only solution provider of voice, video, platform and content solutions that directly integrate into Microsoft applications.

Q: Some partners aren’t leveraging their Microsoft certifications or our joint solutions within their base of customers, are they leaving money on the table?

Randy: Absolutely, partners that invested but aren’t leveraging their Microsoft certifications or our joint solutions within their base of customers are leaving money on the table and making it easier for their competition to flip these accounts.

Partners should stop by Polycom’s booth #1501 to meet with my team. We’re offering four sessions next week at WPC targeted at non-Polycom partners that want to dive deeper on the opportunity on this topic:

Monday, 7/13 at 1:00 – 2:00 PM in meeting room #23 South Exhibit Hall B

Tuesday, 7/14 at 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM in meeting room #23 South Exhibit Hall B

Tuesday, 7/14 at 1:00 – 2:00 PM in meeting room #23 South Exhibit Hall B

Wednesday, 7/15 at 1:00 – 2:00 PM in meeting room #23 South Exhibit Hall B

WPC attendees can click here to register for one of these sessions  

We recently produced a great series of webinars on this topic, I highly recommend viewing them and then discussing next steps with a Polycom channel account manager.

Related Content:

Skype for Business is Now Available. What will Microsoft and Polycom deliver next?

Partnering with the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem

How and Why Polycom Integration Services Deliver So Much More than Ease of Us

UC Software 5.3.0.12074 on Polycom VVX phones passes Microsoft Qualification