Avaya CEO Jim Chirico On Beating Inertia And How Cloud, Subscriptions Will Cultivate Channel Growth

“I need the channel to sell the new,” Avaya's CEO Jim Chirico told CRN while discussing the UC giant’s pivot in favor of cloud and subscriptions to help Avaya return to growth.

How big is the partner opportunity around device as a service?

In the channel, to be honest, our device as a service has been [available] for about 6 months but revenues are below expectations. It may pick up a bit more with cloud as we now have a new cloud offering [Avaya Cloud Office powered by RingCentral (ACO)], but most of who we sell to, to buy a phone outright or pay $3 a month for a phone, really isn't a big differentiation. If you’re an SMB play, which we are doing with cloud and ACO -- we'll have a bit more of uptick, especially as we go through the master agent channel, but for our general business, it's an option, but not too many people have checked the box.

Avaya is obviously a company that has gone and is still going through a major transition. What's your message to partners right now?

I want to thank the partners for all they've done for Avaya - it’s a significant part of our overall revenue for the company. My second message is: be all in. What I mean by that is, our product portfolios are changing, the industry is changing, and I need the channel to sell the new. Help sell subscription, our private cloud offer, as well as our new ACO offer which will be available later this quarter. We are looking to expand the overall portfolio, the offers, and we are looking for you to help us grow and get back to revenue growth and market share expansion.