Mitel-Vidyo Partnership to Leverage Mitel UC Suite

Vidyo's HD video and telepresence solutions are now being distributed by Mitel; it is expected that this move will strengthen the latter's unified communications (UC) suite and provide channel partners with more videoconferencing play.

Mitel's cloud-based collaboration and voice solutions, or those that are part of the newly branded MiCloud as a Service offering, will be rounded out as a result of the Vidyo partnership.

The director of business development and strategic alliances at Mitel, Alan Zurakowski, said that partnership with Vidyo was preferred because the software-based approach from Vidyo worked better with Mitel's aim to distribute collaboration technologies via the cloud.

Zurakowski said: "The market potential for us was that [Vidyo's] solution fits very well with ours in terms of it being a software-based solution that runs in a virtualized environment and addresses the bring-your-own-device market. We think, frankly, from a partnership perspective, it's a match made in heaven."

The HD videoconferencing platform offered by Vidyo is able to strengthen Adaptive Video Layering (AVL) technology, which means that general data networks or the Internet for connectivity is made available to users, instead of a dedicated QoS network. In the last year, Vidyo has leveraged its investor and channel backing, and since its debut in 2005, around 300 channel partners have generated $116 million in capital funding.

Mitel's virtualized Unified Communicator Advanced software and Vidyo's conferencing platform were made accessible through VMware View last year, when Mitel teamed up with Vidyo and VMware for the first time.

Vidyo's platform is expected to be integrated with all UC and collaboration products because Mitel is now an official distributor of Vidyo solutions.

Zurakowski stated: "This is significant for Mitel on a number of fronts, the main one being that we did not have a full, end-to-end video solution, in terms of room systems and clients and bring-your-own-device and infrastructure."

In order to sell the newly integrated products, Mitel channel partners do not need to be recertified. Fulton Communications is a Norcross, Georgia-based solution provider, and the VP of Sales at that company, Brian Hawk, noted that the new partnership leverages Mitel's UC suite and highlights the commitment Mitel has to delivering collaboration technologies for virtualized or cloud-based environments.

Hawk said: "The whole market wants to get away from premise-based equipment, so to be able to bring our solution to the cloud and give our clients the robust capabilities they are looking for, and now adding video, makes this a really complete solution."

The senior vice president of Market Development at Vidyo, Marty Hollander, commented that information about Vidyo solutions are sought after by Mitel partners, and they are also keen to learn when the company's own channel training materials will be accessible.

Hollander said: "Vidyo has developed these online courses - we call them the 100, 200 and 300 series - to train our own channel partners, and obviously those are available and perhaps will even be hosted on the Mitel side. We are already prepared to help train people on understanding and how to sell the Vidyo product line." (CY) Link