Avaya is hoping its new group of services specializations will help its channel partners grow their customer reach and increase revenue.
The Avaya Services Delivery Specialization (SDS) program, introduced this week, categorizes Avaya BusinessPartners and AlliancePartners by their level of expertise in implementation, maintenance support and application integration.

“We’re actually calling it a specialization – it’s not a requirement. Partners can elect alignment with their strategy,” said Susan Kuchinski, director of worldwide channel services business development at Avaya. “Partners have given us positive feedback over the logo because they believe it gives them a leg up in the marketplace.”

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The SDS program consists of four categories. The first, Implementation Specialist, is for authorized Avaya BusinessPartners and AlliancePartners that achieve advanced capabilities in implementation. The second, Implementation Professional, recognizes “services only” Avaya channel partners that do not sell Avaya products but have advanced capabilities in implementation services.

The third category, Support Specialist, is for Platinum, Gold and Silver-certified Avaya BusinessPartners and AlliancePartners who sell across multiple platforms of Avaya products and solutions and are well-versed in post-sales maintenance and support services. And the fourth category, Integration Expert, recognizes Platinum, Gold and Silver-certified Avaya BusinessPartners and AlliancePartners who are experts in Avaya unified communications and/or contact center portfolios and are capable of integrating Avaya applications in a multivendor environment. These partners must also meet all requirements of the Implementation and Support Specialist designations, according to Avaya.

“These designations are intended for partners building their own services practice,” Kuchinski said. “This program is absolutely a major step in demonstrating our channel strategy and those channel partners with service strength.”

Each services specialization carries its own Certified Specialist requirements for IP telephony, modular messaging, contact center or unified communications. The Implementation Specialist, Implementation Professional and Support Specialist categories require a minimum of two Avaya Certified Specialists in IP telephony and two in modular messaging. Integration Expert, meanwhile, requires four Avaya Certified Specialists in IP telephony, contact center and unified communications, or a mix of other Avaya Certified Specialists.

Each designation category carries certain levels of competency and certifications, as well as requirements for staffing in their service centers, industry certifications, customer references and customer satisfaction ratings of 85 percent or higher.

“We have probably 15 partners that have applied since the program was announced to them,” Kuchinski said. “We’re seeing more of them understanding the overall health benefits to their practice by implementing a services practice of their own.”