The UK event was broadcasted from Polycom’s Executive Experience Centre in London and was attended by existing and prospective channel partners educated on current collaboration trends and the manner in which Polycom is approaching this exciting market.
Phillip Pexton, Industry Analyst from Canalys, demonstrated the opportunity for video across EMEA – forecasting the market to grow by 34% from the period of 2012-2017: "This is a massive opportunity for resellers. Microsoft Lync is currently disrupting the market in a big way and threatening traditional IP PBX players. Polycom has a Market Leadership Strategic alliance with Microsoft and is currently the leader in Lync phone shipments in EMEA with more than 60 percent of the market."
He continued, "As Unified Communications solutions become more complex with the move from hardware to software, increase in multi-vendor solutions, and ever-evolving eco-systems – the need for simplicity in doing business, deployment, support and processes has never been more important. Bringing it all together and simplifying business and processes – this is where the real value lies."
Channel partners also conducted regional break-out sessions to learn more about Polycom and Microsoft's shared vision – as well as the Polycom RealPresence® CloudAXIS™ Suite. In-depth demonstrations were also offered for all attendees.
"We've talked about video conferencing taking off for so long now that it's refreshing to see such progress. Historically, video conferencing has been difficult to use and has presented issues with affordability and complexity in deploying the solutions. With the consumerisation of IT and the need for access anywhere - coupled with Polycom and Microsoft's vision - we can embrace this compelling video proposition. Be assured that Westcon will bring the proposition together and guide us along the way by simplifying processes and providing sales, marketing and technical support to reduce our time-to-revenue," said Lyn Driscoll, Account Director from Britannic Technologies - a Polycom Video UK Business Partner.