A record number of Zen’s key Partners attended the event at the Forest of Arden Hotel in the Midlands. The aim was to help Partners understand how to make the most of Zen’s portfolio of products and services, as well as discussing trends in the market place and provide opportunities to network with key stakeholders in order to provide feedback into future product developments.
The day opened with Richard Tang, Zen’s Founder and Managing Director taking Partners through the company strategy and Zen’s continued commitment to the Channel. He shared exclusive insights into future plans for growth, demonstrating Zen’s ability to be a trusted and long term strategic Partner. Following on from the strategy session, Andrew Saunders, Head of Product Management and Marketing spoke about Zen’s product roadmap, and the developments being undertaken to strengthen Partners’ ability to take advantage of market trends.
Designed to enable Partners to get the maximum value out of the day, the event comprised of a mix of general and elective sessions including:
1.Zen’s company strategy
2.Product roadmap plans designed to address market trends and help Partners capitalise on the opportunities they present
3.Enhancements to online support tools to improve the support Partner can offer their own customers
4.Mini Masterclass workshops focused on specific elements of Zen’s Data, Voice and Hosting portfolio
The mini masterclass workshops were designed to give Partners an overview of Zen’s key products and services. Each session addressed the market opportunity, and provided examples of how existing Partners are using specific elements of Zen’s portfolio to build solutions which generate long term revenue.
Partners learnt how they can take advantage of Network Convergence opportunities using Zen’s connectivity portfolio including MPLS based IP VPN solutions and discover how Zen’s hosting portfolio can enable them to offer cloud computing solutions. The Zen team also went through the Fibre Optic Broadband plans for the future. Partners were able to choose to attend two of five workshops, on the following topics:
•Colocation and The Data Centre – Maximise the potential of Zen’s new Data Centre solutions to build your cloud platform
•Fibre Optic Broadband – See what the future holds
•IP VPN – Creating private cloud solutions
•SIP Connect – A wholesale calls solutions for hosted voice
•Digital Marketing – It’s simpler than you think
Mark Travis from ThePCDoctor.co.uk commented after the event: “The whole day was well orchestrated, informative and although I would have liked to be at all the Masterclass sessions, found the two I attended to be very good. I have left with lots of ideas and will be contacting Zen shortly with some new business.”
The Fibre Optic Broadband workshop included a more in-depth understanding of the rollout schedule and the drivers for growth. While the focus in the IP VPN workshop was on identifying opportunities and scoping the requirements to design a solution which addresses specific customer requirements.
Partners attending the Colocation and Data Centre workshop learnt how they could extend their portfolio and capitalise on Zen’s range of hosting services to deliver cloud-based solutions. A popular workshop was SIP Connect with registered delegates given the opportunity to see how they could integrate Zen’s latest wholesale SIP termination service with their hosted voice platforms.
An exciting conclusion to the day was the Zen Partner awards. The awards which were presented by Richard Tang and Michael Viney, Head of Channel Sales, recognise the important contribution that Zen’s Partners make to the business and reward top performers. Winners included:
•Wholesale Partner of the Year won by TSG
•Reseller Partner of the Year won by Nomical Networks
•Rising Star won by Information Technology Specialists
•Solution Sale Partner of the Year won by Antheus Telecom
•New Partner of the Year – IT Support Business
Nik Middleton, Managing Director, for Antheus Telecom said, “We are delighted to have been awarded Solution Sales Partner of the Year. Antheus have been working closely with Zen on their SIP Connect service and have had excellent call quality and reliability. We’ve used Zen to provide business grade internet connectivity for our clients over many years. It was a logical extension to use their SIP termination product as well. We’ve always considered Zen ‘Best of breed’ when it comes to broadband, not least because of their excellent UK based support.”
On collecting the award for Wholesale Partner of the Year, Mark Wood, Managing Director Technical and Telecoms,TSG commented: “We are delighted to win this award and be recognised as the Zen Wholesale Partner of the Year. At TSG we strive to offer our customers the highest levels of service possible and understand how vitally important a reliable internet connection is. Partnering with Zen enables us to offer our customers a full range of business class connectivity, all backed up by exceptional customer service and technical support. Winning this award cements our position as one of the UK’s leading IT service providers”.
“The day was a real success. It was a great opportunity to meet with our Partners and work with them to develop mutually beneficial relationships and identify opportunities to grow their business, focusing on elements of the Zen portfolio that complement their business strategy. It was also a pleasure to reward our Partners for their continued support and contribution to the business. We are already looking forward to future events.” said Andrew Saunders.