Avaya to host its largest-ever channel gathering for Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

To meet increasing regional demand for IP telephony applications, contact centers and unified communications solutions, the company will also offer this week a two-day sales training for more than 80 partners in the Middle East.

During the annual BusinessPartner conference, for which over 200 delegates will be attending from the region's leading distributors, system integrators, service providers and value-added resellers (VARs), Avaya will also name the recipients of the Avaya Channel Awards, given annually to channel partners for market growth and achievements during 2006.

"2006 was a banner year for Avaya's Business Partners across the MENA region, with significant growth for both Applications sales in large enterprises and in the rapidly-increasing SME segment," stated Roger El-Tawil, channel & marketing director for Avaya MENA. "To enhance the growing community of regional applications experts,, we're also hosting two days of comprehensive training on the most in-demand applications for contact centers and unified communications solutions.

One of the critical growth areas for Avaya in the Middle East is the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment, an area that will receive significant attention during the BusinessPartner conference. Avaya is supporting the increased technology adoption by regional SMEs by enhancing its market coverage and intensively training channel partners from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other key markets.

The Avaya BusinessPartner conference will present regional channel members with the opportunity to meet Pat Hume, Avaya's Vice President for Channels, EMEA, who will discuss Avaya's channel motto, 'The Power of ONE.' During the two-day event, Avaya will also recognize a number of its top partner performers in the Middle East and conduct an annual survey to analyse changing business demands in the region's channel community.

Avaya Development Connect partners will exhibit their value-add to the Avaya solution portfolio at the BusinessPartner conference include Al Masa, Emerging Technologies, Extreme Networks, FVC, HP Procurve Juniper Networks, New Voice, Polycom, Teleopti, Tiger and Wipro.