Avaya Worldwide Channel Chief Jeremy Butt Exiting in March

Avaya has confirmed Jeremy Butt, vice president of worldwide channels, is leaving the company at the end of March 2012, after almost four years with the organization.

According to an Avaya spokesperson, his position will not be filled; rather, Tom Mitchell, Avaya’s senior vice president and president, Avaya Go to Market — and Butt’s boss — will oversee all Avaya’s channel operations from a global perspective.

Butt, who joined Avaya in June 2008 from Motorola, where he was channel chief, was brought on to lead Avaya’s channel sales organization and develop strategies and programs for its global channel partner base. During his tenure, Butt helped transition the company to a more channel-centric model and guided Avaya and its partners through the company’s acquisition of Nortel’s enterprise business.

Mitchell said via e-mail Butt’s leadership was instrumental in ensuring Avaya’s success as a channel-focused organization.

“He came to Avaya to help with a difficult transition from a largely direct sales organization to one that was channel-centric,” Mitchell said. “His success in this is evidenced by the current 78 percent indirect vs. 22 percent direct global sales figures. During that tenure, he also integrated thousands of channel partners that came on board with the Nortel acquisition.”

Butt also helped Avaya and its partners expand beyond traditional PBX technology into IP communications and unified communications — an area experiencing continued growth.

Mitchell noted Butt’s decision to leave was something that “transpired in recent weeks.”
“He has been working non-stop since he arrived, and is ready for a little rest, family time and to determine what his next challenge will be,” Mitchell said.

He also emphasized the move was not part of an effort to streamline the channel exec ranks; however, in an interview with CRN, Mitchell alluded there would be some reorganizational changes in the channel ranks.

Meanwhile, Mitchell said he plans to increase the visibility of Avaya’s channel organization even further within the company.

“[I] provide a direct seat for Channels on the Senior Executive Committee, and … will be elevating the channel organization strategy and development teams, having them report directly to [me],” he said via e-mail. “Second, under Jeremy’s leadership, the Avaya Connect Channel program became a highly functional framework for our global partner program.  … Jeremy [and I] have been working closely for two years at Avaya and while we are not backfilling Jeremy’s role, that framework is strong enough to enable us to continue building the world-class partner program that delivers market-leading value to partners and customers. Our commitment to the channel has never been stronger.”

Mitchell, who has deep roots in the channel as a former Cisco channel chief, will help lead Avaya’s channel partners worldwide as the company shifts its partner message to selling solutions in key segments and makes further attempts to streamline its partner engagements through a simplified pricing structure and other value-adds.

In an interview during Avaya’s 2012 U.S. Gov/Sales Leadership and Partner Conference, Mitchell noted the new partner strategy is in response to a general shift in the marketplace.

“Customers have changed the way they buy and what they expect. It’s no longer the IT department that VARs are selling to — now it’s the person in the C-suite. Channel partners do well by starting with the CFO,” Mitchell said. “Our partners are fortunate in that our products lend a lot of productivity in the market.

“It’s all about doing more with less and it’s a much different selling notion than just selling an upgrade to telephony systems,” he added. “We need to move to a sales organization that might be used to selling that and incent them to do that. This is being driven by the market.”