Avaya Hires Former Deloitte Exec to Manage SI Relationships

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Avaya has hired Ron Griggs, formerly with Deloitte Consulting, as vice president of system-integrator (SI) relations.

Griggs will work closely with SIs globally, heading the go-to-market strategy that will bring together the resources, tools and assets to drive joint success and growth, the company said. He and his team will develop and manage SI relationships across functional areas, from business and offering development, to sales and marketing.

Avaya’s Ron Griggs

“SIs are proving to be great enablers for digital transformation, although it becomes a greater challenge for them to understand how to map and merge the many diverse technologies available into highly functional systems that will bring the greatest benefits to a business,” Griggs said. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves with these partners, helping them learn what our solutions offer, and exploring how we can integrate with other technologies to deliver innovative business models and entirely new value for themselves and their clients.”

At Deloitte, Griggs was responsible for alliance sales executive management for cloud, digital, networking and security vendors. He also spent more than 20 years at Accenture, ultimately serving as a managing director/partner for more than a decade in a tenure marked by revenue and market share growth. His earlier career includes stints at Sequent Computer Systems – which was acquired by IBM – Robec Distributors and Unisys.

Avaya said SIs play an increasingly significant role in guiding customer planning and decision making to introduce emerging technologies designed to enhance and grow their business. Integration with its portfolio of UC and contact center platforms can amplify the business impact, it said.

“As a proven strategist who delivers business growth with partners, Ron Griggs is an outstanding addition to our team,” said Jim Chirico, Avaya’s president and CEO. “He has a deep understanding of the needs and requirements in engaging and building new practices with SIs as we expand our partner ecosystem to deliver differentiated business value to customers.”