Mitel Partners Recognized for Vertical Specialty Commitment

Mitel just announced the addition of 53 fresh partner names in North America who received its vertical-specific specialization award in 2024.

The annual honor goes to Mitel partners, who the company says "display a comprehensive understanding of unique sector needs and are committed to working with Mitel to share industry and product knowledge."

The program now boasts some 65 specialization partners who span four verticals: public sector, health care, hospitality and financial services, with companies such as Blackbox and Datacomm Networks topping the list this year.

Jonathan Buckle, SVP of Americas at Mitel, expressed that Mitel is committed to offering solutions that are "tailored to reality," adding that those Mitel partners who made the list this year are what he calls "a testament to the time and resources our partners have dedicated to developing extensive industry-specific knowledge."

Initially launched in 2021 for Mitel partners in the hospitality market, Mitel partners who earn the distinction each year gain access to various incentives such as business intelligence tools, custom marketing support/materials and more.

Furthermore, in line with recognizing a fresh set of Mitel partners who focus on verticals, the unified communications giant declared the global availability of a virtual care collaboration suite launched in seven European markets.

Related:Mitel Looks to Place More AI in Patient Care

Mitel users in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland can all leverage the technology, with Mitel saying it will roll out the solution worldwide in the third quarter.

Mitel Partners Seem Energized

Mitel partners at Converged Technology Professionals (CTG) sang Mitel's praises.

"As a longstanding platinum and top support partner, I applaud Mitel's approach to tackling health care, one of the hottest verticals today," said CTG co-CEO Joe Rittenhouse.

CTG's Joe Rittenhouse

Rittenhouse also noted that partners can benefit from the new health care offer by "leveraging the communication tool to familiarize themselves with health care terminology and use cases."

He recognizes, however, some fundamental setbacks to getting into the vertical business.

"While ramping up a vertical practice doesn't take long, the essential knowledge transfer often does," Rittenhouse said, something he believes makes Mitel's investment in vertical practices and education beneficial for the partner community.

"Historically, viable verticals were limited to SLED (state, local and education), with financial services and health care lacking attention, so it's encouraging to see these strategic investments, as a high tide raises all boats," Rittenhouse shared.

From a monthly recurring revenue perspective, Rittenhouse called that the lifeblood of any organization.

"As support agreements decline and the market shifts toward a SaaS model, understanding how to build MRR is crucial," he said, noting that Mitel's approach makes this process straightforward for Mitel partners.

"Mitel's direction and pragmatic program changes, focusing on these needed areas, help legacy partners transition and benefit all parties moving forward," Rittenhouse said.

Mitel's Voyage to Contemporize

Much like its main rival, Avaya, one criticism of Mitel is a failure to appear modern. However, for both companies, that notion seems to be shifting.

With most of its business on-premises, it might be fair criticism. Acquiring Unify last October was one cog in the machine that helped people change their perspective of Mitel. Pair this with the fact that Mitel hopes to sprinkle more artificial intelligence into its offers, be it over the top, via a hybrid delivery model, or solely from the cloud.

It also appears the company and its leaders have embraced modern tools, including those that enable its partners to get top dollar on products that are getting into the hands of more companies across the globe.

Mitel has also stressed putting capital into research and development, and assembling its fairly robust channel partner program to further contend with others.