“More manufacturers are teaming up with data suppliers and putting phone systems in data centres to create a virtualised phone system of which they then sell into the channel on a seat by seat basis,” confirms Head of Category Sales, Paul Burn.
Not all hosted solutions have in the past had the same feature set as a traditional PBX system – prompting the emergence of hybrid cloud, according to Paul.
“System manufacturers are now joining the party as they recognise resellers want the additional flexibility of a per month revenue model. They are just selling one feature set rather lots of others. What hosted has done in some cases is change the conversation away from features and benefits into more of a ‘mobile phone sale’ at which point it comes down solely to price.
“Hybrid platforms tend to cover all bases and its influence is growing. For years people have been saying the PBX will die but it’s just evolving. The decision about on-premise and off-premise shouldn’t be the overriding factor. Resellers should be asking what their customers are trying to achieve and how technology can help them grow.”
Paul emphasised: “Here at Nimans we are one of the few suppliers that can covers all bases. We have a strong PBX portfolio, our own hosted offering and also hybrid solutions such as from Unify.
“For us it’s important to offer our customers access all parts of the market at their own speed and protect them from the lurches of technology until they are ready. If they want to sell standard phone systems, no worries we are here for you. If you want to sell full on hosted, we’re here and if you want to sell hybrid we are here for you as well. The market is shifting but resellers should be comfortable to move when the time is right for them.”