The biggest challenge currently facing Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers is trying to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive and commoditised market.
That’s according to Jason Uslan, vice president of sales at Wildix, who spoke exclusively with Comms Business ahead of the Wildix UC&C Summit today.
The virtual event provided actionable strategies and solutions to address the rapidly evolving workplace and UC&C market, emphasising AI-driven innovation, vertical market growth and Wildix’s channel strategy. Among the key announcements at the event were the launch of Wildix Management System 7 and a $1 million incentive pool to empower partners to close high-impact deals.
Uslan said, in a crowded market, it was vital for UCaaS companies to have an offering that makes them stand out from the competition
“It’s key to ensure that your product or solution doesn’t become commoditised to the extent that it’s just another piece of your customer’s business,” said Uslan. “You need to have a point of difference and to deliver true value to your customers.”
Among the other key challenges, said Uslan, are the current inflationary environment and economic uncertainty. As a result, he said that many buyers are mindful of budgets and what they are spending money on from an operational and capital expenditure perspective.
Another perennial problem, said Uslan, is attracting and retaining the best talent. He said that in the present market it is hard to recruit and keep quality employees, while the cost of replacing those who leave or bad hires is also expensive.
As well as rewarding them with the best possible compensation and benefits, Uslan said that companies should also help them to achieve a healthy work/life balance. That includes offering flexible and remote working to ensure they are happy in their job, but while also remaining productive and accountable.
In terms of providing solutions to customers, Uslan said that it is key to take a tailored approach based on the particular business and its vertical or industry. That requires using different sales methodologies, programs and product sets, he said.
Uslan said that, moving forward AI will have a big role to play in providing customers with the best possible solution for their needs. Rather than simply adopting the latest AI solution, he said that companies need to find one that makes their employees more effective and productive, and delivers measurable outcomes.
Partner program
Having successfully built out its partner program in 2024, Uslan said that this year Wildix’s focus will be on supporting them to realise sales opportunities, and to be more effective and efficient. By working with Wildix and using its products, tools, training and resources, including its newly-launched Sales Elevate Lab, he said that partners will be able to grow much further than previously possible.
To this end, Uslan said that the company was investing more than $1 million in the form of its partner growth fund in 2025 to help partners close deals and deliver results through the likes of special pricing, rapid deployments and offsetting costs for high-impact projects.
“2024 was about building and shaping our partner programs,” said Uslan. “As we move into 2025, now we want to take advantage of those and help our partners to realise their potential and ambitions, with the end goal of enabling them to double their revenue with Wildix year-over-year.
“In this vein, with a 100 per cent Channel focus, we are going to continue to invest in our partners with the people, programs and methodologies they need to support their business and enable them to win big. We are also reorganising our entire sales function to focus directly on our partners end-to-end.”
2025 strategy
Steve Osler, CEO of Wildix, kicked off the summit by giving and overview of UCaaS market challenges and the company’s 2025 strategy. He was followed by Alberto Benigno, CSO at Wildix, who talked about the company’s partner programs and its commitment to partner-first success.
Dimitri Osler, CTO at Wildix, and Emiliano Tomasoni, CMO at Wildix, then announced the launch of WMS 7 and presented the company’s vision for future AI advancements. WMS 7’s key features include the use of AI to provide real-time transcription to smart summarisation, thus simplifying collaboration and boosting productivity; a redesigned interface that is intuitive and accessible across all devices; and built-in security.
That was proceeded by Ian Rowan, CEO of x-hoppers, speaking about his product and how it is tackling retail challenges such as shrinkage and turnover, and highlighting a case study where it had been successfully deployed.
Riccardo Venturi, senior solutions architect at AWS, then talked about how the company’s infrastructure is supporting Wildix solutions, before partners Stiebel Eltron, Make.Contact and House of Spells shared their success stories of working with Wildix and using its products. Steve Osler wrapped up with his key takeaways and Wildix’s vision for 2025.
Osler surmised, "Every announcement, product or project we unveiled has one goal: empowering our partners and their customers to succeed. With WMS 7’s advanced transcription and summarisation capabilities, x-bees’ intelligent sales solutions and x-hoppers’ transformative retail tools, we are equipping partners to grow their businesses by delivering solutions that meet modern workplace challenges.
“By focusing exclusively on the Channel, we ensure our partners have the resources and tools they need to drive impactful results for their customers."