Avaya’s new product strategy delivered by the recently installed CEO Alan Masarek offers little differentiation, compared to Masarek’s predecessor and other key competitors, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Gregg Willsky, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Certain initiatives currently underway will yield greater clarity of purpose for customers and employees, and the company has an impressive set of assets. However, Avaya’s overall approach to the market is highly reminiscent of former CEO Jim Chirico’s, as well as other legacy technology players such as Cisco and Mitel.”

Avaya is trimming its product portfolio to better support its key mission of meeting customers wherever they are in their cloud journey (on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid) and to migrate them at their own pace.

Willsky continues: “Fewer products means less expense, less operational gymnastics, and faster time to market. Avaya’s Experience Platform is a key driver of this product strategy. It’s the engine Avaya will use to deliver offers it has decided to retain (mainly unified communications and collaboration), as well as offers the company has decided to newly invest in (contact center as-a-service and customer experience).”

Working in Avaya’s favor is a broad customer base of 90,000 organizations spread across 190 countries, a large partner ecosystem, one of the highest revenue bases in the industry, a sizable patent portfolio, and deep brand recognition.

Willsky notes: “If the new CEO can harness these assets, implement greater transparency, reliability and clarity, and carve out routes to market that are independent from his predecessor’s, Avaya will be on a promising path.”