Avaya Engages Government Consultants at Avaya ENGAGE

At its annual customer and user group event, Avaya ENGAGE 2021 in Orlando, Avaya introduced its first program for government consultants who had a front-row view to sessions and announcements. This was the first time Avaya brought together the public sector consultant and influencer community with a specialized program at Engage, providing educational and informative sessions customized for this group’s needs.

Avaya ENGAGE, hosted by Avaya and the International Avaya Users Group (IAUG), provided a showcase for keynotes, panel discussions, learning labs, partner exhibits, a hackathon, and more, providing an opportunity for learning and networking (and some fun entertainment). Government consultants heard from Avaya leaders, as well as outside subject matter experts discussing unified communications (UC) and contact center trends, best practices for moving to the cloud, how Avaya solutions can help government agencies, and more.

Avaya has long provided programs and offerings for the government and public sector, including federal, state and local government, public safety, intelligence community, federal civilian, etc. To help gain more traction in this market, the company has been focusing on consultants, lobbyists, and other influencers. For example, Avaya created a Public Sector Consultant Community designed to help facilitate education and sharing of best practices for government consultants. The program includes shared digital assets and best practices, education on relevant topics and technologies, a microsite, bulletins and emails, C-level meetings, and more. The goal is to help consultants help their clients meet digital modernization goals to improve interactions with citizens and employees, with a special focus on issues such as Cybersecurity and Risk Management.

The State and Local Government and education (SLED) market is key for companies like Avaya, as it represents a large number of agencies and workers, including:

• 50 states (plus DC) serving the entire U.S. population (328 million) and employing 3 million workers
• 36,000 municipalities and 3,000 counties serving the entire U.S. population and employing 7 million workers
• 13,600 public school systems serving 51.7 million students and employing 6 million teachers, assistants, and administrators
• 7,000 higher education institutions serving 18.4 million students and employing 4.0 million instructors, assistants, and administrators
• 38,000 special districts providing a wide range of operational and fiscal services.

At Avaya ENGAGE, I had the opportunity to present to government consultants, and sit down with some of Avaya’s program leaders, including:

• Jerry Dotson, VP Area Sales Leader, Federal Government
• Craig Haskins, Business Value Analyst, Public Sector
• Vince Martinez, Executive Government Advisor, SLED

In this video interview, we discussed Avaya’s Government Solutions Program, key messages and takeaways from the Engage event, and steps the consultants should consider taking in the near future.