ScanSource Communications Adds Cloud-Based ShoreTel Sky To Its Portfolio

ScanSource Communications, a unit of distributor ScanSource, Wednesday said it has added ShoreTel Sky to its portfolio.

ShoreTel Sky is a cloud-based offering that provides call routing, connectivity and integration with business-focused applications all within one phone system, the company said. Because ShoreTel Sky does not require a hardware installation, updates are done online.

ScanSource Communications said it is now the only distributor to offer both ShoreTel on-premise and cloud-based solutions to its solution provider partners.

"From the standpoint of being able to buy and procure and be supportive of all of the ShoreTel solutions at one place, that's big, because this is not an 'either/or' product," said Rich Long, president of Greenville, S.C.-based ScanSource Communications, in an interview with CRN. "There is a business problem that needs to be solved and ShoreTel can solve it, but sometimes it’s a hybrid approach with their [on-premise] or cloud solution. Sometimes it's all-cloud and sometimes it's all [on-premise], but certainly we are in a phase of deployment and consumption of these solutions. That's not 'either/or.' It's most often a hybrid approach today, and being able to secure all that in one place is critical."

[Related: Channel Partners Carving Out Services Niche In 3-D Printing Market]

"We find value in this hybrid approach for customers," said Mike Carney, senior vice president of AGC Networks, a ScanSource Communications and ShoreTel partner based in Irving, Texas. "The key for customers of medium to large size is to be able to have an offering that meets multiple criteria, so this hybrid approach where you can use a cloud solution in some instances as well as an [on-premise] base is absolutely the wave of the future. I think what ShoreTel can do with their hybrid Sky offering for medium and large customers is very powerful. They are just getting around to offering that and are putting it in place with their largest distributor, and that's part of the solution. That's definitely a positive thing for all the players involved."

ShoreTel, Sunnyvale, Calif., said ShoreTel Sky is being adopted at a high rate, with almost half of the company's more than 500 partners across the U.S. including it in their portfolios.

David Petts, senior vice president of sales at ShoreTel, said there is a comfort factor for solution providers that already partner with ScanSource. ScanSource is an authorized training partner for ShoreTel and allows partners to get certified and trains them on transitioning to the cloud.

"This is a very significant partnership that we've had that aligns around the total opportunity, and that is reassuring to the partners. [It] brings confidence to the partners that both ScanSource and ShoreTel share a common view of how the market is transforming and a desire to enable [them] to address that total market opportunity," Petts told CRN. "I think it's a very important investment and additional commitment that ScanSource is making to that equation and [it is] very beneficial to the partners in that regard."

PUBLISHED MARCH 11, 2015