The addition of Nortel Enterprise Solutions has further enhanced Avaya's strategic position in providing business communications solutions: Avaya India

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Please shed some light on Avaya's Nortel
acquisition and how that alliance is going?

In December 2009 Avaya announced the successful completion of its
acquisition of Nortel Enterprise Solutions (NES). The addition of NES
has further enhanced Avaya's strategic position in providing business
communications solutions and services for enterprise customers. The
acquisition has given the company added scale, resources and expertise
to deliver a portfolio of solutions and services around the globe.
Avaya now benefits from an expanded partner ecosystem, a broader
portfolio, an enhanced customer base, and a greater ability to compete
globally. The company also extends relationships with channel partners,
systems integrators and service providers who serve the enterprise
market.

Our customer base and our technology portfolios were even more
complementary than we imagined, and we were able to complete the
acquisition on schedule and announce our combined product roadmap
within 30 days of closing the deal — as we had promised. That roadmap
gives customers a clear evolution path as they upgrade their networks
to the next generation of business communications. This will be an
evolution defined by Avaya Aura, which is based on the Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP), this will help redefine the IT value
proposition and offer the best return on investment for real-time
business communications.

What about Avaya Global Connect's
partnership with the Essar group?

On May 30th Avaya announced that hat it has agreed to sell its
approximate 59% ownership interest in AGC Networks to affiliates of the
Essar Group.

The sale of its AGC Networks stake will enable Avaya to drive
additional focus on two of its strategic imperatives: the development
of the Avaya business in India and the growth and extension of its
channel coverage model through Avaya's global channel program, Avaya
Connect. AGC Networks remains a key channel partner of Avaya serving
customers in the Indian and Australian markets.

With the recent excitement in the telecom
sector regarding 3G, BWA spectrum auctions and excess 2G spectrum, how
would this effect Avaya, or how is it using the same to its advantage?

As Avaya drives the implementation of the next generation of
enterprise communications, there are three key areas in which Avaya
plays a role in harnessing this explosion in mobility. Firstly,
business users increasingly expect mobile access to all of the same
services and business applications that they have when at their desks.
Avaya's unified communications solutions extend that corporate
environment to remote workers, road warriors and smaller businesses
which rely exclusively on mobile devices for their interactions.
Secondly, customers interacting with businesses large and small want to
have a consistent experience — regardless of how they are contacting
that company. With the advent of next-generation contact center
technology, both contact center agents and the clients they serve can
be on any device in any location — and enjoy a better level of
interaction than a traditional fixed telephony contact center could
provide. And finally with the explosion of video and the need for
increasingly high bandwidth wireless access to support users' needs,
Avaya's innovation in the video space will help ensure users young and
old get a rich multimedia experience while on the go.

Anything new that Avaya is doing at
present or planning to launch in the coming months..

Avaya is at the forefront of the next generation of real-time
business communications. Our innovation team has never been busier —
and our combined resources after the NES acquisition represent a
formidable team. Having announced a combined solution roadmap in
January, we are on the verge of some exciting new announcements as we
take our technology to the next level. You'll see the details emerge in
the next 30-45 days, but expect new innovation in the contact center,
unified communications and collaboration spaces, to complement our
recent data portfolio enhancements announced in April. These are
exciting solutions that will truly unleash business potential, using
communications tools to enable business processes and drive enhanced
productivity, enhancing customer service through richer contact center
interactions, and unleashing a new approach to multimedia collaboration.

What are the company's future plans for
the Indian market and expansion plans?

India is an integral part of Avaya's aggressive plans for our
business in the Asia Pacific Region. Overall in APAC, our clearly
stated goal is to double our business in three years, starting from
when we completed the NES acquisition. That is quite some growth target.

In India, we have an extremely strong base, with a leadership
position in the contact center and unified communications space, and a
wealth of data — networking customers. We will drive our business
growth strongly through the evolution of our high-touch,
channel-centric business model. As I mentioned earlier, we are
divesting our stake in AGC Networks. AGC continues to be a platinum
channel partner, and we are also working with major players such as
Wipro, HCL, IBM, HP, Orange Business Services and our two main
distribution channels — Beetel and Redington — to grow our business.
This two tier model makes perfect sense — we have a stronger reach and
presence on the ground through our channel partners, while ensuring our
own experts are on hand to provide the Avaya touch that is required.
And our growing services portfolio allows us to work with those
partners to provide truly value-added service to customers.

What are your thoughts about the scope
of emerging technologies in the Indian market?

The needs of business around the world are evolving - and India is
no different. At Avaya we believe that open standards and open
architecture — with the enablement of SIP technology — are heralding a
new era of multi-device, multi-modal communications that will lead to
significant productivity gains, service enhancements, cost reduction
and new revenue streams. Avaya's solutions are what we call 'fit for
purpose'. We are focused exclusively on the business communications
space. Our customers want solutions that unlock value in their
businesses, and that connect their employees and their customers more
effectively. Business large and small are investing once again as the
global economy emerges from its downturn. Indian businesses are at the
forefront of the growth which is returning to that global economy — and
we are delighted to be able to help those businesses evolve their
communications environments to support an exciting, dynamic and
growth-fuelled future.

berylm@cybermedia.co.in