Annese Expands UC Offerings, Partners with Cisco Distributor EC3
Annese Expands UC Offerings, Partners with Cisco Distributor EC3 by UCStrategies Staff
Annese & Associates, Inc., an integrated communications systems provider, expands its suite of UC offerings by signing a partnership agreement with EC3, a cloud-based UC solutions provider and distributor of Cisco products. The deal, which is viewed as a tactical move for Annese, is said to focus on providing a hosted unified communications option to its conventional offering.
Meanwhile, Annese & Associates is in the process of changing its current business model to concentrate on placing cloud, managed, and hosted services around the company’s portfolio of Collaboration and Data Center Virtualization solutions.
EC3’s Synergy solution, on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform that covers a range of video, messaging, hosted voice, and collaboration solutions and services designed for integrators, IT resellers, value-added resellers (VARs), and managed service providers (MSPs).
EC3 was launched in October 2012. Daniel Newman, CEO of EOS and EVP of Cisco Systems distributor TMD, claimed that although EC3’s packages incorporate Cisco hardware, they are open standard. EC3’s services are subscription-based, and they can either be used in a turnkey basis to include all hardware, such as IP phones, routers, etc., or in a license-only basis where partners can get their hardware elsewhere.
As more and more companies no longer own or maintain their workplace communications infrastructure, the demand for managed service providers is growing. Managed services let business owners pass on the responsibility and investment to a trusted MSP, then reap the benefits of increased efficiency and reduced capital and operating costs. Moreover, MSPs are expected to deal with the explosion of BYOD, as well as the underlying security risks posed by BYOD initiatives to enterprises.
Annese & Associates, Inc. has moved its headquarters recently from Herkimer, an upstate town in New York, to a new Capital Region office where it is stationed near the center of state government. Annese was also granted an Advanced Data Center Architecture specialization by Cisco. The specialization acknowledges Annese’s fulfillment of the training requirements and prerequisites to design, sell, and deploy a broad range of Cisco Data Center solutions.
“Whether we are able to develop these managed offerings internally or partner out, we will make the necessary investments to ensure best-in-breed solutions for our customers,” said Jamie Aiello, vice president of Services at Annese & Associates, Inc. “Annese feels that with the addition of EC3’s Synergy solution, we are strongly positioned to offer a comprehensive hosted UC solution to any market.” (KOM) Link. Link.