Mitel chasing top spot in unified communications space as monumental 2024 looms

January 8, 2024

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Entering its sixth decade, Mitel says it is primed to make a run at the top spot in the unified communication space after closing a deal to acquire European telecom giant Unify last October. Kanata-based Mitel, which turned 50 last June, is still working out all the kinks that come with integrating a company with 3,000 employees into its operations. The two organizations have been working feverishly to meld their offerings into a cohesive package to take to market. But one of the firm’s top local executives says he’s encouraged by the degree of co-operation he’s seen so far, adding the new-look Mitel plans to unveil more details about its long-term marketing and sales strategy in the next couple of months. “We’ve spent a lot of energy between (closing the deal) and now getting aligned on that (integration) hypothesis across the organization,” vice-president of engineering and operations Al Hurren told OBJ last week. “Like any hypothesis, you have to test it and adjust as you learn more information. We’re fairly confident in what we have now.” It’s clear that 2024 is poised to be a significant year for the Ottawa telecommunications industry mainstay, which has made no secret of its goal to reach the summit of a unified communications sector that’s now valued at more than US$113 billion and is expected to grow at least another 17 per cent by the end of the decade, according to Forbes. At first glance, the acquisition of Unify checks off most of the key boxes for Mitel as it sets its sights on UC supremacy. The newly combined entity boasts in excess of 75 million users – more than double Mitel’s previous total of about 35 million – in 100-plus countries. Prominent tech analyst Zeus Kerravala said last year the deal would give Mitel roughly a 20 per cent share of the world’s estimated total of 400 million business desktops, vaulting it into a dead heat with California-based Avaya – a company Mitel looked at buying back in 2019 – for top spot in the industry. Part of Unify’s appeal to Mitel is the different strengths the European company brings to the table. For example, while Mitel is a go-to provider of cloud-based, hybrid and on-premise communications and collaboration tools for many small to medium-sized customers in North America, Unify has a stranglehold on the European enterprise market, especially in top-tier countries such as Germany and France. Unify is also firmly entrenched in verticals like health care and financial services, which complements Mitel’s hold on clients in industries such as retail and hospitality. Besides dramatically expanding Mitel’s geographical footprint and overall customer base, the marriage with Unify adds more bells and whistles to the Ottawa firm’s service offerings. Hurren notes that Mitel has always been a “product-driven” company, happy to install its headsets and other hardware and software but lacking in managed services expertise. That’s now changed in a big way. Unify prides itself on its extensive suite of managed service offerings, particularly for industries such as health care and finance, and Mitel is eager to exploit the obvious opportunities to diversify its revenue streams in that area. Indeed, Hurren said Mitel is already looking at developing a range of “plug-and-play” platforms aimed at streamlining the installation, management and operation of communications tools for major customers such as hospitals and financial institutions. Now heading into its second half-century, Mitel remains an outsized presence in the Ottawa tech scene, although it is no longer locally owned and all but about 300 of its employees – who now number more than 5,400 after the acquisition of Unify – work elsewhere. The combined company will remain headquartered in Kanata, as it has been since 1973. Hurren said the National Capital Region will continue to “figure prominently” in Mitel’s plans for the future, particularly in areas such as finance, legal, IT, supply chain management and product development. If Mitel isn’t as much of a household name as other telecom giants such as Cisco and Zoom, the brainchild of legendary Ottawa tech titans Terry Matthews and Michael Cowpland has shown remarkable staying power. The question now is: will its latest bold M&A gambit catapult it to a new level on the global stage? Challenges abound, a fact Hurren readily concedes. But he’s confident that Mitel is ready to meet them. “We set a goal last year to become No. 2 (in the unified communications market),” Hurren said. “We’re there. Now, our goal is to become No. 1. Stay tuned for that.”