In a new global program for value-added resellers, Huddly partners exclusively with select resellers and prohibits third-party platform sales.

In the AV industry, one size does not fit all. Millions of people struggle daily with inadequate, unreliable AV gear. The pandemic years have forced value-added resellers to compete with internet resellers and third-party platforms by offering standardized solutions.

To counteract this trend and drive growth for its channel partners, Huddly – a leading provider of AI video conferencing cameras– has launched a selective global partner program.

Drawing on the experience of its commercial team, including CCO Daniel Johansson, who has a proven track record of implementing successful partner programs at Tandberg and Cisco, the Huddly Partner Program acknowledges the importance of value-added resellers in the industry.

“Value-added resellers are at the heart of the AV industry,” says Johansson. “They excel at building strong client relationships by delivering bespoke solutions. Our new partner program is designed to support the great work done by resellers and help them achieve their business goals. Throughout the program’s creation, we took great care to incorporate partner feedback to ensure that we provide them with the tools they need to succeed.”

Reseller enablement and support

From July 3rd, 2023, only authorized Huddly Partners will be allowed to sell and represent Huddly. The company’s decision to halt third-party platform sales is a significant move towards boosting its channel business and maximizing profitability, demonstrating its dedication to value-added reseller partners.

“Higher channel revenue is critical to our objective of increasing gross margin, and we are committed to achieving this by supporting the long-term success of our resellers,” emphasizes Johansson. “To that end, we are implementing a selective distribution policy to ensure our partners’ success through focused partner enablement and support. We are fortunate to have great relationships with key global resellers and believe this program will strengthen our bond with them while adding value for our end users.”

A powerful deal registration program

The program is selective and comprehensive, providing resellers with substantial benefits to help them increase their margins while protecting the value chain.

As Johansson notes: “Our partners’ hard work and success are integral to our own, and we want to reward their efforts. Approved Huddly Partners will enjoy the protection of our powerful deal registration program, which provides pricing benefits and promotes close alignment with Huddly for those who lead with our solutions and register projects early.”

In addition to deal registration, the program offers partners resources and support for growth. This includes access to product and marketing tools, technical support, and training programs.

Building strong partnerships

The program comprises three levels, each created to meet unique business goals. Huddly provides a range of benefits for partners who seek closer collaboration.

These include funds for market development, substantial discounts, personalized support, and the opportunity to sell the Huddly Crew AI-directed multi-camera system, recently awarded by Frost & Sullivan for its innovative approach to hybrid meetings.

Johansson comments:

“As a company committed to empowering human collaboration, Huddly recognizes the importance of strong partnerships. We opted for a selective approach to prioritize close collaboration with partners who share our commitment to tailored solutions and exceptional customer care. Together, we can provide users with the best experience.”

Applications open now

Applications for the Huddly Partner Program are now being accepted, and Huddly has set up an online authorization process that lets resellers register their interest. To be eligible, resellers must have an agreement with an authorized Huddly distributor.

ALSO READ: 4 Methods for Meeting Customers at their Pain Points Instead of Just Selling

Establishing itself as a central work hub or virtual headquarters, Zoho Workplace is a unified office platform that combines collaboration, productivity, and communications tools.

It is now a flexible, full-featured business mail and cloud office suite that is built on a common data model and unified through search and AI, enabling users to operate collaboratively and seamlessly through applications.

Commenting on the continued innovation, Kehinde Seun Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria said: “In the past year, Zoho Workplace adoption has accelerated as businesses of all sizes transition to digital-forward, hybrid work. With a clear focus on continued innovation, Zoho is well-positioned to thrive during this time of readjustment. The goal of Zoho Workplace is to enable businesses to unify their work to a point where the line between apps disappears. It is heartening to see so many new businesses join the Zoho family, using Zoho Workplace as their customizable center of gravity.”

Zoho Workplace has grown 30% year-over-year with a rapidly expanding global user base of over 16 million, Workplace continues to revolutionize the way teams work together. Workplace is among the top five products in Nigeria where it has seen a growth of 106%. There has been an increase in the number of migrations to Zoho from notable tech companies such as Namecheap.

The predominant industries driving this trend are Finance, IT, FinTech, Retail, Non-IT Professional, Other Orgs and Services.

The growth is attributed to increasing business demand for simplified, streamlined solutions that maintain utmost standards for user privacy as well as rising costs from other collaboration platform providers. Additionally, migrations from Google, Microsoft and GoDaddy to Zoho Workplace almost doubled in 2022 globally.

Zoho continues to enhance its suite of workplace products with new features aimed at improving collaboration, productivity, and communication.

The company has introduced Zoho Trident, its first native desktop app that unifies mail, messages, audio/video calls, calendar, tasks, and more in one place. Furthermore, Zoho Voice is now fully integrated within Zoho Cliq and Zoho Meeting, allowing employees to make direct line calls, send SMS messages, and pick up inbound calls across the apps.

In addition, Zoho Webinar within Zoho Meeting enables businesses to broadcast to thousands of attendees, engage with them using polls and Q&As, and present virtually without sharing their screen. Zoho has also introduced BluePencil, an AI-based grammar tool with a text editor that can be used on any third-party webpage. Universal Drag and Drop functionality saves time by letting users move files between products with a simple drag and drop. With a focus on security, Zoho has added Mobile Device Management capabilities and OTP-restricted emails to its workplace suite. Lastly, TrueSync has been added to Zoho Workdrive, removing hard drive storage limits and allowing users to access and make changes to their files locally and in the cloud.

“The new Zoho Workplace announcements show a deep commitment to creating choice in the digital productivity sector with a broad integrated suite that continues to innovate,” said Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and Principal Analyst of Constellation Research, adding, “the improvements to unified communications, the addition of high performance native functionality, improved security, and the addition of new AI capabilities keep Zoho Workplace in the uppermost echelon of productivity suites in my analysis. Zoho Workplace with its newest applications Trident, Webinar within Zoho Meetings and Phone systems within Zoho Cliq and Zoho Meetings is helping users do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.”

Zoho Workplace Pricing:

Zoho Workplace is available in three editions: Standard is ₦780 per /user/ month billed annually. Professional is ₦1,560 per /user/month billed annually. Zoho Mail is ₦260 per /user/month billed annually.

By earning the Security specialisation, Deimos has proven its expertise and success in building customer security solutions using Google Cloud technology.

Partners with this specialisation have demonstrated significant success in securing customer infrastructure and workflows on Google Cloud. The specialisation is the result of an expert-led assessment process that determines if a partner is a specialist in a specific field.

Deimos spent 24 months putting together the body of evidence in the form of documented security projects and team certifications to prove its specialist cloud security expertise. After 2 intensive audits by security experts appointed by Google Cloud in October 2022, Deimos received one of Africa’s earliest Google Cloud Security Specialisations.

Speaking on the achievement, Andrew Mori, CEO, and Co-founder at Deimos, stated, “We are incredibly proud to achieve one of the earliest Google Security Specialisations in Africa. Acquiring this specialisation is evidence of Deimos’ expertise in providing cutting edge cloud security infrastructure solutions for both micro-enterprise and enterprise clients. We have established a reputation of trust and excellence amongst our clients and further afield.

This badge goes a long way to reinforce our position in the market in areas that make a significant difference to companies’ operations and infrastructure. Deimos will continue to strive for high standards with Google Cloud to ensure safety and security for businesses and institutions in Africa.”

“This recognition from Google Cloud also marks a new stage in our company’s growth and opens us up for further expansion across more African countries,” Mori said.

Since its launch in 2018, Deimos has grown rapidly with cumulative annual growth rates by helping organisations, from start-ups to large corporations and government establishments, adopt engineering best practices and make smart technology decisions in a cloud-native world.

As an established Google Cloud Partner with over 10,000 Google Workspace licenses under management, Deimos services an esteemed list of clients in the banking, fintech, and edutech space, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, Patricia, TeamApt, Kuda Bank, and uLesson.

This was said by Kashifu Abdullahi, Director General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), on a panel at the 16th LEX Annual Lecture, delivered virtually.

The lecture’s subject was “Digital Economy: Africa’s Catalyst for Regional Growth and Transformation.”

According to Abdullahi, there are currently roughly four million programmers needed around the world, and Nigeria has the ability to produce two million of them. These programmers might be integrated into the global value chain.

The NITDA DG also cited a PwC research stating that the typical IT developer or programmer makes $90,000 annually.

According to him, PwC affirmed that Nigeria could make over $40 billion yearly, which was a sizeable sum capable of solving the country’s forex problem, if it had two million, remote developers, earning an average of $20,000 apiece.

“The digital economy is about skill, people, and innovation. Therefore, talent is the human component of technology, and here is where Nigeria, in my opinion, would have a competitive advantage over all other countries, Abdullahi remarked.

“Globally, we’re not there yet, but with what the government is doing—like the Startup Bill and other initiatives we’ve put in place, I think Nigeria will be—and we should be thinking of ourselves as leading players in the digital economy,” said the official.

The head of NITDA cited a recent Korn Ferry report that estimated a global talent gap of 85 million, with countries like Brazil and Japan having roughly 18 million apiece. He said that all industrialized nations would be affected by this shortage.

He stated that Nigeria might profit from the projected $8.5 trillion global deficit by utilizing its enormous human talent pool and its young population.