RingCentral and Avaya Announce Strategic Partnership

Avaya and RingCentral will introduce a new solution, Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral, which will be the exclusive public Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution marketed and sold by Avaya.

Avaya Cloud Office combines RingCentral’s leading UCaaS platform with Avaya’s technology, services and migration capabilities to create a differentiated UCaaS offering.

The companies expect to launch Avaya Cloud Office in the first quarter of calendar 2020.

“As a leader in cloud communications, we’re laser-focused on bringing the power of the cloud to more enterprise customers,” said Vlad Shmunis, RingCentral Founder, Chairman, and CEO.

“With the growth of the mobile and distributed workforce, cloud communications solutions can deliver the capabilities enterprises need to effectively connect with customers, partners, and employees.”

“This strategic partnership accelerates the transition of one of the world’s largest on-premise unified communications installed bases to the cloud.”

“We’re excited for the long-term benefits this partnership will bring to customers and partners, as well as the growth opportunities that we expect it will drive for both our companies.”

“Our game-changing partnership with RingCentral and the introduction of Avaya Cloud Office have generated tremendous excitement with our partners and customers,” said Jim Chirico, Avaya President and CEO.

“We, together with our global partner community, are excited to work with RingCentral in bringing this unique solution to market, building on the highly complementary strengths of our two industry-leading companies.”

“The strategic partnership is a winning combination for both Avaya and RingCentral, and it has the potential to disrupt the business communications industry as Avaya accelerates its transformation to the cloud,” said Elka Popova, Vice President and Senior Fellow, Information and Communications Technologies, Frost & Sullivan.

“Careful consideration clearly went into designing the partnership framework to ensure maximum benefits for customers, partners, and both Avaya and RingCentral.”

RingCentral is contributing $500 million to its partnership with Avaya, including a $125 million investment of 3% redeemable preferred equity that is convertible at $16 per share and an advance of $375 million primarily in stock for future payments and certain licensing rights.