LAN Systems signs with Avaya

Networking distributor LAN Systems has signed up to push IP telephony gear from Avaya, a major rival of vendors already on its books such as Alcatel and Cisco.

LAN Systems has been appointed as a BusinessPartner for Avaya's SMB product portfolio.

US-headquartered Avaya said in a statement that it wanted to take better advantage of Avaya's large base of data products resellers by expanding its SMB-focused distribution.

Mark Wood, SMB sales director at Avaya Asia-Pacific & Japan, said the deal was the vendor's 'next move' in pushing IP and converged products and services to SMBs in the region.

'The partnership will provide great education for LAN Systems' data resellers in voice and data convergence, which is one of the fastest growing areas in IT,' Wood claimed.

LAN Systems was approached earlier this week for comment on the deal but it is understood that the value-added distributor has been ordered into a 'quiet period' via parent division ComStor.

Avaya has said it would make products such as its Avaya IP Office application available via LAN Systems. Avaya IP Office is a converged voice-and-data product which can be used in local area and wide area networks, managing multiple sites from one central point.

A Small Office Edition has also recently become available which the company claims can deliver 'big-business capabilities' to small, branch and home offices with up to 28 users in diverse verticals.

LAN Systems is part of the ComStor division of US-based Westcon Group.