With a legacy of innovation spanning five decades, Mitel is well-positioned to help organizations navigate the challenges and opportunities of the modern workplace. By adopting a hybrid, integrated, and multimodal approach to communications solutions, Mitel delivers the flexibility and choice that customers need to succeed. The company's focus on deep vertical integrations, particularly in industries with a high percentage of frontline workers, allows it to simplify the user experience and drive real business value.

Mitel's partner-led approach and commitment to professional services, coupled with its depth and expertise, positions it to tackle even the most complex customer challenges. As the company looks to the future, it remains focused on innovation, collaboration, and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

The world of business communications is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by shifting customer needs, technological advancements, and the ever-changing nature of work itself. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Eric Hanson, Mitel's Chief Marketing Officer, to discuss how this industry veteran is helping to steer the company through these uncharted waters and position it for success in the years to come.

Mitel: A Legacy of Innovation

With a history spanning five decades, Mitel has been at the forefront of the communications industry since its inception. As Eric notes, "One of the signs of a great company is its ability to sort of read and react to the trends in the market and adapt based on, you know, kind of the business, you know, steady history of innovation at Mitel."

This commitment to innovation has driven Mitel's longevity and success, allowing the company to evolve and adapt to its customers' changing needs. With Eric at the helm of the marketing team, Mitel is poised to continue this legacy well into the future.

The Hybrid, Integrated, Multimodal Approach

One of the key themes that emerged from my conversation with Eric was the importance of a hybrid, integrated, and multimodal approach to communications solutions. He explains,

"I think what we heard and have seen in the last several years is that while [as-a-service solutions] are a significant segment, especially for things like the general knowledge worker use cases, it's not the end all be all. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work when you think about the fact that there are 3 billion workers worldwide, and probably two-thirds to three-fourths of them are frontline workers, not knowledge workers."

This recognition of the diverse needs of different workers and industries is at the core of Mitel's strategy. By offering a range of solutions that can be tailored to each customer's specific requirements, whether on-premise, in the cloud, or a mix of both, Mitel can provide the flexibility and choice that organizations need to succeed.

"That's really what we're doing at Mitel," Eric elaborates, "being thoughtful around not trying to push the technology, but instead align technology to a company's business strategy, as well as sort of their realities in terms of what it takes to excel in whatever they do, whether they're in healthcare, education, law enforcement, what have you."

The Power of Vertical Integration

One of the critical strengths of Mitel's portfolio is its focus on deep vertical integrations, particularly in industries with a high percentage of frontline workers. Eric points out,

"If I think about our virtual care collaboration solution, we've had a lot of success with that in hospitals, in the DACH region. And now we're bringing that to North America. And it's a very differentiated product. It's not just a web and video conferencing solution. It has deep integrations back to communications and some of the tailored solutions on the ERP or HR CRM systems relative to many different things."

This approach allows Mitel to simplify the experience for end users, whether healthcare providers and patients or manufacturing workers on the factory floor. By leveraging AI and other advanced technologies, Mitel can deliver solutions that are not only profoundly integrated but also highly secure and compliant with industry regulations.

The Partner-Led Approach

Another critical pillar of Mitel's strategy is its partner-led approach to the market. While many companies in the communications space have shifted their focus to cloud or direct sales, Mitel has remained steadfast in its commitment to its partner ecosystem.

As Eric explains, "Having a rich partner community really helps us stay closer to customers in the region because there are certain things that they do beyond just what we sell that are very related. And so they can maintain intimacy with that customer beyond just what they're doing from a communications perspective."

This collaborative approach allows Mitel to deliver tailored solutions that meet each customer's unique needs while providing the support and expertise necessary to ensure their success.

The Strength of the Team

Perhaps one of Mitel's most impressive aspects is the depth and breadth of its expertise. With a team of 5,000 employees, including a significant proportion in professional services, Eric sees that Mitel is well-positioned to tackle even the most complex customer challenges.

"Post-acquisition, 25% of our organization is now in professional services. And you may think, wow, that's a lot, but if you think about all of the things that we're doing and our belief around when you're competing for business, and you're thinking about things, maybe with more horizontal use cases, obviously you want to compete based on customer experience or driving operational efficiency. When you think of some vertical solutions with underserved frontline workers, you need to differentiate based on these tailored, deeply embedded, or integrated solutions, which is what we're doing."

This commitment to professional services, coupled with the expertise of leaders like Chief Technology Officer Luiz Domingos, positions Mitel to deliver genuinely transformative solutions that drive real business value for its customers.

Looking Ahead

As Mitel looks to the future, the company remains focused on innovation, collaboration, and delivering exceptional customer experiences. With exciting announcements on the horizon and a renewed commitment to thought leadership and market education, Mitel is poised to continue shaping the future of business communications for years to come.

"Mitel, I would say, has been a little quiet as of the last few years," Eric admits. "And one of the things that I'm working closely with my team about is really to get out there, be more vocal around, you know, sort of what we're seeing in the market, engaging with folks like yourself to help educate the customer base so that they know what kind of options they have as they're thinking about their business and technology strategy going forward."