Telstra looking for channel growth after turning purple

Telstra is looking to reach out to more channel partners following its recent decision to pull its various activities under a single brand.

Last month, Company85, which was acquired by Telstra in 2017, has rebranded as Telstra Purple. 

The firm provides data centre, security and networking managed services and the rebrand has been designed to pull together Telstra’s acquired entities under a single banner: VMTech, MSC, Readify, Kloud, Bridgepoint, O2, NSC, and the UK’s Company85.  

Adam Wilson, EMEA head of indirect channels at Telstra, said that the channel landscape was continually evolving and it was keen to make sure it delivered the levels of support that partners needed but it could also keep the door open to resellers that could bring fresh opportunities.

He said that Telstra Purple meant that it had the right collection of skills to deliver the help to partners around UC, data analytics, software and cloud. It also helped that the firm had already developed its own VAR channel that could be expanded.

“We have a good stable of partners and things are changing still but we have the right partners in place,” he said.

He added that the firm had a strong background in UC and collaboration and it had transitioned the business to give partners a clear understanding of what it could offer.

“The strategy is to focus on the main proposition, the network, and a greater focus on profitable growth and UC is still very much part of the proposition,” he said.

Telstra has been working with master agents in the US for the last two decades and is working with a handful on this side of the Atlantic as those firms spread their geographic footprint.

Wilson said it was a different relationship than with resellers, which it sold through, because it was more of a referral model, but it was not a threat to its existing channel.

“They are bringing business to the table for a referral model it is not a sell through reseller channel but a sell with,” he said.

“We have been doing it for more than 20 years in the US and the key is to see that as an extension of the salesforce,” he added “We work with resellers in parallel and spin both plates -  the reseller channel and referral channel.”

Others in the UC space have also started working with master agents but it is still early days for that model on this side of the Atlantic.

Telstra Purple will operate in the UK as well as Australia, Singapore and out of Hong Kong with a staff of 1,500 people working on more than 8,000 projects globally.