How is Avaya weathering the economic downturn?
Chris Formant:We are doing OK. It is a tough, tough market, and we would like to see more revenue, more sales — but then the whole industry would like to see that. CRM Buyer: What are some of the cost-cutting measures you’ve taken? Formant: Much what you would expect of any global company: We are standardizing and centralizing processes as much as possible. We are also investing in more technology for our self-service functionality — but our motives are not pure cost-cutting in this case. Yes, we want to do more with less, but we also expect to deliver a higher quality of service because of these investments. CRM Buyer: How can your products help your customers’ bottom lines in the near term? Formant: Well, our business case is all about the bottom line. Communications products and services reduce costs and improve performance. Our focus now is on helping clients get the most out of their products. We have people working with clients to audit their telecom infrastructures and expendi
