COVER STORY technologyreseller.co.uk 19 extend (and protect) existing relationships. For example, a reseller partner that already provides FTTP, SD-WAN or MPLS connectivity into a building could add on 2Connect’s end-to-end Wi-Fi 6 solution, creating a new source of revenue that can also give them more control over a customer’s IT infrastructure (and easier trouble-shooting should something go wrong), while helping to create stickier customer relationships. “The more you think about this, the more you realise how big an opportunity it is. So many of our partners and our industry peers provide internet connectivity to these buildings and don’t realise the potential beyond the doorstep of the Comms Room. Connectivity ‘beyond the doorstep’ is a huge opportunity for us.” www.2connect.co.uk equivalent of 300-plus distinct businesses with Wi-Fi connectivity in all areas of the building, and that requires a different infrastructure and a very specialist skill set. “At 2Connect, we have mastered the art of Wi-Fi technology and are now going to take it and share it with the rest of the channel.” Multiple opportunities 2Connect has identified student accommodation and urban living developments as target areas, but its endto-end Wi-Fi 6 solution has applications in many other multi-occupancy buildings, including apartment buildings, retirement homes, hotels, serviced offices and transport hubs. It can be used by resellers both to develop new business opportunities and to Microsoft Teams Room migration With its new Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) solutions, 2Connect has taken the skills and experience it has gained in providing boardroom solutions to leading brands such as the London Stock Exchange and Postcode Lottery and packaged them up for resale by channel partners As well as providing a range of Microsoft licences and telephony solutions, including Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, 2Connect has been developing specialisms in more niche areas such as the integration of boardroom equipment with Microsoft Teams, which, as Mohsin points out, has become a key focus for end user customers. “Remote working led to a huge surge in the take-up of Microsoft Teams, and now that people have returned to the office businesses are looking to upgrade their company boardrooms to Microsoft Teams Rooms that make it easy for in-office and remote workers to add HD video conferencing and content-sharing to Teams calls and meetings. “Within our portfolio we have always had the ability to migrate boardrooms to Microsoft Teams Rooms using Microsoft-certified equipment. To start with we would source elements from multiple providers – we had a relationship with an installation company; we had a relationship with a hardware distributor; we had a relationship with a professional services company that would design solutions for us; and we had a relationship with a support partner. Our customers would get billed by us for some parts of the solution and they would buy other parts from recommended partners. You can imagine how difficult it was to manage all those relationships. “So, just as we did with Wi-Fi, we took the decision to bring all the required capabilities in-house and develop direct relationships with vendors to the point where we are now a full-blown Microsoft-certified boardroom solutions partner and able to offer the boardroom proposition we have been providing to end user customers to our reseller partners.” Mohsin adds that this is a standalone offering that resellers can take to any business independently of other solutions in the 2Connect portfolio. “It doesn’t matter who’s providing the connectivity; it doesn’t matter who’s providing the unified communications; it doesn’t even matter who’s providing the Microsoft licences. You can go in, equip the entire boardroom estate with Microsoft Teams Room solutions and offer a subscription-based support wrap on top. We provide all four elements of a successful migration – design, build, deployment and support – with a choice of SLAs.” In terms of convenience, ease of deployment and the ability to address new business opportunities, 2Connect’s MTR proposition is very similar to the company’s Wi-Fi 6 solution, offering many of the same benefits. “Rather than going to market and speaking to multiple partners, why not just speak to 2Connect. We can deliver an entire end-to-end solution and we can do it on a white label basis as well. Depending on volumes, we can even put the partner’s logos on hardware equipment and the monitoring platform,” explains Mohsin. To find out more about 2Connect’s MTR and Wi-Fi 6 solutions, please call 03300 770070 or visit www.2connect.co.uk. We are incredibly proud of our partnership with 2Connect as our Strategic Solutions Partner in the UK. Having delivered a number of large-scale Wi-Fi 6 deployments in the UK, 2Connect has deservedly earned the status of a Trusted TP Link Solutions Partner, through its extensive Wi-Fi network Design, Build and Manage capabilities. We are equally impressed with its soaring pipeline and the rapidly growing knowledge and skills of its wider technical team. We are excited to be entering 2024 with 2Connect and look forward to much joint success. Nelson Qiao, Managing Director UK & Europe, TP Link “ ” Nelson Qiao
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