NEC Corporation of America (NEC), a leading provider and integrator of advanced IT, communications, networking, and biometric solutions, launched NEC UNIVERGE BLUE® CLOUD CASH, a program that offers NEC UNIVERGE BLUE® cloud communications channel partners the option to get paid upfront on the full-term of the agreement. Unlike traditional cloud service sales models that pay channel partners a monthly recurring revenue, for each new sale, CLOUD CASH pays channel partners a lump sum upfront payment – based on the amount that would be realized from recurring revenue through the length of the agreement, plus any qualifying incentives. This flexible industry-first program bridges the premises to cloud revenue gap and makes it easier for channel partners to move their customer base to cloud communications.
“With CLOUD CASH, channel partners can deliver cloud-based communication and collaboration solutions for their customers without worrying about the financial impacts on their businesses,” said Al Kelley, Vice President, Channel Sales, Americas at NEC. “By offering this alternative revenue structure backed by NEC Financial Services, channel partners once leery of offering cloud solutions can now help their clients modernize their communications infrastructure with the comprehensive suite of tightly integrated unified communications and contact center solutions that is UNIVERGE BLUE.”
Businesses are rapidly adopting remote and hybrid work models, and the migration to cloud communications continues to accelerate. However, for channel partners selling on-premises business phone systems, their move to selling cloud communications could be impeded by a business model that is based on upfront hardware sales. As a channel partner-first company, NEC introduced CLOUD CASH to alleviate this concern and now allows channel partners to sell UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD SERVICES and get paid upfront like hardware. CLOUD CASH also offers channel partners the flexibility to decide which deals they want to get paid upfront, or via monthly recurring revenue, enabling them to better control their financials.
As part of the program, NEC created a calculator that enables the channel partner to simulate an average sale to see how much they can expect to earn upfront on a deal.
“Introducing an alternative to the traditional way channel partners are compensated will allow many more of them to benefit from the growth of UCaaS and CCaaS,” said Dave Michels, Principal Analyst and Founder of TalkingPointz. “UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH not only demonstrates the financial strength of NEC but is also the mark of an organization that truly puts channel partners first. Motivated sellers mean we should see a harder push to move traditional on-prem hardware users to cloud communications, which is a win for both channel partners and the industry.”
