MITEL NETWORKS: COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

Unified communications, or UC, is one of the invisible, but crucial systems that make businesses and companies fit for the changes of the modern world and helps them to be more efficient and better in their employees and customers' journeys. It is a complex set of products that includes scores of features, from instant messaging and audio and video conferencing to desktop and data sharing. Mitel Networks is one of the global leaders in the field, a company with 50 years of history of excellence. In 2023, it acquired another important player in the world of UC, Unify by Atos IT, to make a bigger, stronger and more innovative entity.

The Bulgarian office of Atos was part of the deal. Now operating as an important node in the network of Mitel, it is led by the visionary general manager Milen Marinov as its VP & Head of GBSC and Nearshoring. We talked to him to learn more about the merger's importance and the future of unified communications.

One of the biggest business news of 2023 was the acquisition of Unify from Atos by Mitel Networks. How will this merging affect the global market of UC services?

Mitel is a global leader in business communications. With Unify onboard, Mitel becomes the second largest unified communications provider in the world in terms of global market share, powering more than 2 billion communications daily, operating in 100 countries and serving +75m users. Fifty years of innovation and industry leadership will help positioning the company closer to its customers, providing cutting edge technology solutions and unrivaled reliability of the services provided.

What does this change mean for the company's clients?

The deal will empower the company to strengthen its presence in the two core markets – Europe and North America with the diversified and complimentary portfolios of Mitel Networks and Unify. It will add value to its customers and through the enhanced offerings portfolio will underpin its profitable growth. After the Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot imagine the future without businesses being equipped with remote work capabilities. This is the new norm and Mitel is playing an important role in this global transformation, helping companies to accomplish such readiness.

And for its employees in Bulgaria?

In Bulgaria the company has its Global Business Services center, providing business support services previously to the global Atos organization and currently positioned to support the global Mitel organization. With the high expertise, motivation and commitment of our team I am confident that we will quickly regroup and align with the business needs of Mitel Networks. For our employees the deal means more professional opportunities and for the center – possibilities for growth and scope expansion. In fact, we were exactly in the same situation when Atos acquired Unify. The integration of Unify within Atos started in 2017 and we increased the scope of the center from 380 employees in 2017 to more than 1,400 at the end of 2022.

Are you going to change your focus of activities in Bulgaria and if yes, in what direction? What are the most significant tasks that face you, as the VP?

Our starting point now is a 515-people strong team at the closure of the deal with the ambition the Global Business Services center to become a global hub for business support services of the group, establishing centers of excellence for critical functions such as finance, HR, IT, Supply Chain, Procurement and Sales Support. We would be looking also to start exploring external business opportunities, serving end customers not only in Bulgaria, but also global customers of the company. The main focus however will remain managing a wide portfolio of business support services, streamlining and standardizing global business processes to provide high added value to our stakeholders. My key priorities for 2024 are to ensure a smooth integration process of Unify within Mitel Networks, to work with the executive leaders for the shaping of the nearshoring and offshoring strategy of the group as well as to promote the positioning of the company on the Bulgarian labor market and within the Bulgarian business community.

How will the global UC market develop in 2024, in your opinion? Why does the global economy need such services?

The global market of UC services is bound to grow. Business communications solutions are more important than ever as remote and hybrid work continue to grow and now is the industry standard. Business communications continue to evolve essentially with the speed of the key technological breakthroughs. AI, chatbots, cloud platforms enrich and empower unified communications as a service (UCaaS), providing competitive advantages to businesses, helping them to save time and achieve their objectives faster, and setting them for growth. Another key aspect and a strong advantage brought by Unify is its expertise in cybersecurity, being a must for the successful growth of the company, securing customer data and providing reliable connectivity.

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