As we enter 2021 it’s the perfect time to reflect on my first 12 months at Genesys. Challenging just doesn’t do it justice. Yet, the way our company and brilliant EMEA partners adapted to the next normal, often at record speed, has been nothing short of amazing.

Genesys PartnerVision was a prime example. Sadly, we couldn’t physically host this year’s EMEA Partner Awards. So, we packed the same format and buzz into a two-day virtual event. And it proved popular. Over 700 registrations more than tripled last year’s audience in Amsterdam. For those who couldn’t make it, here’s a taster of what you can look forward to from us in the next 12 months.

Coming together
Also postponed was the 65th Eurovision Song Contest. So, we made it our theme for PartnerVision, creating a unique or something in that style atmosphere set against the glittering virtual backdrop of the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. The event had a similar feel to last year’s with keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and the hard-fought closing awards ceremony.

McKinsey set the scene by highlighting the latest market insights for building a winning customer engagement model in the new normal.

Genesys Chief Strategy Officer, Peter Graf, followed by explaining how we will exploit those trends from our strong, established position. And how our partners can align with our Experience as a Service vision to be even more successful and drive new revenue growth. Finishing the day, a lively panel discussion swapped keynote customer stories and shared innovative ideas.

Exploring together

Moving swiftly from theory to practice, day two provided personalized virtual breakouts. Partners could choose to leverage analyst insights, keep up with privacy and compliance, or enter a competition to demo AppFoundry applications. Further topics included getting under the skin of digital marketing, OneGenesys collaboration and Genesys Digital and AI offers. Other sessions were available to explore Genesys Cloud innovation and share tips for optimizing migration programs.

Over the two days I learnt lots from our partners and what their customers are telling them. It’s always good to hear where Genesys are getting it right and equally where we still have some work to do. My overwhelming feeling was a change in the relationship ― a definite shift from reselling to delivering customer value through better business outcomes. And it was clear there’s no limit to what we can achieve.

Celebrating together

November also saw Genesys named a leader in the Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre as a Service. The report evaluated 13 vendors on their completeness of vision and ability to execute. That endorsement was reinforced by the numbers. Genesys saw record sales figures, fueled by strong demand for cloud-based contact center solutions.

The achievement was due in no small measure to our fantastic EMEA partners. So, at PartnerVision, it was especially fitting to recognize their valuable contributions. Sadly, there could only be one winner per category, although we added a couple of new ones. Congratulations go to:

 

Award Winner
EMEA Partner of the Year NTT Europe
EMEA Cloud Partner of the Year Foehn
EMEA New Partner of the Year IP Integration
EMEA Migration Partner of the Year Telefónica Empresas
EMEA Customer Success Partner of the Year Infinit.cx
EMEA Demand Generation Partner of the Year IST Networks
EMEA App Foundry Partner of the Year Softphone

Judging was tougher than ever. The winners edged it when it came to migrating their existing installed base, signing new brands,  driving cloud innovation and customer success. At the end, with this strong ecosystem,there is only 1 real winner, that is our customer!!

Unstoppable together

PartnerVision confirmed Genesys needs to stay top of the game when it comes to speed and product development. So, you can expect to see us further out in front in 2021. It’s full steam ahead with Genesys Cloud, AppFoundry and strategic alliances with Microsoft, Zoom and other top players. Giving our partners tools and native integrations needed to create standout propositions and stickier relationships and drive additional business.

Whatever the year throws our way I’m confident we’ll once again rise to the challenge. So, in true Eurovision style, we are ready to pump up the volume.