Neat ramps up channel support and leadership within ANZ

Neat is ramping up partner and customer support across ANZ due to the increased demand from organisations seeking next-generation video technology. 

According to Frost & Sullivan's 2023 UCC Buyers survey, 49% of enterprises use two or more video collaboration platforms, with 21% planning to add more solution providers. 

Neat's next growth phase across Australia and New Zealand will be led by Niko Walraven, who recently stepped into the role of Neat Regional Director APAC (ANZ, ASEAN, India, GCRK). 

Now based in Australia, Walraven will focus on accelerating growth in Australia and New Zealand and overseeing other Neat territories, including India, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan.  

According to Walraven, ANZ's modern hybrid workplaces need access to the right collaboration tools and adaptable spaces that let people work how and where they want. However, Walvarn suggests most solutions today don't support this.

"The problem with video meetings in the past was overcoming the 'can you see me; can you hear me?' challenge," says Walraven.

"Although workplaces are changing, many in the video industry continue to deliver the same rigid solutions. Our focus at Neat is on creating true meeting equity, ensuring everyone can be seen and heard, regardless of their location."

Neat is now expanding its ANZ channel ecosystem to meet a surge in customer demand for its Zoom and Microsoft Teams enabled solutions and adding more bench strength in mission-critical areas, including channel partner education, training, and sales support. This will encompass all partners, from small businesses to big distributors. 

Walraven explains: "The collaboration market is evolving, and so is our channel network. Today, our partner network also includes architects, business consultants, workspace designers, systems integrators, and resellers."

"By streamlining how we work with partners and investing in smarter tools and training, we are in a stronger position to move fast, accelerating partner growth opportunities. This means delivering the right solutions to maximise our end customers' investment in Neat devices."

Neat's ability to understand, design, and support its customers has placed it as one of only three finalists in the Modern Work 'Device' category of the 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year awards. These awards attracted over 4,200 nominations globally.   

At the end of this month, Neat is set to participate in Integrate, Australia's premier annual AV and Integration trade show. Here, Neat will demonstrate how it is "changing the game again", offering customers more freedom to choose how and when they use video. It will be showcasing Neat's new app hub and Neat Board 50. 

The app hub makes third-party business and entertainment applications such as Slack, Miro, Robin and more available on Neat devices. At the same time, Neat Board 50 is a unique, all-in-one collaboration board that delivers innovative capabilities while being supremely adaptive for today's flexible hybrid workspaces. 

The app hub will be available through Neat Pulse. This cloud-based subscription offering gives IT administrators complete and centralised control over the deployment and makes it simple and predictable to manage.

"Neat's new app hub goes beyond what any video hardware provider previously did. We provide a selection of curated applications designed to deliver consistent specialised experiences across your Neat devices and various workspaces," says Walraven.    

"Now you can run a range of business and entertainment apps on any of your Neat devices or deploy Microsoft Teams or Zoom. This ups the ante in accelerating teamwork, unleashing creativity, and enhancing productivity."

Neat Board 50 and the Neat App Hub will be available in the first quarter of 2024.