ConvergeOne
86 – Unique opportunities from Verkada
$48m – Value of Verkada pipeline
3-5x – Return on investment in Verkada
33% – A third of ConvergeOne salespeople reported Verkada opportunities within six months
Digital transformation initiatives are predicted to hit a record high in 2022, with businesses forecast to spend $1.8 trillion this year*. But many digitalization projects quickly run into problems and ultimately prove unsuccessful, representing significant costs.
ConvergeOne supercharges these digitization journeys. One of the world’s leading IT service management companies, they count 55% of the Fortune 100 and 41% of the Fortune 500 as customers, working across the education, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and energy industries.
As Regional VP of Sales, one of Kyle Wewe’s primary responsibilities is to connect customers with the right offerings from ConvergeOne’s deep portfolio of brands and their partner network to drive successful digitalization initiatives.
The Challenge
Kyle and his team were finding great success with high-end data centre applications but grew increasingly frustrated with losing out on E-Rate and public sector deals. The issue was attributed to their inability to offer a specific kit, including infrastructure cabling and data centre EPC racks.
Verkada’s Solution
To solve this challenge, ConvergeOne acquired AAA Network Solutions Inc., a public sector services provider that expands its capabilities to support education customers. “AAA brought over the Verkada relationship,” says Kyle. “We very quickly noticed the results we were getting from Verkada, which filled a void in our portfolio so we can support our customers holistically – from infrastructure to sales – as they’re growing and adding new locations.”
AAA brought with them a deep working experience in managed services and walkthroughs, as well as the ability to partner effectively with Verkada’s engineering team.
“Verkada is a significant partner for our customers and us because they enable us to get value from an asset,” says Kyle. “We can speak to other business units about the Verkada offering, they’re not limited to IT. We’re able to show our customers how Verkada can help them solve challenges in their businesses – whether that’s marketing or customer experience problems. Verkada is valuable to entire ecosystems, and that’s where my customers see a lot of potential.”
Verkada Results
86 unique opportunities & a $48m pipeline in six months
After just six months, Kyle and his team at ConvergeOne developed 86 unique opportunities and a sales pipeline worth $48m through their Verkada offering.
“There are very few products we’ve integrated into our portfolio that have had such a quick return – the number of value of opportunities we’ve seen from Verkada is not common. The pipeline and the portfolio have just taken off.
“Our conversion rate in that pipeline is high; it’s been a fantastic start to the relationship, and we’re really excited for what comes next.”
3-5x ROI on Verkada
“We are introducing Verkada into new accounts because of the cross-selling opportunities,” says Kyle. “We are seeing a 3-5x pull-through in networking and other areas for every dollar we spend on Verkada.”
ConvergeOne recently signed a $5.8m deal with Verkada for a security system for a Southeast US school district. The client had originally requested that cameras be added to an existing Honeywell system. But after ConvergeOne and Verkada demoed the platform, the school decided to completely replace its setup with Verkada, amounting to 1,500 cameras, 120 door access controls, and infrastructure and professional services.
33% of ConvergeOne staff reporting Verkada opportunities
“Thirty-three percent of our staff has Verkada opportunities after six months. That is great for us, and we see 5x pull through, so every dollar we spend on Verkada, we see a return of five dollars when we position Verkada in our customer footprint.”
Enlarged sales team
Kyle says the partnership has effectively increased its sales staff by 400 people. “Being able to call on those new sales staff to help our 14,000 customers is phenomenal,” he says.
“Some people have asked me about conflict in the field, but it’s not something I go along with because the relationship is nothing but respectful, and it makes us better.”
Joint marketing and collaboration
ConvergeOne and Verkada have developed a collaborative working relationship, benefitting both businesses. “There hasn’t been a time where I’ve been unable to pick up the phone and speak to somebody. That direct access to folks has been so refreshing.
“What Verkada brings to us at ConvergeOne as part of our solutions portfolio is really how we get into new accounts, for example, joint marketing with our CSMs for events. They’re gracious in what they’re doing for us as we continue to grow.
“I work hand-in-hand with Verkada, which resonates with our customers compared to when I’m out on my own. Having a meaningful partner relationship is brilliant, rather than just a vendor I source gear from.”
Local knowledge
“Territory planning has gone really well with exposing our list of customers to Verkada and them letting us know who the people we need to be working with are.
“Having a big inside sales organization and not knowing which account manager to work with had been difficult in the past, but that’s not the case with Verkada.”
Supply chain reliability
As a $2 billion business, ConvergeOne’s order book is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But all too often, product lead times can run into months or even years, says Kyle.
“We are impacted by supply chain uses affecting manufacturers, and it is not uncommon for us to order something and wait until next year to receive the products. That doesn’t happen with Verkada, we recently made a $3.3 million order and the products were shipped in two weeks.”
Closer integration
“It’s been a phenomenal nine months, and we’re really excited for what comes next with Verkada,” says Kyle. “We see great opportunities with closer integration of Verkda within our managed services portfolio.
“Sixty percent of what we do is managed services, so being able to grow in that area and attach a managed services provider to this product line is what we’re looking for.”
Product evolution
Kyle says that the versatility of the Verkada product is piquing the interest of multiple customers, far more so than a more traditional security product.
“One of the largest deals in our Verkada pipeline currently is with a customer that isn’t completely set on how they’ll use the product, but the technology and its simplicity draw them.
“The ability to integrate all of the APIs is attractive for customers. There’s huge interest in how the technology can be leveraged and integrated into their infrastructure.”
Increasing deal size
Kyle describes the size of the deals that ConvergeOne has been able to close with Verkada as “incredible.” There are ambitions to grow the pipeline even further.
“We’ve recently signed one of the largest POs in Verkada’s history, and that is being driven by the value that Verkada brings to us and the value our customers see in the product. It’s been a fantastic start to the relationship, and now we want to take it even further.”
Interested in learning more? Sign up for an on-demand webinar for information on Verkada’s Partner Programme.