Avaya executive bullish on China

John Wang, Greater China Managing Director of Avaya in Beijing, November 2013. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"I am very optimistic about the outlook of China's corporate collaboration and communication market, even under the background of 'new normal'", said John Wang, Greater China Managing Director of Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services, in an e-mail interview with chinadaily.com.cn.

Q: What do you think about China's overall economic development and the Chinese market? And what's your opinion on the economic "new normal"？

A: China saw its economy grow 7.4 percent in 2014, the lowest rate since 1999. After a rapid development of more than 20 years, this adjustment is understandable.

GDP is only one of the indices to measure the economic growth. The "new normal" also implies the adjustment of economic structure, which will enhance the quality of economic growth and is conducive to the long-term economic sustainable development.

To adjust the economic structure, promoting industry restructuring, boosting innovation and upgrading the industry, communication and IT technology are the major drive, which will lead the development of the corporate IT market.

According to IDC's latest projections in February, China's IT market will grow five percent in 2015, while the rate for the corporate IT market will remain about 10 percent.

So I am optimistic about the outlook of China's corporate collaboration and communication market.

In addition, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will greatly stimulate the creativity of SMEs. Avaya has rich experiences in promoting SMEs, and I am sure that in this field, Avaya can also make a difference.

Avaya executives visiting China have always been impressed with the level of innovations they observe from our customers and partners, and the China market in general. As a company going more local in China, Avaya is not just part of these innovations. We believe we can accelerate these innovations with our customer and team engagement solutions, as well as a robust channel eco-system.