Vocus channel sales grow by 17%

Kevin Russell (Vocus Group)

Vocus Group has “reinvigorated” its channel business after seeing sales grow by 17 per cent in financial year 2020.

According to its annual report, the telco’s enterprise arm, known as Vocus Network Services (VNS), saw a boost from its Google Cloud partnership, which allows it to offer public cloud services to enterprise and government customers.

In addition, the telco claimed it had also benefited from “enhanced engagement” with NBN, and also new partnerships with Fortinet, Equinix and Nokia. 

Vocus also claimed it was the first telco in Australia to partner with Zoom, which was announced in March 2020, ahead of the country’s COVID-19 lockdown.

As a result, Vocus claimed it planned to launch new products ranging from SD-WAN,cloud IaaS, Google Cloud, secure internet gateway, and three NBN products – enterprise ethernet, internet and business satellite as a result of the partnerships.

Last year, Vocus’ channel chief Monique Esplin told ARN the telco hopes to sell 20 per cent of its networking product via the channel by 2024,  doubling it from its 2019 figure of 10 per cent. 

The VNS -- which incorporates enterprise, government and wholesale business segments and typically goes by Vocus Communications -- was singled out by CEO Kevin Russell for building “momentum” as the telco ended 2020 with a $178.2 million loss.