Thread regarding Avaya layoffs

Ha!

I can't wait to observe how you all react to these new appointments.
🍿

Need I say more https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAL6GTF/

This also says a lot about Gartner analysts and the real world of business versus writing articles and quoting someone else’s research.
I have come across him in several positions prior to him joining Gartner and never saw him as more than a mid level big standard marketing employee -

Avaya CMO making the rounds. Is he not correcting people and pretending to still be CMO, or is he still CMO?

https://twitter.com/Hyken/status/1573432091794345984?s=20&t=egcHePfL2_T74JpZup3B0w

This is akward..

"We are excited to hear from @simonharrisonme
from @Avaya

• Get your ticket to #VOICE22 so you don't miss it."

https://twitter.com/VoiceSummitAI/status/1572239975038558214?s=20&t=j59BcF5-SxEzEoSTKPpJyw

Problem Department from the very beginning. Decades after initially picking the horrid name, when you tell people you worked for Avaya, they quizzically look at you and respond with who, followed by what do they do. Every current and past leader who failed to raise the company profile (none), contributed to the current situation. About the only brand awareness over all that existed from the beginning was among Soccer fans that don't make technology purchases.

Marketing unfairly targeted? That is one of the more bloated organizations within the company. For years Avaya has marketed via online only. People still know who Lucent is/was. No one knows Avaya, unless they have a system or are in telecommunications. Marketing has been the failure of Avaya for multiple regime's. CEO called out that we need to do a better job at Marketing, on his first or second call. This was not a surprise.

THIS MAY EXPLAIN TIMING:
When you DIRECT a pay-to-play CEO Interview, and are so quick to check that KPI off of the list (Avaya marketing is NOT STRATEGIC, just CHECK BOXES, hence the VOLUME of PAY TO PLAY), THAT YOU MISS THIS IN EDITING. Yup. What is the point of Pay-to-Play if you don't edit this out? CEO is the good guy here. He inherited this KPI "TACTICS NOT STRATEGY or OUTCOMES" marketing machine.
https://twitter.com/aspxcsgo/status/1564599149508657152?s=20&t=6dtRL-OX3dBRkCsZYucFJw

He was a very willing participant, who never challenged anyone to properly assess the business to therefore develop actually sustainable marketing go-to-market strategies. Yes, he was brought exclusively to get back into Gartner. And yes, anyone who knows Gartner knows that once an analyst leaves to go to a vendor, that vendor has even less access to Gartner attention than if they didnt hire an ex Gartner...so it was an ill conceived plan. However, that is not the worst of it. The worst is him acting like Svengali as if he knew things none of us could understand and to double down on consumer-esq marketing messages that fell like lead balloons. And even when his team proved themselves to be silly clowns, he then triple downed as if to prove the critics were wrong, not his peoples silly "look at me ME MYSELF AND I"= Avaya Brand. Avaya marketing needs to embrace humility and learn when less is more. And, no. NO ONE IS EVER BUYING BECAUSE THEY LIKE a marketing person for their pure awesomeness. IT was humiliating trying to beg a client to not leave when they would point out to me silly marketing messages. I wanted to hide under the table. NONE of these people understand what the BUYERS really think of them and their messages. They are NOT customer facing and should NOT be on social media.

I agree with the part you hypothesize about getting the job to get a ranking on Gartner since Avaya is not listed on the UCaaS or CCaaS ranking. They were able to get Spaces at least on the list in his time here as a meetings solutions.

He has been terrible for Avaya and hurt the brand. This was long overdue.

The first of many more to come…is my thought.

I have two thoughts...

1. I think marketing, and SH specifically, have been unfairly targeted for some of the Avaya failings. They were given a worthless pile of junk and told to sell it as gold. Not their fault.
2. I do not think SH was remotely qualified for the position of a CMO at a major manufacturer. He wrote articles and did research at Gartner prior to joining Avaya. He had never held a C-Suite position, and had never even been a company executive. To go from a Director to SVP/CMO is a HUGE jump. I would not be surprised if he was offered the job on the condition that he rate Avaya higher than it deserved on some of Gartner's reviews. It is just too fishy.

Every day things feel more rotten and we are being kept largely in the dark.

I highly doubt he left on his own accord. First of many cuts.