Avaya Names Industry Leader Gaurav Passi as President of Avaya Cloud

Avaya Holdings Corp. announced today that Gaurav Passi, a recognized leader in the cloud-based communications industry, has joined Avaya as president of its cloud business group. Reporting to Jim Chirico, Avaya President and Chief Executive Officer, Passi will be responsible for further accelerating the company’s delivery of cloud-based solutions and driving continued momentum to grow Avaya’s market share in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) and CCaaS (Contact Centre as a Service) worldwide.

“I am thrilled that Gaurav, a proven leader, with an outstanding track record for driving success in cloud innovation, is joining Avaya. This move is a game changer.” said Chirico. “Gaurav is the right person to accelerate our penetration in this key, strategic growth area of our business. His success in formulating and executing strategies, developing technology and building high performing teams sets him apart from others in the industry. Gaurav’s addition to our leadership team will be invaluable as we double down on the multiple dimensions of cloud including public, private and hybrid solutions to unlock significant value for our customers and partners.”

Passi brings over a decade of cloud-industry executive experience to Avaya. Most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Products and Technology at Five9, where he spearheaded the development, modernization and growth of the company’s contact centre cloud offering. He has also held senior leadership positions with P&L responsibility and overseeing product strategy and execution at Deutsche Telekom Hosted Business Services, Amdocs Inc. and Ciena Corporation.

“Leading Avaya’s cloud business is an exciting opportunity and I am eager to be working closely with the customers and a very talented Avaya team to rapidly advance our position driving innovation and digital transformation in the cloud,” said Passi. “The company’s massive install base along with our ability to penetrate new markets and add new customers presents an unparalleled opportunity to extend our footprint as a major force in both UCaaS and CCaaS. Avaya will be the partner of choice for organizations of all sizes seeking the benefits of robust and scalable cloud-based communications solutions.”

In its release of financial results for the third fiscal quarter ending June 2018, Avaya confirmed that it had over 3 million seats in the cloud across its private and public cloud offerings in UCaaS and CCaaS, and that cloud-based solutions now represent approximately 11% of total revenue. Mid-market cloud MRR grew 43% and enterprise cloud MRR grew 107% quarter over quarter during that same period, outpacing average industry growth rates. In just the last three quarters Avaya has launched a public cloud storefront, a CCaaS offering for enterprise, a mid-market UCaaS multi-tenant solution, a cloud Master Agent program, and begun extending its retail cloud offering to key international markets.