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In August of this year, Mitel sent an email to its cloud communication customers announcing price increases and support reductions for the following products:
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MiCloud Connect
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MiCloud Flex Retail
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MiCloud Business Retail
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ShoreTel Sky Retail
This email attributed the increase to global market conditions, which Mitel said it "typically absorbs" on behalf of its customers but could no longer do so because of rising operational costs on its end.
The notice further warned affected customers in the U.S. and Canada to expect a 25% price increase—which they later reduced to 15% after receiving numerous complaints from said customers—as early as October 1, 2022, applied as of the contract renewal date.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Not exactly.
The email mentioned above also came with a nudge to migrate to RingCentral, offering incentives to customers who do so or at least start the process before their contract renewal date. Those customers would not be subject to price increases.
In November 2021, Mitel partnered with RingCentral, making RingCentral the exclusive cloud provider for Mitel customers. While no one said outright you have to move off Mitel, they haven’t been quite as transparent as they could—or perhaps should—be.
They’ve omitted information you need to keep your business communications tools up to date, which is crucial for your operations, customer and employee experience, and bottom line.
Hopefully, that’s changing. Frank Skiffington, Senior Vice President, Mitel Americas, agreed to a live interview during our Roundtable Event Tuesday, October 18th to discuss the current strategy for moving customers to RingCentral.
Here's what Mitel is not saying: Mitel is getting out of cloud, period. And that poses a challenge for its customers and communications partners like us.
The email they sent is essentially trying to push you off Mitel by giving you the "option" to sidestep the increases by moving to RingCentral without saying you should start planning to move now. At the same time, they're preparing to discontinue support (they've already stopped sales) of their cloud-based products.
Why is Mitel clouding its messaging? We do have some insights into this. For one, a mass exodus of their cloud customer base to any vendors besides RingCentral would hurt Mitel.
The truth is you do not have to move to RingCentral. While it's an excellent platform, it isn't the only choice, but that's who Mitel wants you to move to because there is a financial incentive for them if you do.
Secondly, migrations take time. Is it fair to string along their current customer base and collect monthly revenue for a product lacking support, performance, R&D, security, and longevity in the market?
If you'd like to know more about the Mitel and RingCentral partnership and your options for choosing a new cloud telephony provider, we'd be happy to help. Please reach out.
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