The hot topics at Avaya ENGAGE have stuck around the last few years: the shift from on-premise to cloud, mobility, the rise of video, the growth of partnerships and ecosystems.
“Nothing new, nothing different than we’ve talked about the last few years, except the rate and pace of adoption,” Avaya CEO Jim Chirico said in his keynote address at Avaya ENGAGE 2020 this week.
Learn more: Partnering with Empirix
Next level
Strolling onto the stage to A$ton Wyld’s “Next Level” off the Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw soundtrack, Chirico credited innovation and partnerships with accelerating growth.
“Avaya is on the next level, going fast and furious,” he said. “That’s what we’re all about.”
Innovation
Chirico said Avaya is focusing on the thing that’s responsible for its success: innovation. In 2019, Avaya adjusted its strategies to remain at the forefront of unified communications technology.
“We needed to get back to the basics,” he said. “We needed to get back to our roots, and we needed to invest more and more on being an innovator.”

View keynote address
The entire keynote address can be viewed below. Avaya has also published other ENGAGE 2020 speeches on its Facebook page.
Empirix at Avaya ENGAGE
At the Empirix booth, we were busy discussing hybrid cloud deployments and our renowned Hammer Cloud Platform.
Fully optimizing customer experience in contact centers requires a mix of cloud and on-premise technologies. Relying exclusively on cloud technology means you’re basing decisions on incomplete data. The only way to extract truly useful information from all your customers’ experiences is with a hybrid solution.
Hammer Cloud Platform: Start your free 30-day trial
Magic
As expected, the star of the event was basketball legend Earvin Magic Johnson. After his address, Johnson thanked the 3,000 attendees for “”being an engaged and amazing audience.” His keynote included a touching tribute to Kobe Bryant.
Just got off the stage in Phoenix, AZ speaking for Avaya, Inc. I want to thank President and CEO Jim Chirico and the 3,000 Avaya customers, partners, and employees for being an engaged and amazing audience. Thank you for helping me pay tribute to Kobe. pic.twitter.com/XTKEVVq7ms
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 5, 2020
Onto Japan
We’re already preparing for the next big partner event we’re sponsoring: Experience Avaya Japan. If you’re planning to attend the Tokyo conference on February 21, stop by our booth and say hi!
Hammer Hybrid Cloud
A cloud hybrid designed for the real world
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