The Back Story
Faced with a heavy debt load, Avaya filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2017. Rivals like Cisco Systems, Mitel and ShoreTel have vowed to pursue and win over Avaya's customers and partners. A case in point: Mitel is offering a special promotion for Avaya users or anyone actively considering investing in an Avaya solution in 2017. Purchase a new MiCloud solution and get three months of Mitel cloud service free along with professional installation, the company says.Meanwhile, Avaya officials have insisted that the company continues to perform well overall while retaining customers and partners. The company's most recent quarterly revenue results looked promising. Also, Avaya hosted a major customer conference last week in Las Vegas, while announcing a range of new partner engagements at the show. And ScanSource, a distribution partner, says its Avaya-oriented business continues to perform well.Still, concerns about Avaya's pension plans have swirled since the bankruptcy rumors intensified in December 2016.Among those standing up for Avaya's retirees: The Communications Workers of America. In January 2017, the organization stated:"CWA is actively working to safeguard the workers and retirees of Avaya as the company moves through the bankruptcy process. We are gathering more information and have retained bankruptcy counsel. We are diligently representing our members’ interests as this process goes forward. CWA represents about 550 active customer service and technical workers at Avaya."