Kathy Gibson reports – Logitech has successfully reinvented itself in the enterprise space with Logitech for Business offering market-leading accessories and video collaboration solutions.
Loubna Imenchal, vice-president and head of Logitech for Business: Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia, explains that the company is well known for its consumer accessories, but is also now a major player in the enterprise video space.
“The video is now becoming omnipresent – it is a must-have product,” she says.
Logitech developed its solution set by examining the new ways that people are working.
“No-one expected Covid, but everyone adapted – and Logitech was there to help people in the new way of working,” says Imenchal. “From 45 years back, our vision and mission was to equip everyone with a mouse and keyboard – and also to have video communication enabled.”
Post-Covid, several ways of working have emerged: some companies have brought staff back to the office; some still work at home. “Most companies have adopted a hybrid working model,” Imenchal says.
“But this means we need products and solutions that include security as there are now new threats. Logitech saw this as an opportunity to make everything secure.”
Once thing that is certain, Imenchal adds, is that the future is not going to be the same as the past. “We need to understand how people want to work going forward.”
Global research suggests that 80% of workers would benefit from working at home – and 94% would benefit from video collaboration.
Logitech has examined what the pain points are that companies face and developed solutions that address them, while embedding plug-and-play ease of use.
Today, the majority of workers want to work from home, or in a hybrid model. And, as workers get younger, this preference increases.
Imenchal explains that there are several types of meetings that take place: there is the upload/download meeting that is primarily for information exchange; the collaboration meeting includes innovation and ideation; the collision is a spontaneous meeting; and social interaction tends to be more social and emotional.
Logitech has included artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its solutions so everyone in the meeting looks and sounds their best. These interventions include right-sight, right-light, and right-sound.
“We came to these solutions by listening to decision-makers. And these are not necessarily the IT people, but the end users, who want a seamless and efficient experience,” Imenchal says.
“At the same time, IT wants clear options, control, peace of mind, and scalability.
“This is where Logitech leads.”
Sustainability is important to all customers today, and Logitech is ahead of the curve: since 2021 it has been carbon neutral and aims to achieve net zero by 2030. All Logitech products have FSC-certified package and carbon labelling.
Angelos Stefanidis, head of emerging markets at Logitech for Business, explains that the world has embraced a new way of working – with 70% of Fortune 100 companies now using Logitech solutions in more than 2 000 locations.
Importantly, Logitech has key strategic partnerships with technology providers like Microsoft, Google, Zoom, Intel, Dell, Sony, Lenovo, and Samsung – and its products are certified for use by their software.
The company works with key integrators and resellers to bring its solutions to market and believes there is a huge addressable market that it can exploit together with the right partners.
Logitech is currently working with South African partners to position itself and build relationships.
The company’s solutions hold the number one spot for video and personal workspace solutions in healthcare, banking, automakers, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. And it is a leading light in the SME market – something that is particularly relevant in South Africa.
It backs this up with 14 customer support sites available to its 3 000 resellers in 100 countries. Logitech ships about 3-million products per week.
It plans to increase its channel presence in South Africa and will actively look to partner with new resellers, Stefanidis concludes.
Last year, Logitech launched its global Partner Connect framework and will work within this programme to onboard and upskill partners in South Africa and across the continent.