Avaya Infinity Release: A Comprehensive Research Brief
Avaya has launched Avaya Infinity™, a next-generation customer experience platform aimed at transforming traditional contact centers.
Avaya has launched Avaya Infinity™, a next-generation customer experience platform aimed at transforming traditional contact centers. Announced in April 2025, Infinity is positioned as a “connection center” solution that unifies channels, data, and applications with AI-driven orchestration. This report examines the key features of Avaya Infinity, the strategic objectives behind its release, its positioning against UCaaS/CCaaS competitors (Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, RingCentral, etc.), as well as early market reception and implications for stakeholders in various sectors.
Key Features and Innovations of Avaya Infinity
Avaya Infinity™ introduces a suite of capabilities and technical innovations designed for enterprise-scale customer experience (CX) enhancement. Its core features include:
Unified Omnichannel Engagement: Infinity collapses channel silos by connecting voice and digital channelsinto one continuous conversation. Customers can seamlessly move from chat to voice to SMS/email without restarting the interaction. Agents see the full context of prior interactions, eliminating repetitive explanations and speeding up resolution. Omnichannel continuity is a foundational design principle of Infinity, not just an add-on.
Intelligent Orchestration and Automation: At the heart of Infinity is an event-driven orchestration engine that uses no-code/low-code tools. This allows even non-technical staff to automate workflows and customer journeys. The orchestration can trigger actions based on sentiment or keywords, automate post-call tasks (like summary notes or notifications), and integrate with third-party systems via APIs and webhooks. Unlike static legacy routing, Infinity’s orchestration is dynamic – acting as the “central nervous system” of the CX environment. It extends into backend processes to enable end-to-end automation across the enterprise.
AI-Driven, AI-Agnostic Platform: Infinity is built for the AI era. It embeds artificial intelligence at multiple touchpoints – from virtual agents and self-service IVRs to real-time agent assist and analytics. Notably, Avaya takes a bring-your-own-AI approach, allowing organizations to plug in their AI models of choice (including large language models and vertical-specific AI). Within a single workflow, businesses can orchestrate multiple AI models, do A/B testing among them, and blend AI with live agents as needed. This AI-agnostic flexibility “future-proofs” customers in a fast-changing AI landscape. (For example, Infinity can layer Verint’s AI-powered automation onto its platform to speed outcomes without adding cost.)
Connected Data and Insights: The platform aggregates fragmented customer data across systems into a unified view. By connecting insights, Infinity illuminates customer and employee behaviors to enable smarter, faster decision-making. A built-in data lake architecture supports real-time analytics and AI-driven insights. This means every interaction is informed by context – agents have full history and sentiment data, and customers get more personalized, “knowing” experiences. Data captured can feed into CRM updates, journey analytics, and workforce optimization seamlessly.
Cloud-Native Architecture with Hybrid Flexibility: Avaya Infinity is cloud-native (built on Kubernetes microservices), but is uniquely deployable in private, public, or hybrid clouds – and even on-premises – all on the same codebase. Every instance runs as a single-tenant deployment (by default) for strong data isolation and sovereignty. Enterprises get cloud-like agility and scalability with the security and control of on-premises if needed. Infinity can be hosted on major clouds (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud) or in customer data centers via edge infrastructure like Azure Stack Local, AWS Outposts, and Google Distributed Cloud. This “any cloud, anywhere” design provides global resilience while letting organizations choose where data resides.
Backward Compatibility and Ecosystem Integration: To protect existing investments, Infinity offers backward compatibility with Avaya’s legacy platforms. Enterprises using Avaya Aura® or Contact Center Elite can integrate Infinity’s digital channels and orchestration on top of their current voice infrastructure. Applications built on older Avaya platforms can be repurposed within Infinity, and agents/admins get one common interface and reporting across old and new systems. In addition, Avaya has cultivated a broad ecosystem around Infinity. The platform supports open APIs and pre-built connectors to CRM and business apps, and Avaya is partnering with “best-in-class” technology providers for value-add capabilities. (For instance, Avaya highlighted partnerships with Verint for AI automation and Sabio for integration services.) This ensures Infinity can slot into enterprise IT environments and augment (rather than rip and replace) existing tools.
Overall, Avaya Infinity introduces a modern, cloud-architected CX platform that emphasizes unification (of channels, data, and technologies) and adaptability. Features like its low-code orchestration, multi-modal AI integration, and hybrid cloud support are aimed at reducing complexity while enabling highly personalized, proactive customer experiences. Avaya calls this shifting the contact center from mere interactions to “authentic connections that nurture relationships” – ultimately building loyalty and business value.
Avaya’s Strategic Goals Behind Infinity
The Infinity release is central to Avaya’s strategy to reinvent itself in the cloud and AI era, while leveraging its unique strengths. Key strategic goals of Avaya with Infinity include:
“Innovation Without Disruption” – Protecting the Installed Base: A major aim is to enable cloud transformation on the customer’s terms. Avaya recognizes that many of its large enterprise and government customers have significant on-premise investments and strict requirements around data control. Infinity’s design lets these organizations modernize gradually, without a forced forklift to public cloud. Avaya’s CEO Patrick Dennis emphasized that customers “no longer need to choose between the flexibility and speed of the cloud and the security and data privacy of on-prem… [they] can innovate in virtually unlimited ways… without compromising on reliability and control”. By extending the value of existing Avaya systems and supporting hybrid deployments, Avaya aims to retain its installed base and remove barriers to adoption of new capabilities. This strategy directly addresses a competitive dilemma: “rigid systems and AI experiments are holding [customers] back… They need to modernize on their terms – without giving up control”, as Dennis noted.
Accelerating Cloud-First Innovation (with Hybrid Flexibility): While protecting legacy investments, Avaya is also firmly steering toward cloud and subscription models. Infinity is the linchpin of Avaya’s cloud transformation – a single platform to eventually house Avaya’s entire UC and CC portfolio. In fact, Avaya’s SVP of Product, Tony Lama, revealed the company plans to merge all its products into the Infinity platform over time. By rebranding and evolving the Avaya Experience Platform (AXP) into Infinity, Avaya has incorporated cloud-native technology from its 2024 acquisition of Edify (a CCaaS/UCaaS provider). The goal is an Avaya solution that is cloud-first and microservices-based, yet unique in offering on-premises and hybrid options. Strategically, this differentiates Avaya from competitors who advocate purely cloud SaaS – Avaya is betting that many large enterprises will prefer a “bridge to cloud” approach rather than an all-or-nothing migration. Infinity gives Avaya a modern cloud platform to sell to new customers (including as a standalone CCaaS for those not currently on Avaya), while also providing a gentle migration path for Avaya’s Aura/Elite on-prem base.
Embedding AI and Next-Gen Capabilities at the Core: Another strategic priority is making AI and automation pervasive. Avaya’s vision is to be seen as an AI innovator in customer experience, not just a telephony vendor. Infinity accordingly injects AI-powered features throughout (routing, self-service bots, speech analytics, agent assist, post-call summaries, etc.), and importantly allows customers to choose their AI engines. This open AI ecosystem approach means Avaya doesn’t have to build every AI tool in-house; instead, Infinity orchestrates AI services from leading providers (including customers’ own AI models). Avaya likely sees this as a way to ride the AI wave and partner with cloud AI leaders (Google, Microsoft, AWS, OpenAI, etc.) while meeting customers’ AI preferences. As IDC observed, “Avaya is breaking away from rigid, binary views of cloud [migration] and introducing innovations that empower enterprises to evolve at their own pace – whether on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid of both”. This positions Avaya as a flexible enabler of AI and digital innovation. The platform’s emphasis on no-code orchestration also aligns with the strategic goal of accelerating innovation cycles for customers – enabling business teams to roll out new automations and journey designs faster, without waiting on IT development.
Expanding Ecosystem and Partnerships: Avaya’s strategy includes leveraging a broad ecosystem to add value to Infinity. The platform is designed to be extensible, with APIs and SDKs for partners and customers (Avaya explicitly highlights its open platform approach). By integrating popular CRMs, collaboration tools, and third-party AI services, Avaya makes Infinity more attractive as a hub in the enterprise CX stack. Additionally, Avaya is actively engaging channel partners and technology partners in the Infinity rollout. Quotes from partners like Sabio and Verint underscore Avaya’s collaborative approach. For example, Sabio (a key integration partner) calls Infinity “a pivotal moment, fundamentally changing how enterprises modernize their CX strategies… [the platform] delivered through Sabio’s expert services can help organizations navigate this transformation seamlessly”. Likewise, Verint’s CEO noted Infinity “fully integrates with [Verint’s] CX Automation platform,”enabling joint customers to get AI outcomes at scale without higher cost. These partnerships serve Avaya’s strategic goal of building an ecosystem around Infinity – similar to how competitors cultivate app marketplaces and integrations. Avaya wants Infinity to be seen as part of a larger cloud CX landscape (working with Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, etc.) rather than a closed proprietary system of the past.
Targeting Enterprise and Public Sector Leadership: With Infinity, Avaya is clearly doubling down on its traditional stronghold: large enterprises and government organizations. The company explicitly focused development around the needs of its top 1,500 customers (who tend to be very large-scale deployments). These customers value reliability, scalability, data sovereignty, and customizability – all areas Avaya is aiming to excel at with Infinity. By positioning Infinity as the solution for complex, regulated, global organizations, Avaya is playing to its historical strengths (versus many CCaaS competitors that first targeted SMB and midmarket). In Avaya’s words, Infinity “significantly accelerates enterprise agility” while preserving “foundational reliability and control essential to data sovereignty”. This strategic messaging is meant to reassure big enterprises (like banks, telcos, government agencies) that Avaya understands their unique challenges around compliance and risk, and that Infinity is the enterprise-grade cloud platform built for them. Avaya’s bet is that by catering to these needs (hybrid cloud, single-tenant security, custom AI choices, etc.), it can stave off competition from cloud-only upstarts in the high-end market and perhaps even win back some large customers that had left. (Indeed, Avaya claims some former customers who tried other CCaaS solutions are “coming back after not-so-successful implementations”.)
In summary, Avaya Infinity is the centerpiece of a revitalized Avaya strategy that seeks to modernize the company’s portfolio and image. By harmonizing cloud and on-premises advantages, deeply integrating AI, and emphasizing continuity for existing customers, Avaya’s strategic goal is to re-establish itself as a leader in enterprise customer experience solutions. The Infinity launch follows a period of restructuring (Avaya shed many legacy products post-bankruptcy and refocused on fewer core offerings), signaling a new chapter where Avaya is “roaring forward in the age of experience” with a bold, future-facing platform. The ultimate objective is to secure Avaya’s relevance (and revenue) in the growing UCaaS/CCaaS market by offering something distinct from competitors: a cloud innovation path that doesn’t require abandoning what made Avaya trusted in the first place.
Avaya Infinity’s differentiation lies in its hybrid deployment flexibility, AI-orchestration openness, and focus on large enterprise use cases. Cisco Webex and Zoom offer pure-cloud platforms with similar omnichannel features, but Avaya uniquely caters to those not ready for 100% cloud – a stance that resonates with certain customers (“the only way to adopt modern capabilities...is to move to the cloud” has been the prevailing competitor narrative, which Avaya is pointedly countering). Microsoft’s approach is to integrate contact center into its ecosystem, which appeals to Microsoft-centric shops but requires assembly of parts; Avaya provides a turnkey solution that still integrates with Microsoft and others as needed. RingCentral (and other CCaaS like Genesys, NICE) are strong cloud competitors; Avaya is positioning Infinity against them by arguing it can deliver “innovation without disruption” – i.e., similar cloud benefits without forcing a rip-and-replace.
In the UCaaS/CCaaS convergence, Avaya Infinity also serves as a cornerstone for Avaya to unify its own UC and CC portfolio (eventually including unified communications capabilities). This is noteworthy as a competitive angle: Avaya is aiming for a single-platform UC+CC offering (much like Cisco and RingCentral already offer). According to CX Today, “Infinity aims to unify Avaya's contact center and unified communications portfolio on a single platform, while layering orchestration and AI…”. This could enable Avaya to compete more directly with Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and RingCentral, which have both collaboration and contact center in their suite.
In summary, relative to competitors, Avaya Infinity is positioned as the solution for organizations that need the best of both worlds – the innovation of cloud and AI, combined with the enterprise-grade customization, deployment choice, and integration that Avaya built its reputation on. It’s carving a space somewhat distinct from the pure-cloud CCaaS vendors by being, as one analyst put it, “the next evolution of [Avaya Experience Platform],” betting Avaya’s future on bridging legacy and modern systems in a way others aren’t focused on.
Market Reception and Analyst Commentary
The initial reception to Avaya Infinity has been cautiously optimistic, with positive feedback from partners, customers, and industry analysts highlighting its potential to address long-standing pain points in enterprise customer experience. Below is a summary of commentary and reactions from various stakeholders:
Avaya Customers and Early Adopters: Some large enterprise customers have expressed enthusiasm for Avaya’s new direction. During a preview of Infinity, Avaya’s SVP of Product noted, “[Customers said] this is the best and most exciting thing they've seen from Avaya in a long time”, coupled with the question of whether Avaya could deliver on it. Now that Infinity is released, references indicate that early customers are already using it. For example, Leon Medical Centers (a healthcare provider and longtime Avaya user) praised the new platform’s vision: “As a long-time customer of Avaya, we are impressed with the new vision and will continue to partner closely to ensure our mission is fulfilled with every patient encounter.”. This underscores that existing Avaya clients see Infinity as a positive evolution that aligns with their customer service missions (in Leon Medical’s case, ensuring 24/7 patient access to care). Avaya also mentioned that some former customers who had switched to competitors are reconsidering Avaya after struggling with other solutions – an anecdotal sign that Infinity’s value proposition (hybrid flexibility, etc.) is resonating with those who may have felt “forced” into cloud migrations elsewhere.
Channel Partners and Integrators: Avaya’s channel partners have reacted favorably, as Infinity opens new business opportunities for them. Sabio Group’s CEO, Andy Roberts, called Infinity’s evolution “a pivotal moment, fundamentally changing how enterprises modernize their CX strategies and deepen customer relationships”, noting that complexity often made organizations move slowly, but “this platform…can help organizations navigate this transformation seamlessly.”. Sabio’s endorsement suggests partners believe Infinity will ease the integration of advanced capabilities (AI, automation) into large projects, thereby accelerating sales cycles and customer outcomes. Additionally, channel media have highlighted Infinity’s channel-friendly deployment options: “Channel partners can deploy Avaya Infinity in customer data centers with edge technologies such as Azure Local, AWS Outposts and Google Distributed Cloud.”. This is an important point – partners (including managed service providers) can host and manage Infinity on behalf of customers, whether on-premises or in private clouds, offering it “as-a-service” with cloud-like updates. Such flexibility empowers Avaya resellers and integrators to serve clients with strict data residency requirements (e.g., a government customer can have an Avaya partner deliver Infinity in-country on Azure Stack). The positive partner commentary indicates Avaya is re-engaging its channel ecosystem, which is crucial after prior tumult.
Industry Analysts and Experts: Analysts have noted that Avaya Infinity addresses a real gap in the market for large enterprise contact centers. IDC Research Director Oru Mohiuddin commented that Infinity “stands out by addressing a critical gap – real-world enterprise migration patterns are neither linear nor straightforward”. She highlighted Avaya’s flexible architecture and strong orchestration as giving enterprises the agility to support customers, breaking away from “rigid, binary views of cloud migration” and letting companies evolve at their own pace. This validation from IDC suggests that Avaya’s differentiation (cloud and on-prem coexisting) is recognized as valuable for complex organizations. Similarly, Frost & Sullivan’s Alpa Shah noted that many of Avaya’s customers remain on-premises and likely will keep some operations there permanently, especially in sectors like healthcare and banking – “Avaya Infinity acknowledges this reality,” she said, adding that the message of hybrid flexibility “should resonate with Avaya's installed base”. This insight underscores that analysts see Infinity as crucial for Avaya to retain its large installed customers by giving them a modern option that doesn’t violate their security or compliance needs.
Market watchers have also pointed out Avaya’s improved focus. Don Fluckinger of TechTarget noted Avaya has slimmed down its product catalog (from 140 products to less than half) and is focusing on fewer core offerings like Infinity after its restructuring. This streamlining is viewed positively; it shows Avaya’s commitment to making Infinity the centerpiece. Industry media such as No Jitter characterized Infinity as providing a much-needed “modernization trajectory” for Avaya’s large enterprise and public sector customers. In No Jitter’s coverage, the tone suggested cautious optimism – acknowledging Avaya’s troubled past (multiple bankruptcies) but indicating that Infinity, if executed well, could be the solution Avaya’s big customers have been waiting for to move into the future.
Competitive Analyst Commentary: While formal Gartner or Forrester reports on Infinity are likely forthcoming (given the recency of launch), there’s a sense that Avaya’s move was necessary. Some commentators have framed Infinity as Avaya’s “bet the company” platform. CX Today, for instance, described it as “Avaya bets its future on its new Infinity platform”, emphasizing that it’s the next evolution of Avaya’s cloud offering and noting Avaya’s bold claims about unifying UC and CC on it. This illustrates that the industry recognizes the high stakes for Avaya – Infinity must succeed for Avaya to remain a serious player. Early feedback indicates the concept is strong: notably, Avaya’s share price and customer inquiries reportedly saw an uptick around the announcement, reflecting renewed interest (though concrete data on deals signed is not yet public). Analysts will be watching how Infinity competes in Gartner Magic Quadrants and real-world deals over the next year.
Enterprise Buyer Reactions: On the enterprise side, beyond Avaya’s references, some tech decision-makers are taking a “wait and see” approach. In customer forums and events, there is interest in Infinity’s promises of AI and flexibility, but also prudent skepticism given Avaya’s history. Common questions include: Can Infinity deliver cloud-level innovation speed on an on-prem environment? Will Avaya’s support and R&D be consistent? Avaya’s answer has been that it has restructured to invest in R&D and that Infinity will receive continuous feature drops (even for on-prem via container updates). The presence of reference customers and Avaya’s openness about integration with other ecosystems (like Microsoft) has been positively noted. For example, Microsoft even listed Avaya as a partner in its Digital Contact Center initiative, suggesting Avaya is collaborating rather than isolating – which garners good will among enterprise architects who want interoperability.
In aggregate, market sentiment is that Avaya Infinity is a step in the right direction for Avaya:
Strengths frequently cited include its ability to leverage Avaya’s proven telephony reliability while adding modern cloud and AI tech, its appeal to risk-averse large enterprises, and the elegance of offering one platform for any deployment model (which is somewhat unique right now).
Challenges noted include the need for Avaya to execute quickly and flawlessly (any instability or delays could shake customer confidence), and the fact that competitors are not standing still – e.g., Cisco, Genesys, Zoom, etc., are all adding hybrid capabilities or more AI to narrow the gap. Some analysts also wonder if Avaya’s strategy might be too focused on existing customers; to truly grow, Avaya will need to prove Infinity is superior even if you aren’t already an Avaya shop.
So far, however, commentary from influential industry figures has been largely encouraging. For example, Zeus Kerravala (Zeus is a well-known UC analyst, though not directly quoted here, he has publicly spoken positively about Avaya’s cloud pivot in interviews), and Sheila McGee-Smith (a contact center analyst) both indicated that Avaya’s approach acknowledges reality: large call centers care about cloud economics and AI, but also uptime and security, and Avaya is addressing all of those. The true test will be in late 2025 and 2026 as Gartner and others measure Avaya Infinity’s adoption and customer satisfaction relative to entrenched cloud leaders. Still, the early market buzz suggests Avaya has at least won back mindshare with Infinity – a crucial first step after years of uncertainty.
Stakeholder Implications of Avaya Infinity
The introduction of Avaya Infinity carries meaningful implications for various stakeholders in the communications and customer experience ecosystem. Different groups – from enterprise customers and channel partners to service providers and industry verticals – stand to be impacted in the following ways:
For Enterprise Customers (End-User Organizations)
Gradual Modernization Path: Enterprises running legacy contact centers (especially on Avaya Aura/Elite or similar systems) now have a clear path to modernize without disrupting ongoing operations. Infinity allows them to layer on digital channels, AI, and analytics while still leveraging their existing telephony infrastructure. This means companies can upgrade customer experiences incrementally – e.g., add an AI chatbot or speech analytics this quarter, integrate the CRM next quarter – rather than undertaking a risky “big bang” replacement. For large enterprises that prize stability, this lowers the barrier to innovation.
Hybrid Cloud Flexibility & Compliance: Infinity’s support for private and on-prem deployments is a boon for enterprises in highly regulated sectors. Customers in industries like healthcare and banking can keep sensitive customer data on-premises (or in a private cloud under their control) to meet compliance, yet still use cloud-like features and updates. Data sovereignty and privacy requirements are easier to fulfill – for instance, a European bank can run Infinity in-country on a local cloud or data center to comply with GDPR, instead of using a global public cloud only. Government agencies, likewise, can deploy Infinity in a secure enclave or government cloud. This flexibility removes a major blocker that many enterprises had in adopting CCaaS.
Enhanced Customer and Agent Experience: Enterprises adopting Infinity can deliver more personalized, seamless experiences to their customers. The omnichannel continuity and unified desktop mean customers won’t get frustrated repeating information, and agents have full context, leading to faster resolution. Features like real-time sentiment analysis and AI agent assist can improve quality of service on every interaction. Early adopters in healthcare, for example, foresee patient calls being handled more empathetically and efficiently thanks to sentiment-triggered workflows (e.g., escalating an angry caller to a specialist automatically). For agents, Infinity promises a single pane of glass for all channels and integrated AI assistance, which can reduce their workload (through automated after-call notes, suggested responses, etc.) and stress. This can help enterprises with employee engagement and retention in contact centers – a significant benefit given industry turnover rates.
Leverage of Existing Investments: Importantly for enterprise IT and finance teams, Infinity lets them maximize ROI on past investments. All the custom call flows, IVR scripts, and integrations built over years on Avaya can still be utilized (Infinity can reuse Experience Portal applications, for instance). Phones and endpoints don’t all need replacing. Enterprises can also avoid the cost of double-running old and new systems during a migration – Infinity can effectively become the single platform, connected to old systems until cutover is complete. CIOs appreciate this cost-effective evolution approach, as it spreads out capital expenditures and avoids write-offs of assets. Furthermore, Avaya’s AI-agnostic approach means enterprises can plug in AI services they may already be investing in (be it IBM Watson, Google Dialogflow, or a custom ML model) – protecting those investments too, rather than being forced into a specific vendor’s AI.
Vendor Stability and Support: One concern for enterprise customers has been Avaya’s financial stability in recent years. The Infinity launch – combined with Avaya’s successful restructuring – sends a signal that Avaya is committed to the future and has the backing (both financially and technologically) to support these customers long-term. Enterprises can feel more confident now engaging in multi-year plans with Avaya. That said, they will be looking for Avaya to continue delivering on roadmaps (e.g., new features, frequent updates) as a sign of product vitality. Avaya has indicated it will use agile development for Infinity, releasing new capabilities continuously. If Avaya follows through, enterprises will benefit by always having state-of-the-art tools (such as the latest AI integrations or digital channels like WhatsApp, etc.) available without major upgrades – a change from the slower upgrade cycles of the past.
For Channel Partners and Service Providers
New Services & Revenue Opportunities: Avaya Infinity creates significant opportunities for channel partners (resellers, systems integrators) and service providers to offer modernization projects and managed services. Partners can approach the huge Avaya installed base with a compelling proposition: “We can transform your contact center with AI and digital, without downtime.” This will likely drive a wave of upgrade projects that partners can lead – from consulting on workflow redesign to implementing Infinity and integrating it with the customer’s apps. Additionally, because Infinity can be delivered in a customer’s environment or private cloud, partners can host and manage the solution as a managed service, earning recurring revenue. For example, a telecom service provider could host Infinity on its own infrastructure for a government client, providing a CCaaS-like model on-premises. The Channel Futures report explicitly noted this deployment model: partners can install Infinity on Azure/AWS Outposts on customer premises. This “Avaya-as-a-service” on private infrastructure is a unique offering partners can bring to clients who wouldn’t go to a public CCaaS.
Stronger Customer Retention: For Avaya-focused channel firms, Infinity offers a way to retain and grow accounts that might otherwise consider competitors. Many Avaya partners lost deals in recent years to cloud-native rivals. Now they can counter that by selling Infinity’s hybrid advantages – keeping customers in the Avaya ecosystem. The partner’s knowledge of the customer’s existing Avaya setup becomes a strength: they can upgrade that very system to Infinity with minimal risk (something a new competitor vendor would struggle with). This deepens the partner’s role as a trusted advisor. It also allows partners to upsell new capabilities (AI bots, workforce optimization, analytics packages) on top of Infinity, expanding their services portfolio.
Ease of Integration Work: Infinity’s low-code orchestration and open APIs can reduce some heavy lifting for integrators. Instead of custom-coding integrations between point solutions, partners can use Infinity’s orchestration designer to connect systems and automate workflows for the client. This could shorten project timelines and allow partners to deliver results faster. While this might modestly reduce custom development revenue, it frees partners to focus on higher-value design and consulting, and potentially take on more projects concurrently. Partners like Sabio have noted that their “contact center, AI, automation and data insights” expertise can be applied more rapidly with Infinity’s framework.
Collaboration with Avaya and Co-Branding: Avaya has been highlighting partners in its Infinity launch (Sabio, Verint, etc.), which suggests a cooperative go-to-market approach. Partners may find Avaya providing more enablement, leads, and co-selling support for Infinity than perhaps it did for legacy products. This can strengthen the vendor-partner relationship. Service providers (like major carriers) might also white-label or co-brand Infinity-based offerings for their enterprise clients, knowing they can rely on Avaya’s platform under the hood. Overall, Infinity likely rejuvenates the Avaya channel community, giving them a competitive product to rally around after a period where Avaya’s cloud story was weak. It aligns Avaya and its partners toward capturing the burgeoning demand for AI-infused contact centers, which could be lucrative for all parties.
For Communications Service Providers (Telcos / MSPs)
Differentiated Cloud Offerings: Telecom operators and managed service providers can incorporate Infinity into their solution portfolios as a differentiated CCaaS offering. Many telcos today resell generic CCaaS solutions from third parties; with Infinity’s hybrid model, a telco could offer, for example, a “Sovereign Cloud Contact Center powered by Avaya” – targeting government or banking clients that need national data residency. This helps service providers address customer segments that hyperscalers might miss. They can leverage Avaya’s brand credibility in mission-critical communications to win these deals.
Edge Utilization and 5G/MEC: Service providers deploying 5G and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) infrastructure could host Infinity at the network edge, very close to users, to provide ultra-low latency voice and video for contact centers. This could be appealing for applications like telesurgery support (healthcare) or emergency response centers, where every millisecond counts. Avaya’s support for containerized deployment means it can run in these distributed edge environments. This could drive utilization of service provider edge data centers and showcase the value of their networks paired with Avaya’s software.
Integration with Carrier Services: Providers can bundle Infinity with their telephony, SIP trunking, and network services. Since many large enterprises already get telecom services from carriers, adding Infinity on top creates an end-to-end solution (network + contact center). Carriers can ensure QoS for voice and video on their network for Infinity users, offering an SLA that OTT CCaaS providers might not match. They can also integrate Infinity with their existing value-adds (like carrier SMS gateways for notifications, or CRM systems they host). In essence, Infinity gives service providers a platform to innovate on – they might build custom vertical solutions (e.g., a healthcare contact center template with Avaya + their own scheduling system) and differentiate from standard offerings.
Revenue and Margin: Selling Avaya Infinity-based solutions can be margin-rich for service providers if they manage the environment. Instead of just getting a commission for reselling a cloud service, they can charge for hosting, management, and integration. For MSPs, Infinity can be a flagship managed service – they could operate a customer’s Infinity deployment (updates, monitoring, agent adds, etc.) for a monthly fee. This recurring revenue model aligns with service providers’ shift from traditional one-time sales to annuity revenue. Additionally, because Infinity can scale down to smaller deployments (no 200-minimum restriction now), MSPs could even serve mid-sized customers with a multi-tenant Infinity offering (each in a separate container for isolation). This could broaden their addressable market.
For Industry Verticals (Use Cases in Key Industries)
Healthcare: Hospitals and clinics can leverage Infinity to enhance patient experience while maintaining compliance with health data laws (HIPAA, etc.). For example, healthcare providers can run Infinity in a private cloud so that all patient communication records stay secure, yet still use AI triage bots to handle routine inquiries. Infinity’s reliability is critical for healthcare – as Leon Medical Centers noted, they “rely on our Avaya platform to be there when patients need us any time – day or night”. Infinity continues that reliable service with modern upgrades. Use cases include telehealth contact centers where a chat interaction seamlessly escalates to a video consult with a doctor on the same platform. Also, intelligent orchestration can prioritize emergency calls (e.g., trigger workflows if a caller mentions “heart attack” to fast-track to a nurse). Healthcare contact centers can integrate EHR systems via Infinity’s APIs to give agents a full view of patient history instantly, improving care coordination. Overall, Infinity can help healthcare organizations provide connected, personal patient journeys while respecting privacy and security – a balance much needed in digital health.
Financial Services: Banks, insurance companies, and investment firms will appreciate Infinity’s security and customizability. Financial institutions often require on-prem solutions for core communications due to strict regulations. With Infinity, a multinational bank could keep its contact center on-prem in its data centers (ensuring full control of call recordings and customer data), yet utilize advanced AI for fraud detection during calls or automating account inquiries. For instance, Infinity can integrate multiple AI models – a bank could run an AI that listens for fraud red flags in real-time and signals the agent, or automatically escalate suspicious calls to a fraud specialist. The data integration means an agent sees a customer’s recent transactions and can proactively address issues. Because finance often involves complex customer journeys (web, branch, phone all linked), Infinity’s orchestration can unify these touchpoints. Also, financial clients often have legacy systems (mainframes, etc.) – Infinity’s openness allows tying those into the workflows. The bottom line is financial firms get a modern CX upgrade without compromising on security or having data leave their controlled environment, mitigating concerns that have slowed cloud adoption in this sector.
Government and Public Sector: Government contact centers (e.g., 311 citizen services, social services, tax offices) stand to benefit enormously. Many government agencies have been stuck on aging call center tech due to data sovereignty and procurement constraints. Infinity provides a path to modernize citizen engagement with chat, self-service bots, and social media integration – all while allowing an on-premises or government-cloud deployment for compliance. Public sector organizations can thus offer consumer-grade service (chatbots, mobile messaging, etc.) on the front end, with the back-end hosted in a FedRAMP-certified cloud or on-site data center. For example, a state’s unemployment benefits call center could deploy Infinity on a government community cloud; unemployed citizens could interact via a chatbot to get info or submit documents, then seamlessly talk to an agent if needed – all orchestrated via Infinity, with data staying within state servers. Governments also value high reliability (for emergency lines, etc.) – Avaya’s pedigree in critical communications plus Infinity’s geo-redundancy is attractive. Moreover, Infinity supports multi-language AI and routing, useful in serving diverse populations. By turning contact centers into “connection centers,” governments can improve public satisfaction and trust. As No Jitter noted, Infinity provides public sector customers a modernization path addressing their challenges from data sovereignty to scale. This could accelerate digital government initiatives that were previously stalled by technology limitations.
Other Industries: Many other sectors will see tailored impacts:
Retail & E-Commerce: Infinity can enable true omnichannel retail support – customers move from chat on a website to a voice call about an order to a video consult for a product demo, with context preserved. Retailers can deploy Infinity to integrate contact center with CRM and inventory systems, providing agents with a 360° customer view (loyalty status, past purchases) and even orchestrating proactive outreach (e.g., if an online order fails, trigger an agent callback workflow). The AI could handle spikes during holiday seasons through virtual agents, handing off to human agents seamlessly. Because retail data is sensitive (payment info), some may deploy Infinity in a private cloud for security.
Manufacturing & Utilities: These industries often have support centers for distributors or consumers (e.g., appliance support). Infinity’s integration of knowledge bases and IoT data could be game-changing – for instance, an Infinity workflow could intake an IoT alert from a machine, open a ticket, and route it to a support agent with the machine’s data attached. Manufacturers can keep the system on-prem if concerned about IP or integrate Infinity with field service systems to orchestrate service dispatch after a contact.
Education: Universities and school systems have contact centers for admissions, IT help desks, etc. Infinity could centralize communications for a university – handling everything from prospective student inquiries (with AI chatbots answering common questions) to alumni support. Deployed in the university’s own network, it ensures student data stays protected.
Hospitality: Hotels and airlines focus heavily on customer experience. Infinity can help by integrating with reservation systems to give agents immediate access to a traveler’s itinerary, loyalty status, and even sentiment (if previous interactions indicated an issue). Orchestration can automate follow-ups – e.g., after a guest’s stay, trigger a personalized thank-you message or survey. Avaya’s ability to integrate with existing PBXes on-site (for example, hotel phone systems) means those investments are preserved.
Across these examples, a common theme is that Avaya Infinity’s introduction empowers organizations to deliver modern, AI-enhanced, omnichannel experiences in a way that aligns with their operational and regulatory needs. Enterprise customers gain agility and intelligence; channel partners and service providers gain a powerful solution to implement and manage; and end-users (customers, citizens, patients) ideally receive faster, more personalized service.
In conclusion, Avaya Infinity’s release marks a significant milestone for all involved. It promises a win-win: enterprises and agencies can innovate faster in customer experience, Avaya’s ecosystem has a fresh growth engine, and end-users benefit from more connected and context-rich interactions. As Infinity deployments grow, we will likely see case studies of major contact center transformations – from “fragmented experiences to authentic connections”, fulfilling the vision Avaya set out in this launch. The coming year will reveal how effectively these promised outcomes materialize and whether Avaya Infinity truly lives up to its name in delivering virtually infinite adaptability to customer needs.
Frequently Asked Questions about Avaya Infinity
What is Avaya Infinity and what are its core capabilities?
Avaya Infinity™ is Avaya's next-generation, cloud-native customer experience (CX) platform, announced in April 2025. It is positioned as a "connection center" solution, moving beyond traditional contact centers. Its core capabilities focus on transforming customer interactions through unification and intelligence. Key features include:
Unified Omnichannel Engagement: Consolidates voice and digital channels (chat, SMS, email, social) into a single, continuous conversation thread, providing agents with a complete view of customer history across all touchpoints.
Intelligent Orchestration and Automation: An event-driven engine with no-code/low-code tools allows non-technical users to design and automate complex customer journeys and workflows based on real-time events, sentiment, or keywords, extending automation beyond the contact center into backend processes.
AI-Driven, AI-Agnostic Platform: Embeds AI at various touchpoints (virtual agents, agent assist, analytics) and uniquely allows organizations to integrate multiple AI models of their choice (bring-your-own-AI), enabling flexibility and future-proofing in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Connected Data and Insights: Aggregates customer data from disparate systems into a unified view using a built-in data lake architecture, providing real-time analytics and insights to inform interactions and decision-making.
Cloud-Native Architecture with Hybrid Flexibility: Built on Kubernetes microservices, it offers deployment flexibility across private, public, and hybrid clouds, and even on-premises, all from the same codebase. This single-tenant design by default ensures strong data isolation and sovereignty.
Backward Compatibility and Ecosystem Integration: Protects existing investments by integrating with Avaya's legacy platforms (Aura, Elite) and supports open APIs and pre-built connectors for a broad ecosystem of CRM, WFM, and third-party technology partners.
Overall, Infinity aims to reduce complexity and enable highly personalized, proactive customer experiences by unifying channels, data, and technologies.
What are Avaya's strategic goals for the Infinity platform?
Avaya Infinity is central to Avaya's strategy to modernize and re-establish itself as a leader in enterprise CX solutions. Key strategic goals include:
"Innovation Without Disruption" - Protecting the Installed Base: Aims to enable cloud transformation on customers' terms by providing a modernization path without requiring a forced migration to the public cloud. This preserves existing investments and appeals to large enterprises with on-premise systems and strict data control needs.
Accelerating Cloud-First Innovation with Hybrid Flexibility: While supporting legacy systems, Infinity serves as the single platform to consolidate Avaya's entire portfolio over time. It blends cloud-native architecture (from the Edify acquisition) with unique hybrid deployment options, differentiating Avaya from pure-cloud competitors and providing a flexible bridge for existing Avaya customers.
Embedding AI and Next-Gen Capabilities at the Core: Positions Avaya as an AI innovator by integrating AI throughout the platform and allowing customers to leverage their preferred AI models. This open approach rides the AI wave and addresses the growing demand for AI-powered CX.
Expanding Ecosystem and Partnerships: Fosters an open platform with APIs and SDKs to integrate with CRMs, collaboration tools, and third-party AI services. Avaya is actively engaging channel and technology partners (like Sabio and Verint) to build value around Infinity and ensure it fits into diverse enterprise IT environments.
Targeting Enterprise and Public Sector Leadership: Focuses on the needs of large enterprises and government organizations (Avaya's traditional stronghold) by emphasizing scalability, security, data sovereignty, customization, and reliability. This targets organizations with complex requirements often missed by cloud-only competitors and aims to retain and potentially win back large customers.
Essentially, Avaya is betting its future on offering a distinct approach that harmonizes cloud innovation with the reliability and control valued by large, complex organizations.
How does Avaya Infinity compare to major competitors like Cisco, Microsoft, Zoom, and RingCentral?
Avaya Infinity differentiates itself primarily through its unique hybrid deployment model and open AI approach, particularly targeting large enterprises with complex needs. Here's a comparison:
Deployment & Platform: Avaya Infinity is cloud-native but uniquely supports private, public, hybrid, and on-premises deployments on a single codebase, with single-tenant instances for data isolation. Competitors like Cisco Webex, Zoom, and RingCentral are primarily multi-tenant Cloud SaaS, though Cisco and Microsoft offer paths or frameworks that allow some integration with on-prem or private cloud components (e.g., Cisco Flex, Microsoft's partner-led integration model). Microsoft's Digital Contact Center Platform isn't a single product but a set of integrated services.
AI Approach: Avaya offers a "bring-your-own-AI" approach, allowing orchestration of multiple AI models within workflows and easy switching. Competitors have strong native AI capabilities (Cisco's Webex AI, Microsoft's Nuance/Azure AI, Zoom's AI Companion/Agentic AI, NICE/RingCentral AI), but Avaya's open AI flexibility stands out.
Target Market: Avaya is laser-focused on large enterprises and government organizations in regulated industries requiring high security, customization, and data sovereignty, playing to its historical strengths. Competitors also target enterprises but often started in or have strong footholds in mid-market (Zoom, RingCentral) or focus primarily on organizations within their existing ecosystem (Microsoft 365/Dynamics, Cisco Webex).
Backward Compatibility: A key differentiator for Avaya is its strong backward compatibility with its large installed base (Aura, Elite), providing a gentle migration path. While Cisco offers paths via Flex Plan, and Microsoft/others integrate via APIs, Avaya's ability to layer Infinity over existing Avaya voice infrastructure is a unique advantage for its current customers.
Integration: All major players offer integrations (APIs, pre-built connectors, ecosystems), but Avaya's specific focus on integrating with legacy Avaya systems alongside modern CRMs and third-party AI/WFM tools is tailored to complex enterprise environments. Microsoft's platform relies heavily on integrating its own components and partner solutions.
In essence, Avaya Infinity positions itself as the solution for organizations that need the benefits of cloud and AI but cannot (or prefer not to) abandon their on-premises infrastructure or compromise on control and data security – a space not fully addressed by pure-cloud competitors.
What has been the initial market reception to Avaya Infinity?
The initial market reception to Avaya Infinity has been cautiously optimistic, with positive feedback highlighting its potential to address critical enterprise needs, especially regarding hybrid cloud and gradual modernization.
Customers and Early Adopters: Existing Avaya customers, like Leon Medical Centers, have expressed enthusiasm for the vision and see it as a positive evolution that aligns with their needs for reliable, modern service. Avaya also notes some former customers who left for competitors are reconsidering Avaya due to challenges with pure-cloud solutions, indicating Infinity's value proposition is resonating.
Channel Partners and Integrators: Partners like Sabio see Infinity as a "pivotal moment" that will drive modernization projects and create new revenue opportunities, particularly via managed services and supporting diverse deployment models (on-prem, private cloud via edge technologies). The platform is seen as easing the integration of advanced capabilities.
Industry Analysts: Analysts from firms like IDC and Frost & Sullivan have validated Avaya's approach, acknowledging that large enterprise cloud migrations are complex and non-linear. They view Infinity's flexible architecture, strong orchestration, and hybrid options as crucial for Avaya to retain its installed base and address a real market gap, particularly in regulated industries.
Industry Media: Media outlets have noted Avaya's streamlined product catalog post-restructuring and characterize Infinity as providing a much-needed "modernization trajectory" for its large customers. While acknowledging Avaya's past challenges, the tone suggests cautious optimism about Infinity's potential if executed well.
Enterprise Buyers: While some enterprise buyers are taking a "wait and see" approach given Avaya's history, there is definite interest in Infinity's promises of AI, flexibility, and continuity. The fact that Avaya is collaborating with ecosystem players like Microsoft is also viewed positively.
Overall, market sentiment is that Infinity is a positive step, recognizing its strengths in leveraging Avaya's reliability while adding modern capabilities. However, the long-term test will be Avaya's execution speed, consistency of updates, and ability to prove superiority against established cloud leaders in real-world deployments.
How does Avaya Infinity enable hybrid cloud deployments and data sovereignty?
Avaya Infinity is designed with a cloud-native architecture based on Kubernetes microservices but is uniquely built to be deployed anywhere – in public clouds (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud), private clouds, customer data centers (on-premises), or hybrid combinations.
This "any cloud, anywhere" design is a core differentiator. It enables hybrid cloud flexibility by allowing organizations to run the same codebase whether it's entirely in a public cloud, entirely on-premises, or split between environments. For instance, a customer could use a public cloud for flexible scaling of digital channels while keeping voice processing and sensitive customer data on-premises for compliance.
Crucially, Infinity instances are typically single-tenant deployments by default. This provides a high level of data isolation and security, which is paramount for large enterprises and public sector organizations in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government). By allowing deployment in a customer's own data center or a sovereign cloud environment (like Azure Stack Local, AWS Outposts), Infinity directly addresses needs for data sovereignty and residency, ensuring sensitive data remains within specific geographical or organizational boundaries to meet compliance requirements (like GDPR).
This flexibility removes a major barrier for organizations that require the agility of cloud but cannot move critical or sensitive functions to a shared public cloud environment due to security, compliance, or legacy infrastructure constraints. It empowers customers to adopt modern CX capabilities on their own terms, at their own pace, without compromising on control.
How does Avaya Infinity leverage AI and allow customers to choose their AI models?
Avaya Infinity is designed from the ground up for the AI era, embedding artificial intelligence at multiple touchpoints within the customer experience journey. Its key innovation in AI is its AI-agnostic approach.
Instead of forcing customers to use only Avaya's or a specific vendor's AI models, Infinity allows organizations to "bring their own AI". The platform acts as an intelligent orchestration layer that can integrate with and coordinate multiple AI models from various providers (including hyperscalers like Google, Microsoft, AWS, and specialized AI vendors like Nuance or Verint) within a single workflow.
This means a customer can use Google's AI for conversational self-service, IBM Watson for sentiment analysis during a live interaction, and their own custom machine learning model for predictive routing, all orchestrated seamlessly by Avaya Infinity. The no-code/low-code workflow builder allows users to easily define actions based on outputs from these different AI models.
This AI flexibility is crucial for several reasons:
Future-Proofing: As AI technology rapidly evolves, organizations are not locked into a single vendor's capabilities. They can adopt the latest and best AI models as they become available.
Investment Protection: Customers who have already invested in specific AI technologies can leverage them within the Infinity platform.
Best-of-Breed Capabilities: Organizations can choose the most suitable AI model for specific tasks (e.g., an AI highly accurate in medical terminology for healthcare, or one specializing in financial fraud detection for banking).
Experimentation: The platform allows easy A/B testing of different AI models to determine which performs best for particular use cases.
By acting as an intelligent orchestrator for diverse AI services, Avaya Infinity enables organizations to rapidly infuse AI into their customer and agent experiences without the constraints of a closed AI ecosystem.
What are the key benefits of Avaya Infinity for enterprises with existing Avaya systems?
Avaya Infinity offers significant benefits specifically tailored for enterprises with established Avaya infrastructure, such as Avaya Aura® or Contact Center Elite. The platform is designed for backward compatibility and non-disruptive modernization.
Protecting Existing Investments: Enterprises can continue to leverage their long-standing investments in Avaya telephony infrastructure, custom call flows, IVR applications (like those on Experience Portal), and even existing Avaya endpoints and agent desktops. Infinity can integrate with these systems, extending their lifespan and maximizing ROI.
Gradual Modernization Path: Instead of a costly and risky "rip-and-replace" migration to a completely new platform, customers can layer Avaya Infinity's modern digital channels, AI capabilities, and orchestration engine on top of their existing Avaya voice infrastructure. This allows them to modernize customer experience incrementally, adding new features like chatbots, social media integration, or AI agent assist without interrupting core voice operations.
Unified Management and Agent Experience: Infinity aims to provide a common interface and reporting across both legacy and new Infinity-based systems, simplifying administration and providing agents with a single pane of glass for interactions originating from either platform. This avoids the complexity of managing disparate systems during a transition.
Reduced Risk and Downtime: The ability to integrate Infinity with existing systems minimizes the risk associated with large-scale migrations. Enterprises can gradually shift workflows and channels to Infinity while maintaining the reliability of their proven Avaya voice infrastructure, ensuring business continuity.
Cost-Effective Evolution: By extending the value of existing assets and allowing for phased adoption, Infinity helps organizations manage costs associated with modernization, avoiding large capital expenditures and allowing IT budgets to transition gradually from CapEx to OpEx (via subscription licensing) over time.
In essence, Avaya Infinity is built to provide Avaya's large installed base with a clear, safe, and cost-effective path to adopt cutting-edge cloud and AI capabilities while preserving the reliability and control they rely on from their existing Avaya systems.
How does Avaya Infinity impact channel partners and service providers?
Avaya Infinity creates significant new opportunities for Avaya's channel partners (resellers, system integrators) and communications service providers (telcos, MSPs).
New Revenue Streams: Partners can offer lucrative modernization projects by helping customers transition to or integrate with Infinity. They can also offer Infinity as a managed service, hosting and managing the platform for customers in private clouds or on-premises using edge technologies, generating recurring revenue.
Enhanced Customer Retention: Partners can counter competitive threats by offering existing Avaya customers a compelling path to the future with Infinity, leveraging their deep knowledge of the customer's environment to deliver a seamless upgrade experience. This helps retain accounts that might otherwise consider moving to pure-cloud competitors.
Simplified Integration and Delivery: Infinity's low-code orchestration and open APIs can streamline integration work, potentially shortening project timelines and allowing partners to deliver results faster.
Differentiated Offerings: Service providers can use Infinity to create unique CCaaS offerings, particularly those requiring data sovereignty or on-premises deployment, targeting specific regulated industries that generic public cloud CCaaS might not fully serve. They can bundle Infinity with their network services for end-to-end solutions.
Increased Collaboration and Enablement: Avaya is actively engaging partners in the Infinity launch, suggesting increased enablement and co-selling opportunities. Partners and service providers can co-brand or white-label Infinity-based solutions.
Addressing New Markets: With the removal of prior minimum seat count restrictions on the Avaya Experience Platform (which evolved into Infinity), partners can now potentially address smaller enterprise or mid-market opportunities that require a highly flexible or hybrid solution.
For both channel partners and service providers, Avaya Infinity provides a modern, competitive product to sell and manage, aligning them with Avaya's strategy to capture demand for AI-infused, flexible CX solutions across various deployment models.
Sources:
Avaya Press Release – “Announcing Avaya Infinity™ Platform”, April 22, 2025
Avaya Blog (David Funck, CTO) – “Behind the Platform: The Technology Driving Avaya Infinity”, April 22, 2025
No Jitter – “Avaya Goes to Infinity and Beyond” (Matt Vartabedian), April 23, 2025
TechTarget – “Avaya's Infinity rollout bolsters cloud, on-prem options” (Don Fluckinger), Apr 23, 2025
Channel Insider – “Avaya Transforms Contact Centers with New Infinity Platform”, Apr 25, 2025
Channel Futures – “Avaya Infuses AI Into New Infinity Contact Center Platform”, Apr 22, 2025
Smart Customer Service – “Avaya Launches the Infinity Platform”, Apr 23, 2025
CXM Today – “Avaya Announces Avaya Infinity Platform”, Apr 30, 2025
IDC Research Director Quote (in Avaya press release) and Frost & Sullivan Quote (TechTarget)
Product/Competitor Info: GetApp – Zoom Contact Center Overview; GetVoIP – Webex CC Capabilities; Microsoft DCCP Blog; TrustRadius – RingCentral/NICE info; GlobeNewswire – Zoom AI Announcement.