Business communications software vendor Avaya has named Steve Biondi as vice president of its Global Partner Organization, responsible for expanding the company’s partner engagement model and driving worldwide partner growth.

Biondi is Avaya’s first vice president of the company’s Global Partner Organization, and will report to Pierre-Paul Allard, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and president of Global Field Operations.

The company said it expects to expand its overarching partner ecosystem to new regions under Biondi’s leadership and ensure strong relationships with its current partners, distributors and SI/SP customers.

“This is a time of significant transformation for virtually every industry, and certainly for our partners who are faced with a broad range of challenges that can determine the future of their business,” said Allard, in a statement. “With Steve as the head of our global partner organization, I’m confident we will enhance our trusted partner relationship to drive sustainable growth and mutual business success.”

Biondi will work closely with Avaya’s other channel leaders, including Joe Lohmeier, vice president of Worldwide Core Channels; Dino Marasco, vice president of Worldwide Service Providers and System Integrator Channels; and Nurali Jamani, Avaya vice president of Worldwide Distribution.

Prior to joining Avaya as global channel chief, Biondi served as senior vice president and global group executive of ISV and OEM Sales at Oracle (ORCL), according to the announcement. During his 25-year career he has also held senior leadership positions at Micro Focus, Allen Systems Group, VMware (VMW) and IBM (IBM).