In an age of increasing complexity, simplifying processes and seamlessly delivering technology to market is essential for ensuring quality end-user experiences. Gerben Wijbenga, CEO, Gamma Communications Europe, discusses how the company puts its people and customers front and centre, working closely with partners to establish itself as the go-to for all business communications.
The communications market is growing exponentially – partly driven by AI and other emerging technologies – with the broadband market expected to continue at a CAGR of 9.80% from 2025 to 2034, according to Precedence Research.
Digital communications are integral to functioning effectively in everyday life, both on a personal level and a business level. Gamma Communications, a leading provider of Unified Communications as-a-Service (UCaaS) into the UK, Dutch, Spanish and German business markets, is laser-focused on supplying communication solutions via its extensive network of trusted channel partners and also directly.
The combination of network investment, a digital-first approach and in-house development skills has enabled Gamma to develop a comprehensive portfolio of communications services, disrupting the market with innovative and market-leading cloud-based services.
Gerben Wijbenga, CEO, Gamma Communications Europe, delves deeper into why the adoption of UCaaS solutions is essential for businesses to thrive in the modern work environment and why European customers need to get on board.
Who is Gamma and can you offer insight into the company’s overall vision?
Gamma has been in the UK market for over 20 years now, selling communication services initially via the indirect channel, starting via partner channels in the SME segment. We’ve grown at an impressive rate each year.
Since around five or six years ago, we have also been active outside the UK, with businesses in Benelux, Germany and Spain, using the same model via the partner channel servicing SMEs with communications solutions.
What has been most noticeable is how communications have progressed. We’re now having conversations about UCaaS with a focus on delivering it to market.
We’ve seen the market change, we’ve seen the products change, but the key focus for us remains on selling our services through the partner channel. In the UK, we have a large presence in the enterprise market, selling the same type of services directly to bigger enterprise customers.
Gamma has made some interesting acquisitions recently – can you tell us more about these?
In the last year, we made acquisitions in Germany with ambition to continue the growth we’ve shown over the last 20 years. There aren’t many companies who have proven that growth capability over the last couple of years. What we’ve witnessed is that the developments we saw in the UK are now about to take off in other European markets too.
The German market is really starting to develop in terms of the penetration of cloud services and UCaaS solutions. All the knowledge, expertise and experience we’ve built up in the UK and later in the Spanish and Benelux markets, we’re now applying to the German market.
What trends or demands are you seeing among your SME customer base and how does your product portfolio help to provide a better customer experience?
The development of hybrid and remote working became the norm during COVID and has remained a cornerstone of the working world as we know it. This way of working requires specific solutions in terms of communication and collaboration for our SME customers – they need to be able to deliver hybrid working solutions to their employees to enable them to collaborate effectively.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve been developing a model in which we can deliver these kinds of services to our SME customers via our partner channel, allowing them to offer the best hybrid working environment for their employees.
We must also consider closer collaboration between employees and teams, offering improved ways of sharing information and video calling opportunities, for example.
Why should European customers get on board with cloud technology and what are the benefits of doing so?
Cloud technology came into play around five or six years ago and offers flexibility to our SME and enterprise customers, meaning their services are accessible from every location.
Compared to on-prem solutions, cloud technology is essentially one solution which is continually maintained and kept up to date. The risk of it experiencing downtime is much lower than with on-prem, not to mention cost being much more predictable.
On-prem is a one-off investment, whereas cloud is based on a monthly fee. The visibility and oversight is therefore much clearer in terms of investment. The option to scale according to business needs is also a major advantage and customers are really starting to see the benefits.
Why is the adoption of UCaaS solutions essential for businesses to thrive in the modern work environment?
To attract the best people into a company, you need to offer them the best solutions to work as effectively and productively as possible. The hybrid way of working places more emphasis on collaboration from various locations and UCaaS solutions are a key requirement to function this way.
I’m not just referring to video communication, but also when sharing documents – it’s collaborative working, particularly when it comes to data.
How do you work with your partners to help them grow their business by supplying a world-class portfolio to take to market?
One of Gamma’s overarching principles as an organisation is the belief in getting stronger together – which not only refers to the internal workforce, but also externally with partner relationships. We wholeheartedly believe that close collaboration with our partners is key to success.
Trust is important in building and maintaining these relationships, as is our belief in the channel model – we want the channel to believe in us; in bringing the right solutions to the partners so they can offer the best solutions to their customers.
We share data with our partners when they sell our solutions to end customers, which is generated and monitored through the use of our products. We then share the data with our partners to enable them to grow faster and improve their services.
We use data in other instances too, such as to identify customers’ strengths in certain verticals which helps to further strengthen their position within that vertical. We achieve this through marketing support and training on specific tools or functionalities within the products we deliver.
How is the telco market evolving, particularly across the channel, and what do you predict for 2026?
What’s most exciting about the telco market is that no two days are the same – it’s continually transforming. When I first entered the market over 25 years ago, there were lots of new developments occurring and that hasn’t changed.
I expect the telco market – or the communications market – to continue developing. I expect the importance of communication solutions will grow for end-users and that the role of the partner channel will not deteriorate.
I believe end-users will be more informed about the different options available to them, or the different products out there. But I also believe end-users need the partner channel to make sure they have access to the best solutions to meet their business needs.
With these developments, Gamma becomes even more relevant by putting its customers and people at the heart of everything it does. Shaping this further is what drives us.
