8×8 launches new global partner program

Unified communications as-a-service (UCaaS) vendor 8×8 has launched a new global partner program in a bid to boost engagement and enable customer success.

Called the 8×8 Technology Partner Ecosystem, members can look forward to benefits such as support for joint go-to-market strategies including promotional support, sales enablement, joint field engagements and lead sharing.

The vendor also offers the promise of new customers and additional revenue opportunities through the program, as well as the ability to address customer use cases through an open, ecosystem-first platform.

In addition, 8×8 aims to provide support to help partners enable seamless integrations for customers and create solutions that best meet business needs.

“A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works,” said Hunter Middleton, 8×8’s chief product officer. “Instead, organisations expect their technology solutions and providers to innovate, adapt and evolve to meet their current and future business and customer needs.

“We are thrilled to announce the 8×8 Technology Partner Ecosystem, and even more excited to partner with so many industry-leading, innovative customer experience (CX) vendors.

“The program complements our native AI- [artificial intelligence] driven 8×8 eXperience-communications-as-a-service (XCaaS) platform capabilities, giving enterprises the flexibility to build the right solutions to meet and exceed their customer experience goals.”

To date, the 8×8 Technology Partner Ecosystem has over 30 partners.

Prior to the program launch, 8×8 had been busy managing acquisitions – the most recent being the purchase of cloud communications competitor Fuze in 2021 for over US$250 million.

The deal was made to help 8×8 bolster its XCaaS platform, while expanding its customer base and global footprint.

In 2019, 8×8 snapped up Singapore-based Wavecell in a US$125M deal to enhance the vendor’s offerings within the service delivery space, alongside APIs for SMS, chat apps, voice and video.