Virtual Office Resource

Softchoice has struck a deal with 8x8 (News - Alert) Inc. to sell its communications cloud services to enterprise and mid-market companies in North America.

“The cloud is providing companies of all sizes with an immense opportunity to increase overall productivity and profitability through improved business communication and collaboration,” said Eric Broekhof, Business Development Manager, of Public Cloud at Softchoice (News - Alert). “We are pleased to provide our customers with access to one of the most established and reliable providers of cloud-based enterprise communications, contact center and collaboration solutions in the market.” 

This is the second recent go-to-market partner agreement from 8x8. In May it announced a relationship with value-added distributor Jenne Inc. That company also will be selling the 8x8 Communications Cloud to mid-market and enterprise customers in the U.S.

“8x8 recently expanded its global channel partner program, Channel 2.0, which not only encourages the channel to shift from on-premises to a cloud business model, but also provides partners with a better access point for simplified automation, self-service, technical training, and new partner certifications,” Matt McGinnis, 8x8’s vice president of product marketing, told us in an interview earlier this year. “With 8x8, partners can navigate the industry’s explosive cloud communications growth with tools and services that simplify their daily processes and ultimately help increase sales and profits.”

With Channel 2.0, 8x8 introduced the 8x8 PartnerConnect Portal. That provides one place where partners can register deals, share pipeline, access sales and marketing collateral, and get support. 8x8 didn’t have a single portal platform across the globe prior to Channel 2.0, so businesses in different regions had different experiences. That’s no longer the case.

The training aspect of Channel 2.0 features university-like curriculum from which partners can pick and choose the courses and specializations they want to pursue online. For post-sales, 8x8 is offering certification for partners so they can do their own deployments and day 2 support in an effort to increase their margins and build loyalty with their customers.