We're thrilled at 8x8 to share that at the 2022 UC Today Partner Awards, the channel team at 8x8 won Best Channel Ecosystem while 8x8 VP for International Channels Keith Jackson was named as one of Channel Futures Top 20 EMEA Channel Leaders of the Year.

The UC Today award recognizes 8x8’s channel work, with the judges praising the company for demonstrating the breadth within our ecosystem and showing strong examples of collaboration with partner members to achieve joint success. Said Jackson, “It’s gratifying to be recognized by the judges for the efforts we put in. As we often say at 8x8, we succeed when our channel partners succeed.”

Leading the channel

The EMEA channel leaders were selected based on their companies’ market share, growth potential, strength of partner network, scope of partner program, and the individual’s impact on the partner ecosystem. According to Channel Futures, the Leaders of the Year list aims to "identify the most future-minded, influential and impactful channel leaders in EMEA—the ones who will determine the future of the channel as they redefine the partner-supplier relationship."

We never stop

Jackson noted, “With the launch of the Elevate program, it's been an incredible year for the channel at 8x8. Receiving recognition like this reflects not just on me, but on everyone at 8x8 who has helped make us such a success with partners.

“We can’t rest on our laurels though. We never stop. The channel relationship is changing. Good relationships aren’t about just paying lip service or throwing money at people. Relationships are forged from proper engagement and involvement with each other.

“That’s why we have our free partner university and certification offers. Partners asked for that, so we delivered. That’s why we have our Web-in-a-Box and Operation Partner Pipeline (OPP)-Day-in-a-Box offerings—to let partners take our products and deliver in a way that suits them."

CSR initiatives and changing products for changing relationships

“It’s also why you see 8x8 getting involved in CSR initiatives with partners like when we were involved with Softcat on their Love2Give campaign," says Jackson. "It says a lot about our relationships with people that our teams are happy to go and volunteer with partners, even giving up weekends to help make a difference.

“But it's also about the job and being on top of the changes. For example, there's continuing buzz around agile workplaces, connected cultures, and composed experiences, and we gave advice on that.

Additionally, our expertise and connections mean that we can be educated about how we see things playing out in the coming years. To me, this shows we want to make sure our partners have a constant stream of regular information that shows them the bigger picture.

“Information and relationships are nothing without a strong product offering though. Again, it’s been a strong year for us delivering on that front, with the likes of our award-winning Conversation IQ and Agent Workspace. Couple that with our increased integrations with the likes of Microsoft Teams and Chrome, and you can see that we’re delivering solutions that our partners want to see. That’s how it should be, because ultimately it’s not just about working with the channel and partners. We want to be partner-led, as they are close to what companies want and need. We want our partners and their customers to be advocates for us, and they’ll only be that if we are delivering what they want.”

Identifying true leaders

Kelly Danziger, Vice President and General Manager of Informa Tech Channels, the company behind Channel Futures, said, “This list was compiled after months of tireless work by our media team to identify true leaders in the channel by industry category. It is critical for the partners who are focused on these markets to be able to understand who is making the investments and decisions in the channel that impact their future. We are proud to present these executives to the entire channel.”

If you want to learn more about partnering with 8x8 or our Web-in-a-Box and OPP-Day-in-a-Box offerings, don’t hesitate to get in touch.