Since I joined 8x8 less than a year ago, the main word I’d use to describe my time here is change: change in technology, change in the market, and change in the channel. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed is the trend towards closer integration, both with the tech and in the channel itself.

Embracing the trend of integration everywhere will lead to success and opportunities for partners, vendors, and customers. And these changes are only going to accelerate, so now’s the time to act.

Product, platform, and feature integration is on the rise

Underneath everything, one of the biggest drivers for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) adoption has been its simplicity and scalability. It can do many great things, yet ultimately it’s easy for any organization of any size or complexity to adopt and grow. In fact, research shows that UCaaS adoption has grown by 275% over the last five years, from around one in ten organizations to almost one in two.

One of the new drivers for adoption is the opportunity to integrate several products into one. For example, around a quarter of companies that are changing communications provider say they’re doing so because they can integrate their UCaaS solution and their contact center. This is why, here at 8x8, we’re seeing the ongoing success of 8x8 platform, which brings together voice, video, chat, contact center, and CPaaS capabilities on a single platform.

The one-platform, enterprise-wide integration and connectivity that customers get by combining UCaaS and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), generates many improvements. Productivity is boosted because everyone in the organization is connected and readily and easily contactable. Teams can be more agile because information and collaborators are no longer siloed. And customers feel the benefits of vastly improved customer experience with companies who use an integrated platform.

It's the last 8x8 platform feature mentioned, CPaaS/APIs, that is also helping to meet the demand of greater product integration. As almost every organization now uses APIs to create custom solutions, these integrations are a necessity. They include video or chat APIs, and more advanced APIs are used for items such as retrieving data from a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. This is why, at 8x8, we continue to promote and update our Open Integration Framework, which allows users to integrate their comms system with more than 50 other business applications.

With the ease and benefits that integration offers comes a demand for another type of simplicity: customers are looking to source solutions from single partners. In effect, that’s what the product integrations like 8x8 platform have allowed them to do. Customers can go direct to a single partner and get a solution that meets all their needs.

Partner trends and the drivers for support

The more traditional partners are undergoing a shift from legacy technologies and methods to newer solutions. This includes the move away from on-premises solutions to cloud and hybrid solutions, and partners are experiencing a significant reskilling for many reasons.

First, we’re seeing lots of customers looking for single-solution partners with technologies that can do everything, meeting all their needs from contact center to unified communications. This is leading to many partners shifting to a managed service offering or adding one to their current solutions.

This creates a demand for more reskilling because those partners need to be capable of more for their customers—they need to be able to manage all aspects of the solutions and services they provide. At 8x8, we’re supporting every partner that moves in this direction with every resource they could need.

Second, a host of new technology has flooded the market since AI and machine learning boomed this year. For example, 8x8’s Intelligent Customer Assistant is a friendly, powerful, AI accelerated customer service assistant that helps create self-service experiences in every contact channel. Partners want to start utilizing this technology for their customers who are looking for cutting-edge ways to create better experiences and drive more productivity.

Third, there’s increasing competition in the channel because of all the changes we’re seeing. For example, in the UK, there’s been a change in the types of partner operating. We’re seeing agency partners competing against more traditional resellers, which is not something that happened previously. We’re also seeing more resellers overall. And again, there’s a lot of appeal in being a MSP right now—95% of MSPs report that now is a good time to be an MSP—so we’re seeing that change, too.

Lastly, there’s a squeeze on funds at the moment, and many partners are concerned that customers will spend less. While that’s not exactly true—tech spending is actually increasing—it does look like the buying cycle is getting dragged out. Essentially, customers are willing to spend the money, but they’re being cautious because they want to ensure they’re getting the best-fit product or service for their needs. Partners want to adapt to this, so they’re looking for ways to attach themselves to customers for longer.

Any organization working in the channel has to appreciate the constant need for mutual support—that’s the nature of what we’re doing. And when there are new opportunities or gaps, it’s about recognising them and acting fast. As our partners look to upskill because of trends, supporting them both fills a gap and creates an opportunity. Helping those partners who want to offer more MSP services is an opportunity, it also closes the gap of needing more MSPs. Customers looking for integrated solutions from single partners is a gap, and enabling partners to offer single-partner solutions is an opportunity.

More integration is in the cards for the next several years. As my time at 8x8 continues, I look forward to seeing more of the changes to come, especially in the channel.