Schneider and 8x8 bolster partner support offerings

The need to innovate in partner support has led Schneider Electric and 8x8 to come up with fresh offerings that are being rolled out to the UK channel.

Energy management specialist Schneider has cut the ribbon on its mySchneider Contractor Programme, arming to support those working at the coalface with more training and information to help guide customers through transformation projects that will reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.

The programme is being rolled out in the UK and Ireland with technical support, education resources and the chance to get personalised updates on offer for those that sign up.

The vendor stated that it had launched the offering in response to the market landscape, with customers pushing partners to help them deliver more electrification to reduce the use of fossil fuels, improving their security by protecting energy systems and enabling them to tap into multi-directional energy supplies.

"As a global business, we understand the challenges our contractors and partners are facing around the world in light of the economic and political landscape and energy crisis," said David Williams, vice president of transactional business at Schneider Electric

"With the launch of the mySchneider Contractor Programme we are giving our partners priority access to our global partner ecosystem. We hope that by rewarding our contractors in this way that they will be empowered to stay ahead of the competition by offering the latest sustainable solutions to their customers," he added.

Over at 8x8 the focus is on ensuring a high customer experience with the firm integrating AI features into its platform to make sure it can share insights and analytics with partners.

The 8x8 Technology Partner Ecosystem is built on the firm's XCaaS (eXperience Communications as a Service) platform open architecture. The latest offering provides a select number of partners with the opportunity to innovate with its portfolio.

The programme is starting with more than 30 partners, with a raft of members joining ahead of kick-off, including Cognigy, Avoira, Awaken, Balto, Converse360, Cresta, Engage Hub, LogicDialog, PromptVoice, Roboyo, Skybox Communications and Syndeo.

Benefits for those that work with the vendor include the chance to collaborate on joint go-to-market strategies and using analytics to identify fresh customer use cases.

“A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. Instead, organisations expect their technology solutions and providers to innovate, adapt and evolve to meet their current and future business and customer needs,” said Hunter Middleton, chief product officer at 8x8.

“The programme complements our native AI-driven 8x8 XCaaS platform capabilities, giving enterprises the flexibility to build the right solutions to meet and exceed their customer experience goals."

The idea of using AI to improve the customer experience got the thumbs up from market watcher Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst at ZK Research: "Getting locked into a single communications provider's AI technology is holding back organisations from truly benefitting from the phenomenal rate of innovation taking place. 8x8's new Technology Partner Ecosystem allows enterprises to easily plug in the right AI solutions that best meet their business needs and transform the contact centre and customer engagement."