US cloud communications supplier 8×8, Inc. is partnering with UK community operator KCOM in an try and carve a bigger share of the British enterprise communications market, combining its software program stack with KCOM’s carrier-grade community.
The deal underscores rising curiosity in totally built-in cloud communications platforms that promise increased reliability and safety than standard public cloud deployments.
The collaboration will see KCOM host 8×8’s Platform for CX by itself infrastructure, giving UK organizations unified entry to voice, messaging, video, and get in touch with centre instruments – aiming to cut back reliance on third-party networks, a promoting level for sectors the place outages are unacceptable.
KCOM says its enterprise consumer base consists of roughly 8,000 organizations, spanning healthcare, emergency companies, and different important infrastructure.
“For carriers reminiscent of KCOM, reliability, safety, and buyer belief are non-negotiable,” mentioned Jamie Snaddon, GVP, Managing Director of EMEA at 8×8, Inc.
“By combining KCOM’s community experience with 8×8’s unified communications and get in touch with centre platform, we’re delivering an end-to-end answer that helps organisations help their prospects, modernize their operations, and innovate with confidence.”
A Market Below Strain
Enterprise communications within the UK is present process fast change.
Hybrid working, rising cyber threats, and tighter regulatory scrutiny round information privateness have pushed firms to hunt platforms which might be each versatile and dependable.
Whereas public cloud suppliers dominate the broader communications house, a rising variety of UK enterprises – significantly in delicate sectors – are cautious of options that depend upon US or world community paths.
Internet hosting a cloud communications platform on a home provider’s infrastructure could be a compelling risk-management technique.
KCOM’s Strategic Play
For KCOM, the deal represents an try and broaden its enterprise portfolio past connectivity.
Providing 8×8’s cloud software program alongside its community might let it compete in opposition to bigger, world telcos within the built-in communications house.
“Choosing the suitable accomplice was important for us,” KCOM Enterprise managing director Jan Collins mentioned. “8×8 stood out not just for the platform however for the way our groups might collaborate operationally.”
Collins’ remark underscores a wider development amongst carriers attempting so as to add worth by way of software program partnerships slightly than merely promoting bandwidth.
For KCOM, which has confronted competitors from BT, Virgin Media O2, and CityFibre, bundling cloud companies with community connectivity might enhance stickiness amongst enterprise shoppers and open recurring income streams.
8×8’s UK Push
For 8×8, the UK has been a difficult market dominated by Microsoft Groups, Cisco, and Zoom. Partnering with a home provider gives two benefits: entry to KCOM’s present buyer base and the power to market a “carrier-grade” answer that differentiates from commonplace public cloud choices.
Whereas company messaging emphasizes these factors, analysts counsel the transfer can also be defensive: 8×8 wants home partnerships to stay related in markets the place information residency and community reliability are more and more cited as key resolution elements.
Prospects in regulated or mission-critical sectors may benefit from having cloud communications on a UK-based community.
Lowered dependency on worldwide routing and fewer third-party suppliers could decrease latency and reduce publicity to outages. Nonetheless, the precise impression will depend upon integration high quality and the power of KCOM and eight×8 to keep up the mixed infrastructure at scale.
The broader development factors to a “hybrid carrier-software” mannequin rising throughout Europe. Conventional community operators more and more see partnerships with SaaS suppliers as a solution to shield revenues in declining voice and legacy telecom markets.
In the meantime, software program distributors like 8×8 leverage home community credibility to win shoppers who would possibly in any other case favor Microsoft, Cisco, or Google.
Wider Outlook
The partnership is beginning with joint go-to-market initiatives throughout the UK, together with coordinated gross sales and buyer engagement.
Over the following 12 months, each firms plan to increase the service with AI-powered contact heart capabilities.
Success will in the end depend upon a myriad of things, together with pricing, reliability, and the way convincingly the joint platform can differentiate from entrenched rivals.
In a market the place cloud communications is more and more a commodity, the 8×8-KCOM partnership highlights a key development: software program distributors want sturdy home infrastructure companions to persuade enterprises that cloud isn’t solely versatile, but in addition resilient and safe.
