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 absolutely built-in cloud communications platforms that promise larger 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 speak to 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 contains roughly 8,000 organizations, spanning healthcare, emergency providers, and different vital infrastructure.
“For carriers equivalent to KCOM, reliability, safety, and buyer belief are non-negotiable,” stated Jamie Snaddon, GVP, Managing Director of EMEA at 8×8, Inc.
“By combining KCOM’s community experience with 8×8’s unified communications and speak to centre platform, we’re delivering an end-to-end answer that helps organisations assist their clients, modernize their operations, and innovate with confidence.”
A Market Beneath Strain
Enterprise communications within the UK is present process speedy change.
Hybrid working, rising cyber threats, and tighter regulatory scrutiny round information privateness have pushed corporations 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 – notably 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 generally is 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 towards bigger, world telcos within the built-in communications house.
“Deciding on the correct accomplice was vital for us,” KCOM Enterprise managing director Jan Collins stated. “8×8 stood out not just for the platform however for a way our groups might collaborate operationally.”
Collins’ remark underscores a wider development amongst carriers making an attempt so as to add worth via software program partnerships somewhat than merely promoting bandwidth.
For KCOM, which has confronted competitors from BT, Virgin Media O2, and CityFibre, bundling cloud providers with community connectivity might enhance stickiness amongst enterprise purchasers 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 provides two benefits: entry to KCOM’s present buyer base and the flexibility to market a “carrier-grade” answer that differentiates from commonplace public cloud choices.
Whereas company messaging emphasizes these factors, analysts counsel the transfer can 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 determination components.
Prospects in regulated or mission-critical sectors may gain advantage from having cloud communications on a UK-based community.
Diminished dependency on worldwide routing and fewer third-party suppliers might decrease latency and decrease publicity to outages. Nevertheless, the precise impression will depend upon integration high quality and the flexibility 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 method to defend revenues in declining voice and legacy telecom markets.
In the meantime, software program distributors like 8×8 leverage home community credibility to win purchasers 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 corporations plan to increase the service with AI-powered contact middle 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 opponents.
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 will not be solely versatile, but additionally resilient and safe.
