'The fastest vendor we've ever on-boarded' - Westcon MD on 8x8 deal

Deal took only three months from start to finish, claims Westcon MD Antony Byford

Westcon's signing of 8x8 is the fastest vendor deal it has ever completed from start to finish, according to UK and Ireland MD Antony Byford.

Westcon on-boarded 8x8 in three months. On average, it usually takes around six months to on-board a new vendor, the Weston MD told CRN.

"This has been the fastest vendor we have on-boarded in history," said Byford.

"After we made the introduction just before Christmas, we knew we had to get around the table three times a week and push this through as fast as we can. Because the opportunity in the marketplace is huge."

He said that 8x8 and Westcon saw a huge opportunity to capture an shift among organisations towards a hybrid working model, which will in turn mean more usage of unified communications tools to aid remote working.

8x8's technology, as well as its integrations with Microsoft Teams, will mean the vendor will be a huge hit for the UK's largest software resellers, said Byford.

"We don't carry every brand, we only carry the best. So we're very selective around what we do. And 8x8 in their technology stack has something very unique that none of the other vendors that I carry have. The market is incredibly excited about it and we've responded," said Byford.

The distribution agreement will pilot in the UK and Ireland but is set to be expanded to cover more European territories, according to 8x8's EMEA channel boss Keith Jackson.

"We'll make sure the customer experience and partner experience is as seamless as we can make it. We're not going to be running at 100 miles an hour. Once we get that working harmoniously, then we will start looking at European territories for expansion," he said.

"Westcon is going to be the vehicle we use to go out into Europe. They've got the footprint and the systems from a CRM standpoint which makes it a hell of a lot easier for us."