All the exciting new announcements from Zoomtopia Partner Connect 2022
Zoomtopia 2022 is just getting started! On the second day of our sixth annual user conference, we kicked off our Zoomtopia Partner Connect, which celebrates our partners’ impact, unveils new announcements, and provides insight into how we plan to double down on investments and scale programs.
With dedicated hybrid sessions for the Americas taking place on Nov. 9 in San Jose, California, and then EMEA, APAC, and Japan on Nov. 18, we’re connecting with our partners around the globe to empower this dynamic ecosystem.
Here are a few key highlights we are sharing with our partner community:
Celebrating our partners’ momentum
Before we look at what’s ahead for our partner program, we wanted to look back on the year that was and the progress our partners made. A few wins to call out:
- Our channel is now contributing 30% to our non-online bookings globally, a 50% increase in just 12 months, and over 32% to Zoom Phone.
- We continue to expand our global partner and customer reach by onboarding notable distributors, including First Distribution (Africa), DMOA (Korea), Redington MENA, and TD Synnex (Europe).
- Our Zoom Phone coverage with partners continues to grow across geographies with the expansion of our Cloud Peering Program, and with Zoom Phone Native becoming available through more Zoom resellers around the globe.
- We launched our Zoom Up Partner Program, which helps partners further deepen their knowledge about the Zoom platform, expand their reach, and better address customer needs. Over 19,000 individuals have already earned accreditations through the program this year alone.
Partner centricity charts the course
As we look ahead, we’re guided by one main principle, a North Star to chart our path forward: partner centricity.
Partner centricity means that partners are at the core of our go-to-market and product launch strategy, guiding where we focus our time and resources. It means that we plan to continue investing in the ease of doing business — focusing efforts on partner profitability and value exchange, as well as building a partner-centric culture. And it means enabling partners to sell a holistic platform, not just a product.
Here are just a few ways we’re activating this principle in our programs:
The Zoom Up Partner Program: Launching earlier this year, our Zoom Up Partner Program was designed to redefine the partner engagement journey through one integrated architecture. Optimized for education and awareness, the program is ripe with training and learning solutions for partners, and has even recently expanded its in-person resources across regions to help provide more direct support.
- Partner Advisory Council: As a key component of our Zoom Up program, we meet regularly in person with our Partner Advisory Council to discuss new ways we can put partners at the heart of our strategy and program design. These working sessions provide us with a compass that guides our efforts to better serve our community.
Extending services & support through partners: Whether it’s through reselling Zoom Professional Services (PSO), a capability now expanded to partners, offering their own services and support, or something in between, our partners need the right avenues to deliver a meaningful customer experience — and we strive to equip them with the resources and tools they need to do so.
- Multiple partners, one customer: We’re building processes that make it so we can involve multiple partners when serving a customer. That way, partners can bring their own competencies and solutions — be it phone, contact center, or technical support — and won’t compete on the entire account, but rather just their specialty.
Partner differentiation: We want to celebrate how partners go the extra mile to help elevate customers’ experiences, so we’re planning to implement the following:
- Regional user groups where customers, partners, and sponsors can get together to talk about all things Zoom.
- New recognition opportunities to highlight partners and individuals that deliver excellence to their customers, invest in their competencies and enablement, and advocate for Zoom in the marketplace.
Doubling down on growth: We’re expanding our investments in demand generation by increasing marketing development funds (MDFs), tapping into our brand recognition, and growing our team. We’ve also put a few other initiatives in place to support growth:
- New marketing platforms and tools designed to meet partners where they are, making it easy for them to use content and resources and increase revenue.
- A “Deal Coach” who provides each partner with relevant marketing and sales collateral based on their deal registrations.
- A “Partner Video Center,” which is a new one-stop shop for partner-ready video content and enablement. Available in the Zoom Partner Portal, this searchable, interactive hub even translates videos into multiple languages.
Journeys of joint success
Our own Ryan Azus, chief revenue officer, joined our keynote session to moderate a special partner panel. He was joined by Nikki Marsh from Lumen Technologies, Osamu Kikuchi from NESIC, Peter Arbitter from Deutsche Telekom, and Nathan Moffitt from Smarsh. During the lively panel, each partner reflected on their journey of growth with Zoom, how they serve and add value for customers, and the ways they address industry-specific challenges.
Redefining the future of communication
Following the partner panel, Zoom’s president, Greg Tomb, joined the stage to walk through exciting new announcements, sharing our platform vision and the opportunities it brings to our partners. From our company rebrand to the relaunch of Zoom Team Chat to the announcement of Zoom Mail and Calendar and Zoom Mail Service, Greg walked partners through what we’ve been up to recently and how we plan to help elevate our services, highlighting how our partners play a critical role in helping us shape the future of communication. Greg’s presentation was a reminder of how partners can tap into our ever-evolving product portfolio to unearth new opportunities and avenues for growth.
Rewarding partner excellence
To show our appreciation for our partners’ dedication to delivering happiness, we handed out a few awards:
- Global Partner Winner of the Year: AVANT
- Alliance Partner of the Year: Palo Alto Networks
- ISV Integration Partner of the Year: Prezi
- ISV Embed Partner of the Year: GLG
And here are the winners of our regional partner awards:
APAC:
- Partner of the Year: Rahi Systems Pvt. Ltd.
- Rising Star Partner Award: ECS Telecom
- Carrier Partner Award: 1-TO-ALL Co., Ltd.
- Reseller Partner Award: Connect NZ
- Distributor Partner Award: Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
- Certified Integrator Partner Award: PT Kayreach System
- Partner Marketing Innovation Award: DMOA Co Ltd
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
- Partner Marketing Digital Award: FUJIFILM CodeBlue Australia
EMEA:
- Partner of the Year: DEKOM
- Rising Star Partner Award: Touch Conference
- Carrier Partner Award : Deutsche Telekom
- Reseller Partner Award: PIK AG
- Distributor Partner Award: Nuvias
- Certified Integrator Partner Award: ADEX Technology
- Partner Marketing Innovation Award: HSL
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: Visualised
- Partner Marketing Digital Award: Vistafon
Japan:
- Partner of the Year: NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation
- Reseller Award: NISSHO ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
- Strategic Partner Award: SoftBank Corp.
- Regional Partner Award: Ricoh Japan Co., Ltd.
- Zoom Phone Partner Award: Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.
- SMB Market Partner Award: OTSUKA CORPORATION
- Financial Market Partner Award: NTT DATA Corporation
- Distributor Partner Award: SB C&S Corp.
- Partner Marketing Innovation Award: NISSHO ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: Ricoh Japan Co., Ltd.
- Partner Marketing Digital Award: V-cube, Inc.
LATAM:
- Partner of the Year: XP On
- Rising Star Partner Award: CLOUD IT PERU
- Reseller Partner Award: ICAP Global
- Distributor Partner Award: West Telco
- Certified Integrator Partner Award: C3NTRO Telecom
- Partner Marketing Innovation Award: Lynxsource
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: MyMottion
- Partner Marketing Digital Award: LatamSul
U.S. & Canada:
- Partner of the Year: CDW
- Rising Star Partner Award: Telarus
- Carrier Partner Award: Lumen
- Reseller Partner Award: SHI
- Distributor Partner Award: Carahsoft
- Certified Integrator Partner Award: Presidio
- Partner Marketing Innovation Award: AdvisoryHub
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: Lumen
- Partner Marketing Impact Award: SP Data Digital
- Partner Marketing Digital Award: ConvergeOne Government Solutions
Onwards and upwards
While these are just a few of the announcements stemming from our keynote, there’s a lot more happening at Partner Connect 2022. With numerous breakout sessions that are as diverse as our partner ecosystem, there’s still so much to learn and discover — and we encourage you to dive into anything you can.
Thank you for joining us at Partner Connect 2022, and to all our partners for being part of our community. We’re thrilled about the progress we’ve made together, and even more excited about what’s yet to come.