Cloudli, ConnectMeVoice Consolidate in Single Enhanced Channel Program

Cloudli Communications, the Montreal-based voice, data, and messaging solutions provider, has formed a single, enhanced channel program with the ConnectMeVoice brand it bought in 2022.

Cloudli is leveraging the firm's VoIP, unified-communications-as-a-service (UCaaS), and call-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) offerings to enhance its overall portfolio.

The ConnectMeVoice acquisition also indicates that managed service providers and resellers in both regions will gain access to what the firm calls "enhanced sales enablement and marketing support," as the firm noted in updating its partner program. 

"Managed service providers (MSPs) and resellers of ConnectMeVoice will now have access to expanded marketing and sales enablement capabilities through Cloudli, along with stronger product support, and will continue to work with dedicated channel managers to help them fine-tune business strategies for acquiring new revenue streams and attaining competitive margins," Cloudli wrote in a statement.  

Cloudli is putting more resources into the hands of partners, investing in more customizable marketing campaigns, and lending access to marketing development funds, to "support innovation and growth," it noted. 

A Focus on Customer and Channel Choice

With some 9,000 customers in the U.S. and Canada, Cloudli’s ConnectMeVoice acquisition is giving customers access to various possibilities for workplace communications. 

Techaisle's Anurag Agrawal

"The ConnectMeVoice acquisition result[ed] in an expanded portfolio of cloud communication solutions, encompassing VoIP, UCaaS, CCaaS, text and chat, SIP trunking, and more," Anurag Agrawal, founder and chief global analyst at Techaisle, told Channel Futures. 

Agrawal maintains that the merger does more than converge the established networks of channel partners and resellers from both parties — it has likewise assembled a "stronger channel" qualified to supply Cloudli’s solutions to a broader customer base.

As a result, Agrawal said that Cloudli is "appropriately bolstering its sales enablement and marketing support for the MSP channel," while cautioning that these endeavors are multifaceted, "and each component must receive equal attention to ensure the overall success of the initiatives," the analyst told Channel Futures.

More Shifts on the Horizon for Cloudli/ConnectMeVoice and UCaaS

Scott Seltzer, general manager of ConnectMeVoice, will retire following the brand merger, with the company noting that his vision and commitment to the partner ecosystem will continue to play out. As such, it said that "Cloudli will also continue to build upon this foundation to deliver partner-first business communications solutions for the channel."

As more UCaaS consolidation continues to happen, the market grows more mature by the day and will likely lead to more differentiated offerings to stand out from the competition. 

Although market maturity is happening in real-time, Forrester notes in its UCaaS Service Landscape Report for 2023 that UCaaS solutions cannot replace all legacy collaboration solutions. In the report, Forrester wrote, "While many are moving away from legacy collaboration solutions, UCaaS or software-only is not always the answer for replacement."

In places such as manufacturing plants, there is still a need for copper-wired plain old telephone service (POTS). Hard-wired phones remain essential in emergency call dispatch centers where the concept of downtime is a non-starter — meaning POTS is the likely route, which is why UCaaS could prove problematic in penetrating that space as UCaaS services are internet-dependent. 

It's a hurdle, undoubtedly, that partners will find a solution to in many cases, even though the opportunity outside that industry is vast, with UCaaS expected to grow at a rate of nearly 26.4% from 2022 to 2030. The market could reach some $240 billion by 2030, according to Custom Market Insights.