May 22, 2019
Customer service software company expands technology alliances, SI partnerships to meet customer needs across verticals and use cases
Channelnomics Staff
Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Zendesk’s Sunshine CRM platform can now be leveraged to create custom-tailored, best-of-breed solutions. Company officials said the new partnerships and integrations will make it easier to “connect siloed data and deliver deep customer insights.”
The Lowdown: Sunshine allows businesses to connect customer data, wherever it lives, and, in turn, create enhanced customer experiences.
The Details: The Zendesk CRM platform is built for developers on open standards with AWS’ security, scalability, and reliability, company officials said. With the new integrations, Sunshine can be the foundation of customized offerings that span a bevy of industries and use cases, including e-commerce, incident management, IoT, manufacturing, and retail.
New technology partners include Narvar, a software company that delivers post-purchase experiences for retailers, and Domo, which provides a mobile, cloud-based operating system for businesses.
Meanwhile, Zendesk is working with systems integrators – trusted advisors to midsize and large companies looking to digitally transform their businesses – to help them design, build, and deploy Sunshine within complex cloud architectures.
Zendesk’s partnerships with integrators and complementary technology companies allow end users to leverage open APIs and create best-of-breed solutions that can be integrated easily with other applications.
Also, this week, Zendesk announced the acquisition of Smooch, a platform that connects businesses with customers on any messaging channel – whether Websites, mobile applications, or messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp – to fuel personalized conversations. The purchase is Zendesk’s next step in delivering high-caliber omnichannel experiences.
The Buzz: “Launching the open, flexible Sunshine CRM platform marked a significant milestone for us as we help companies get a deeper and more holistic view of their customers,” said Adrian McDermott, president of products at Zendesk. “Our new partnerships enable companies to build and deploy apps faster with Sunshine. This flexibility is key to creating experiences that customers want today.”
“Our partnership with Zendesk to broaden the capabilities of the Sunshine CRM platform is a perfect fit,” said Pavel Pragin, CEO of ClearScale, a systems integrator based in San Francisco. “Our expertise as an AWS Premier Partner, combined with Zendesk’s decision to tightly integrate Sunshine with AWS, gives Zendesk customers virtually endless integration possibilities. This strategic partnership increases the ability for Zendesk to efficiently solve new complex issues with their customers and offer even more native features in the Sunshine ecosystem.”
“We’re always looking for ways to drive operational efficiencies for commerce companies in service of simplifying the customer experience, whether on our own platform or through partnerships across the ecosystem,” said Amit Sharma, founder and CEO of Narvar. “We know customer service is a critical piece of that experience, and integrating with Zendesk Sunshine helps meet the needs of both support teams and the consumers they serve.”
