Twilio Forges Alliance with Deloitte, The First GSI To Join Its Rapidly Expanding Channel

As it penetrates the enterprise, the Twilio Build channel program looks to recruit larger partners that bring a broad set of services to enable digital communications transformations.

As Twilio’s technology increasingly penetrates the enterprise market, the cloud communications standout said Tuesday it has inked a partnership with Deloitte, its first with a global systems integrator.

The deal will see Deloitte Digital integrate and resell Twilio solutions for large customers looking to modernize their customer outreach, develop its own services on Twilio’s platform, and form joint consulting teams through a mutual subcontracting agreement, Twilio Chief Customer Officer Glenn Weinstein told CRN.

“This is the natural evolution for the Twilio Build program,” Weinstein said. Two years ago, “broad enterprise adoption of Twilio was in its infancy. Now that’s in full bloom and enterprises regard Twilio as a strategic technology partner.”

[Related: Deloitte Ramps Up Google Cloud Partnership To Support SAP Migrations]

Twilio, based in San Francisco, launched its Twilio Build channel program a year-and-a-half ago, and has since amassed a global channel of some 300 partners. But the alliance with a consultancy of the size and reach of Deloitte is a major milestone for the cloud communications company that has been steadily expanding its business beyond the contact center, Weinstein said.

“Eventually you have a wide enough range of offerings, something to offer the enterprise that warrants attention from a global systems integrator,” Weinstein said. “We’re at that point now with Twilio.”

Existing partners in the Build program are either boutique or regional resellers and integrators, most of whom solely focus on contact center deployment and operations, Weinstein said.

But Deloitte, like other GSIs that might strike similar alliances with Twilio, looks to work with technology partners that deliver “broad applicability in the enterprise,” he said.

Among the services offered by Deloitte Digital is a full-scale digital agency that helps enterprise reimagine how they interact with their customers. Twilio’s communication APIs can assist that practice by enabling enterprises to adopt an omni-channel approach to marketing, sales and service.

“Digital transformation really works hand-in-hand with digital communications,” Weinstein said.

And as the COVID-19 pandemic forces businesses large and small to find new ways to connect with customers at a distance, Twilio’s platform will enable Deloitte to deliver those transformations with text, voice, telephony and video engagement capabilities.

Deloitte’s Twilio practice will focus on a few key industries: health care, financial services, and public sector.

Deloitte will also integrate Twilio’s technology into its Deloitte ConvergeHEALTH Connect platform, Weinstein said.

“The goal for our clients is to connect with customers as people by understanding their wants, needs, aspirations and fears,” John Peto, US head of Deloitte Digital and a principal in Deloitte Consulting, told CRN.

Effective communications are critical to building trust, establishing meaningful connections and fostering loyalty, he said.

“Human-centered, relationship-based communications across channels is what Twilio was built for and what makes them such a natural ally in our efforts to put elevating human experience at the core of everything we do,” Peto added.

Twilio has embraced the channel over the last two years, recognizing “the strategic importance of our channel partners in maintaining Twilio’s growth,” Weinstein said.

The company has been encouraging its SI partners to resell its platform by building tools and programs that enable them to either directly resell or do so by building Twilio into their own platforms.

A recent Twilio survey found COVID-19 accelerated companies’ digital communications strategies by an average of six years, with 97 percent of enterprise decision-makers saying the pandemic sped up their digital transformations.

And the pandemic has spurred more business from the public sector, Weinstein said, something Twilio has seen through its work with regional and state governments building and deploying contact-tracing solutions to stem the spread of the outbreak.

Twilio is looking to explore more potential partnerships with global systems integrators it has previously worked with opportunistically on specific projects, while growing and deepening relationships in its channel of boutique and regional partners, Weinstein said.