Lately, companies have grown increasingly reliant on customisable solutions for communication and collaboration in the workforce. A one-size-fits-all package of business tools is not enough for most organisations anymore. Instead, today’s brands want to know that the functionality that they’re investing in will work seamlessly with the rest of their products, applications, and processes.
On the one hand, solutions like CPaaS, UCaaS, and CCaaS have emerged to make this personalised approach to UC more accessible. However, APIs take this strategy to the next level by ensuring that developers and business teams can create the ideal technology stacks from scratch. Vonage is one of the leaders in the API revolution today, driving innovation with Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, and a highly customisable range of solutions for contact centres and unified communications.
I caught up with Omar Javaid, the President of the API platform at Vonage, to talk more about how next-generation APIs and enterprise applications are helping the Vonage brand to grow.
Tell Us About How Vonage Has Been Evolving
As the President of the API platform at Vonage, Omar is responsible for overseeing the evolution of new API-based innovations in the company’s offering, but he also performs a general managerial role. I was keen to find out how he thinks that Vonage’s current strategy and focus on APIs is helping the business to evolve.
“We’ve had a very strong first quarter this year, and a lot of growth so far. Recently, we announced our strategic partnership with SendinBlue, a leading provider of cloud-based email marketing and marketing automation technology, and before that, we’ve had numerous new collaborations and acquisitions to celebrate in the last couple of years.
“Ultimately, we’ve been transforming into a business software company over the last five years – a business dedicated to research, development, and evolution”
Vonage has always been a brand committed to redefining communications with new and improved innovation opportunities. From day one, the organisation has embraced cutting-edge technology to change the way that people communicate, now Vonage is doing that for businesses with the goal of driving stronger outcomes for clients, helping them to drive better experiences for their customers. The unique cloud communications platform from Vonage combines robust unified communications and contact centre applications with embedded, agile, and highly contextual API offerings. According to Omar, through both organic and inorganic growth, Vonage has achieved a growth level of over 40% each year. “We’ve been very pleased with our initial investments so far, and we’re excited to keep moving forward.”
What Do You Think about the Trend of API Platforms?
Vonage has differentiated itself from the other companies in the unified communication and collaboration environment by taking an API-focused and platform-based approach to serving its customers. Through investment into companies like TokBox, NewVoiceMedia, and even Nexmo, Vonage has been able to build a comprehensive environment for companies that want to access a more flexible portfolio of UC solutions.
“I was very excited for us to get into the API space with Nexmo. Vonage has always wanted to be an innovator. For us, the first incarnation of the platform environment started with building VoIP solutions for telecommunications on a network. The next step was to access the applications of a telecoms service as features to apply to any application.”
According to Javaid, one of the things leading the rise in demand for APIs and platforms as a service these days is the growth of digital transformation. He told me that companies all around the world are focusing more heavily on solutions that allow them to achieve more with digital technology. “Things like UCaaS and CCaaS have a lot to offer, but people are starting to feel ready to take that next step with the as-a-service offering through APIs.”
At the recent Nexmo Socials London 2019, an exclusive thought leadership event for local tech and business leaders, Omar delivered the keynote address highlighting the power of communications APIs and how these programmable capabilities enable differentiated experiences that create better customer connections.
“Vonage is helping businesses create intelligent interactions to engage with their own customers through the channels of their choice, for a truly customised and superior experience”
Tell Us About Your Strategy for Partnerships
With the news of Vonage’s partnership with Sendinblue still recent, I was keen to get Omar’s thoughts on how the collaboration with the email company would benefit the Vonage offering. He told me that Vonage has always been invested in building out new opportunities for growth in a range of different areas.
“One of the places where we knew we had a gap was in email functionality and APIs. Our customers value having access to a provider that offers a wide selection of products, so we knew that we needed to bridge this gap for them. It was just a matter of whether we wanted to build the offering, buy it, or partner with someone.”
Omar told me that Vonage chose to partner with Sendinblue because they loved what the organisation had to offer. They felt that with Sendinblue’s support, they could supplement Vonage’s existing strength in video, voice, and messaging with a new solution in the email world.
When I asked Omar whether it was likely that Vonage would continue to expand on its partnerships, he told me that there are endless opportunities for a company like Vonage to continue making valuable connections.
“We’ve always been something of a very acquisition-focused company, and we’ll still be looking to buy things that will transform our offering in the future.”
“However, we started making investments last year into new alliances and partnerships, and we’d like to do more of that going forward”
