Technology Reseller v59

COLLABORAtION technologyreseller.co.uk 19 Technology Reseller finds out more about the ‘experiential platform’ for virtual meetings and events “We are getting good feedback that Jugo really does bring meetings and events in a virtual setting alive,” says Jugo Head of Alliances and Partnerships Natalie Holder. Channel strategy Holder joined the company three months ago to implement an expanded go to market strategy with the intention of tripling growth over the next three years. “Our go to market is segmented into a channel and service providers segment, focusing on cloud marketplaces, GSIs, resellers and managed service providers, and an alliances and partnership segment, where we’re looking at how we partner with creative agencies, for example, to provide a digital experience across separate pillars for edtech and events, media and entertainment.” Holder adds that on the channel side, Jugo is looking to recruit a relatively small number of partners who really understand its proposition and its potential for digital workspaces and unified communications and collaboration. “What we don't want to do is take on too many partners. We want to identify and invest in partners that are right for us. And we want to ensure that those partners succeed. To have on-boarded 10 partners by the end of the year would be phenomenal,” she says. “By year three we hope that 70-80% of our business will be through channel fulfilment.” On its side of the bargain, Holder says that Jugo is developing a partner programme that prioritises simplicity. “Partners don't like complexity, so we're trying to ensure we have as simple a partner programme as possible. What is the solution? How do I make money from it? What are the margins? And what support do I get? Also, ensuring that partners can engage with our products and services quickly and are able to transact quickly.” This simplicity, she points out, extends to Jugo’s proposition for end user customers. “It’s a cloud-based model, so people acquire it on a monthly subscription, and we provide a package in hours to give organisations flexibility.” Holder adds that Jugo means ‘bridging the gap’ in Latin, which seems appropriate for a technology that seeks to bring people together in a shared virtual environment even though they may be separated by thousands of miles. “What we are already seeing with prospects and partners is that when they see our platform they say ‘This is amazing. This is unique. This is something we've not experienced before. We can use it for this, this and this’. They are introducing use cases. It really is whatever you want it to be, which is why we call it an ‘experiential platform’.” www.jugo.io Jugo, a browser-based platform for immersive virtual experiences, has just announced a partnership with Arsenal Football Club that will enable the Gunners to provide fans with more engaging experiences including virtual Q&A sessions with players, interactive screenings and memorabilia auctions. This is quite a scalp for the Bristolbased company, which was formed last year with the backing of GDS Group and is currently building a customer base and network of partnerships and alliances. With Arsenal on-track to win its first Premier League title in almost 20 years, the relationship could give a big boost and valuable exposure to Jugo, which also has offices in New York and development teams in Leeds and Kosovo. Jugo’s ‘experiential platform’ takes virtual business meetings, town hall company events, recruitment/onboarding/ training sessions and other types of engagement to the next level by placing participants in a virtual world, without the need for VR or AR headsets or any special equipment. Using Unreal Engine 5 3D creation technology familiar to fans of Fortnite and Star Wars, Jugo provides a variety of predesigned meeting environments that are claimed to inspire much greater feelings of connectedness and togetherness than the virtual meeting platforms we have become used to since 2020, while also offering advanced functionality such as screensharing, meeting recording, in-platform chat, polling and emoji sentiment voting. Introducing Jugo What we don’t want to do is take on too many partners. We want to identify and invest in partners that are right for us. And we want to ensure that those partners succeed Natalie Holder has more than 10 years’ experience in direct sales and channel business at leading technology businesses including IBM, SAP, Oracle and Workday. At IBM, she helped recruit partners for specific product verticals and set up OEM models that allowed MSPs to create new revenue streams for their business. Natalie Holder

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=