ShoreTel, Inc. designed the Champion Partner Program to strengthen the relationship between ShoreTel and its partners. The program's goal is to advance and grow both companies' market share in the unified communications industry, while ensuring every customer continues to be delighted with their ShoreTel experience.

"ShoreTel recently announced the addition of cloud tiers to the Champion Partner Program that enable our channel partners to take advantage of one of the fastest growing communications segments," said Heather Bennett, vice president of worldwide channel programs and sales enablement at ShoreTel. "We're pleased that CNP Technologies is one of the first to expand their portfolio into the cloud, so they can now accommodate the growing demand by end-users for cloud services."

"Talari provides a unique solution for companies that need cost effective connectivity between offices and without sacrificing reliability," said Wes Clark, Co-Owner and CMO for CNP Technologies. "This gives CNP another quality partner as we continue to help customers optimize the performance of their networks."

"There is no question that video collaboration is aggressively moving toward the cloud, while the customer need for affordable room video systems and a more simplified user experience continues to surge," said Roopam Jain, industry director of enterprise communications and collaboration for Frost & Sullivan. "Lifesize has nailed this user need with the introduction of Lifesize Cloud, a bold departure from the complex and costly ways of implementing video. By integrating its conference room video system with an intuitive, feature-rich hosted cloud infrastructure, it is clear that Lifesize continues to innovate."

ShoreTel has grown its channel partner program to more than 1,000 partners around the world. The Champion Partner Program is designed to enable solution providers to offer ShoreTel's end-to-end UC communications products and services. The program includes mainstays such as opportunity registration, sales and technical training, MDF/marketing support and more. In addition, it offers tools and programs to increase solution provider success and profitability, such as workshops to facilitate cloud business planning and enablement, and sales professional recruiting assistance.