3rd April 2024

Our Twilio Partner Credentials & Accreditations

Twilio fosters a strong ecosystem of collaborative partners that help drive innovation and customer success. These partners play important roles such as: assisting customers in getting the most out of the platform, reselling their products, extending Twilio capabilities through direct integrations, and leveraging Twilio to empower independent applications. You can find Twilio partners and consultants here.

We (Zing) are one of the most prolific consulting partners and resell Twilio products when it is beneficial for the customer for us to do so.

Twilio have recently announced updates to its Partner Program, this post details the available Twilio Partner Credentials (and explains where we fit in). It also provide an overview of our own accreditation scheme, which is designed to keep Zing Developers at the forefront of Twilio technology.

What is the Twilio Partner Program?

The Twilio Partner Program provides support through technical assistance, training, co-marketing initiatives, early oversight of product roadmaps, and more.

Organisations can join as Twilio Communications Partners (those primarily working with Messaging, Voice, Email and Flex) and/or Segment Partners (those primarily working across the Segment customer data platform). There is inevitable overlap as Communications and Segment products work and compliment each other extremely well. We are primarily Twilio Communications Partners.

Partner types include:

Consulting and system integrators, which help organisations leverage the power of Twilio (us!)
Resellers, which generate customer demand for Twilio and sell Twilio products directly to customers (also us!)
Technology partners, which develop software solutions that complement and extend Twilio’s capabilities through direct integrations
Independent software vendors, which provide their own independent applications and use Twilio to power the communication channels on the back-end

What is a Twilio Preferred Partner?

A 'Preferred Partner' is part of a distinguished category within the Twilio Partner Program, made up of those with "strategic significance... who have demonstrated excellence in collaboration."

Preferred status is the highest level of partnership. This category used to be known as ‘Gold Partnership’ (hence Zing's very own ‘Gold Partner’ coffee blend ☕).

To be a ‘Preferred Partner’, organisations must meet a set of criteria, which is subject to annual review by Twilio.

Requirements include having:

How does being a Preferred Partner help our customers?

When working with a Preferred Partner, organisations can rest assured that they are collaborating with seasoned Twilio experts with a demonstrated history of delivering successful outcomes for customers, at scale.

Our client successes are well documented on Twilio.com (such as ‘How Age UK and Zing built safe, scalable and cost effective services for volunteers and the elderly’) and on our case study page.

Because Preferred Partners benefit from a special level of personalised support often referred to as “white glove” treatment, we’re able to collaborate very closely with Twilio to deliver exceptional value to our customers.

While we are an independent organisation, our preferred status means we’re kept fully informed on product roadmaps, and are at the cutting edge of Twilio technology. As a pure play Twilio partner that's so engrained in the technology, we often say that if Twilio needed help with Twilio, they’d probably come to us!

What is the Zing Developer Accreditation Scheme?

Along with our Twilio qualifications and credentials, our developers are required to complete a continually expanding suite of Twilio online learning modules to maintain their Zing Developer Accreditation. This includes our most experienced team members.

Importantly, the accreditation requires real world experience. Zing Accredited Developers must have successfully completed at least one Tactical Engagement; to have contributed to at least one project sprint; and have a minimum tenure of three months at Zing. Once accredited developers reach one year’s tenure, they’re eligible for ‘Rockstar’ status. After three years, ‘Guru’ status is within each.

Customers can be confident that above and beyond their core technical skills, Accredited Zing Developers are accomplished across the Twilio stack and with our Development methodologies.

Download our partner guide

We understand that choosing a Twilio partner isn't an easy decision to make. So, we've put together this guide, to help you navigate the landscape. Understand the different types of partners, where to find them, how Twilio's partner accreditation scheme works and more.

Alternatively, if you're ready to speak to us about your requirements, please do get in touch.