Out with the old? Legacy systems have firmly established themselves within enterprises as the majority of businesses rely on the technology they use. Yet, as these systems have become more ingrained in company infrastructure and, more importantly, in an end-user’s daily routine, resistance to change has been rife with many CTOs and business leaders relying on the old mantra:
“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
However, in today’s fast-paced digital environment, over reliance on these traditional, and sometimes antiquated systems, does leave some organisations on the back foot. Legacy systems by their very nature are typically rigid and isolated, having been designed to meet the needs of the siloed enterprise workforces that came before. This inevitably offers very little room for manoeuvre when it comes to business-wide usability - a particular challenge when things such as flexible collaboration and agile thinking are now taking priority amongst many modern business leaders.
A cloud-based transformation
Both employees and customers acknowledge that newer, innovative technologies make their lives easier. For example, in recent years we have seen more and more organisations replace their existing traditional phone systems with modern, cloud-based solutions. Yet despite the clear advantages for a more flexible communications infrastructure, many decision makers are still overwhelmed by the potential drawbacks of implementing new technologies - high costs, significant impact on end-users and fear of the unknown.
As much as combining advanced UC solutions with legacy systems in all corners of a business might sound expensive, these solutions are often more scalable and can be updated more frequently. This, in many cases, means they are more cost-effective than maintaining the likes of out-of-maintenance on-premises PBX systems, which typically also lack the agility needed to enable the collaboration needed for business growth - particularly in today’s remote working era.
As businesses look to drive productivity and engagement amongst their workforce, the pace at which the implementation of Unified Communications solutions has accelerated. These UC solutions can bring staff together, allow them to operate effectively, and cater to a more modern, work/life-balance conscious workforce. Transforming your communication systems to create a smarter workplace can of course be complex, but contrary to the opinion of many, it doesn’t require a complete overhaul of existing legacy IT systems.
Besides, leveraging existing investment, and in particular Video Room systems, is often the only logical option from a financial standpoint. The wave of investment in “standalone” Video Conferencing systems we saw in the last several years means that this installed base is not yet fully amortised. Ensuring its integration within a broader, unified set of Communications workloads is thus a key requirement.
Companies therefore require transitioning scenarios involving coexistence between old and new, mitigating risk and minimising end-user impact. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by providers. We are now seeing leading vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco and their respective ecosystems doing as much as possible to help integrate their customers’ legacy communication systems with the latest cloud-based solutions; helping them drive innovation with smarter interactions and meet the demands of the modern digital workplace.
