Innovation Without Disruption and the Need for Modernity

Why IT leaders are choosing innovation without disruption: Avaya Experience Platform, CCaaS and generative AI help modernise on-prem telephony on UC Today.

John Flood

Innovation without disruption in UC modernity

When you're a senior IT manager in a global corporation with millions of dollars of technology investments, you're mindful of the stakes. After all, the existing technology is the warp and woof of the enterprise. It's the central nervous system. And it's devilishly complex. Don't fix what isn't broken. For the largest corporations in the world, not every technology advancement is necessarily suitable for the enterprise or even relevant. Global corporations have spent decades and millions of dollars building, maintaining, and upgrading their tech investments. They're not in a hurry to toss out what continues to make them successful. Incremental improvements are the roadmap. So, embarking on moonshot 'tear out and replace' projects is not always realistic, smart, or even needed. Be wary of the call of 'one-size-fits-all.'

Don't Be Clouded by the Cloud

The move to the cloud has been a tectonic shift in corporate IT centers driven by the pandemic and employees accustomed to remote and hybrid work scenarios. The cloud has made remarkable advances in the structure and performance of businesses. But, for companies with existing telephony systems that already function well, moving to the cloud can have the quality of 'force your hand or else.' The herd mentality isn't always the best mentality. And there are solid pragmatic business reasons to be cautious of the 'one-size-fits-all cloud' drumbeat. For some, the cloud has been the best thing since the invention of the wheel. But, for those who already have a strategic investment in on-premise telephony, the cloud isn't always a slam dunk. "A global leader with 100,000 agents spread across all geographies can't just rip out and replace. They have to keep running day and night," said Steve Joyner, Vice President – UK & Ireland, Avaya. "It's a strategic risk that they can't take. Instead, the Avaya philosophy is to help large organizations innovate without disruption."

Innovate or Face Extinction

The existential threat of extinction is part of the evolutionary cycle and applies to businesses as well. Failure to see the shifting tides of markets and technologies while failing to adapt usually spells extinction. It means that large-scale enterprises have to be smart, they have to be agile, and they have to innovate. This is an irreducible fact for all companies. So, when it comes to migrating to the cloud, Avaya offers its customers a more nuanced solution. And it's undoubtedly not ‘rip out and replace’.

Play the Piano While We Tune It

The analogy of playing the piano while tuning its strings is an apt parallel to innovating without disrupting. The harmony of the performance depends on the expertise and finesse applied to combine these two distinct processes seamlessly. Avaya is keenly aware of not dissimilar goals for corporate enterprises that still rely upon on-premise telephony systems.

"Companies invest millions into their customer experience, and they need to preserve that essence because that unique experience defines the company," Joyner observed. " How do you preserve that while still introducing the power of 'the new'? You can't just tear it down and start again because your company's unique brand won't have the same character."

For instance, when IT managers ask for AI-powered capabilities, they want to offer them without replacing existing systems. Joyner explained, "There's no need to rip it all out. You can integrate our CCaaS offering, Avaya Experience Platform, into your legacy contact center, integrate, for example, a generative AI solution, and build on top of an existing technology stack." Megatrends come and go. Some eventually become indispensable to the enterprise, like the cloud, remote work, virtual reality - and now generative AI like ChatGPT. Companies must take stock of the risk and rewards of adoption and decide on a flexible platform to take advantage of the latest trends when customers demand them. "If they want to move to the cloud, they want to do it at their own pace. They certainly don't want to be forced to do it just so that they can gain access to a new service that may or may not be useful in the future," Joyner confirmed. "So, our advice is to keep what you've got. Keep using it. You're doing a great job with it. You've invested a lot of money in it. And here's how you can bridge that gap and stay technologically relevant." Click here to learn more about how to innovate without disruption with Avaya. Alternatively, if you’d like to hear from end-users that have embraced Avaya’s innovation without disruption mantra, register for the upcoming Avaya Engage event.

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