Over the last decade we have seen a phenomenal growth in the number of businesses that are investing in cloud for the countless benefits it brings in terms of cost-reduction and productivity enhancement – but what about the businesses that have not yet begun their cloud journey?
For some, the cloud is still an unfamiliar concept and making that jump into unknown waters is still regarded as an unnecessary risk that should be avoided at all cost. However, when you look at a Forbes report that claims cloud computing will increase from $67 billion in 2015 to $162 billion in 2020, it’s pretty evident that that risk has now become a necessity that no business can afford to ignore.
“As the cloud becomes more established, the adoption of unified communications in organisations of all sizes and across many different sectors is accelerating.” – Charles Aylwin, Director of Channel, 8×8
Though it may feel comfortable and safe to stick with what you know and adopt an ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ mentality, any businesses adamant on living in the past will undoubtedly struggle in the future – and the future, as countless statistics have shown us, is heavily dominated by the cloud.
So, for those who are still unsure of what cloud is, what it can bring to a business and why now is the absolute critical time to begin investing in it, we have written this article to give a deeper insight into what businesses stand to gain and how it will keep them relevant in a modern market.
What benefits and opportunities does cloud offer?
As technology evolves, people evolve with it and the needs and expectations of a generation that has grown up using smartphones and cloud-based applications such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger must be met.
From a business perspective, the office space has moved on from four walls, a computer and a desktop phone alone, and it is now reported that around 91% of corporate employees are using at least one app that’s mobile, while 83% of global workers believe that technology advances have enabled them to be more productive with this percentage set to increase drastically in the near future.
Support for BYOD and remote working is one of the key benefits of cloud investment and opens up a whole new window of opportunity for both millennial and pre-millennial workers to communicate in a way that is comfortable, efficient and unrestrictive.
Thanks to the seamless communications capabilities offered by VoIP applications such as 8×8 and collaboration apps such as Slack, users are able to quickly switch between multiple devices and transfer information through voice, video or text whenever and wherever they wish from a single location.
As well as boosting the customer response times and creating a richer collaborative environment that allows workers-on-the-go to stay connected and in tune with one another at all times, cloud-based BYOD support also offers huge cost-reduction benefits by eliminating hardware and maintenance fees.
In fact, a recent market report showed that the BYOD market grew from a $67 billion $181 billion in 2017 and goes on to claim that businesses that employ BYOD can save between $350 and $1,300 per year per employee – just one of many statistics that clearly demonstrates how those business that have invested cloud are at a clear economic advantage over those that have not.
What risks are involved?
Of course, the risks are still a major concern for those that have not yet begun their journey but how much risk is really involved and how much is just hearsay? In order to find out, let us first establish some of the things that are the major cause of worry for companies with doubts about the cloud.
First and foremost is the issue of security and the fact that many businesses have doubts about hosting their private information in an off-site location that is maintained by people who are not part of their company.
Though it may seem a little unsettling to do this, it’s important to add that data centres invest a lot of time and money into ensuring they are fitted with all the latest security updates and employ a team of technicians who work around the clock to ensure their clients information is protected from all the latest threats.
To achieve the same with an on-premises solution, a business would have to invest mass sums of money and employ a whole team of their own to deliver the same level of protection. With the cloud, however, all of this is included within a modest monthly subscription fee that operates on a pay-as-you-use basis, thus giving businesses the freedom to terminate the plan if they feel it is not working for them.
Another major concern for businesses is that many of them still have existing investments in analogue phones and other technologies that are not compatible with the cloud and are not in a position to make the switch until they generate a return.
Though this is undoubtedly a problem for a lot of businesses, there are countless hybrid cloud solutions that enable businesses to complete their digital transformation at a gradual pace by deploying part of their infrastructure into the cloud whilst keeping others on-site.
By doing this, said businesses can at least start reaping some of the benefits cloud has to offer until they are in a position to move other areas of the company into the cloud. One thing we believe is crucial when doing this, however, is that businesses should be sure to find a suitable provider that will help them choose the right path into the cloud and provide ongoing support from the start of their journey right through till the end.
Can anyone benefit from Cloud Communications?
Cloud technology is a global phenomenon that affects everything from one-person start-ups right through to multinational corporations. In terms of what benefits it can bring, the sheer number of new capabilities it offers, the vast scalability options, the mass reductions in cost and the wider range of mobility means that businesses of all sizes stand something to gain from investing in the cloud.
The pace in which they do so, however, does vary somewhat and, as we mentioned earlier on, though smaller SMBs with little existing investments and a hunger for fast, cheap cloud-communications capabilities are likely to benefit enormously from going all in to the cloud from the start, larger companies with existing on-premises investments may need to plan their journey more carefully.
More UC Trends 2017
- UC Trends 2017 – Communications in the Cloud
- UC Trends: But is it Safe?
- UC Trends: It’s All About the UX
- UC Trends 2017: The Robots Are Coming!
- UC Trends 2017: Who Just Joined?
