Effective communication is critical to driving success and maintaining your competitive edge in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. The remote work revolution underscored the need for seamless collaboration, and cloud-based unified communications (UC) emerged as a game-changer across industries. While many businesses have adopted it because of the cloud’s improved collaboration and productivity functionalities and ability to scale, among other key benefits, some are holding back due to concerns around security, compliance, availability and readiness.
Intrigued by cloud-based UC but not ready to make the switch? Dive in to learn how you can overcome some of the common obstacles and realize the benefits of a cloud-based UC system.
Focus on the Total Cost of Ownership and Expected ROI
As with any new technology system, there is a cost involved to transition, however, the long-term benefits often outweigh the short-term investment. For example, moving to the cloud for your unified communications can reduce the need for on-premises hardware and infrastructure. Working via the cloud versus on-premise can help reduce ongoing operational expenditures like electricity and cooling and alleviate the need for more physical space. This can lead to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) as you won’t need to maintain equipment as many cloud-based UC systems handle repairs, updates and upgrades automatically. Not only does this ensure improved operation, but it can also reduce the need for dedicated IT staff to manage and maintain the system, freeing them up for other important tasks. Cloud-based UC systems also have more flexibility to scale and offer predictable costs making it easier for organizations to forecast and manage budgets.
Simple and Fast Evaluation and Onboarding Process
When selecting a cloud-based UC system, it is important to evaluate your current needs; the key features that are important to your organization with the option for customization and how it can integrate with existing tools in addition to how it will support APIs and third-party integrations, user experience, security and compliance and more. A trusted partner can help ensure that you have carefully considered each offering and the investment will work for your organization. Because partners are well-versed in this space, this can save considerable time compared to your team handling it internally. Once a solution is selected, cloud-based UC systems often allow for a faster deployment than most on-premise solutions, enabling organizations to realize benefits sooner. However, getting the team onboard is another story. That is why evaluating your users is an important step of the onboarding process, this can include creating personas to help build empathy and provide clarity around their motivation, goals, pain points and desired outcomes.
Leveraging a Trusted Partner to Empower Your Business's Cloud-Based UC Transformation
Teaming up with a trusted provider can make a world of difference. By leveraging third-party partner expertise, you can align your technologies, resources and goals to provide a robust unified communications system that seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure. Not all IT partners are created equally, so it’s important to outsource with a company that offers secure and customized solutions tailored to meet the unique needs and challenges of your business. With the talent, resources and expertise available through tapping a viable partner for your organization’s cloud-based UC needs, you can feel confident in having access to the right technology solutions and IT support for your business now and in the future.
Finding a Partner that Can Support More than Just a UC Solution
Many organizations make updates in silos. However, before any new hardware, software or services are implemented, it is recommended to do a technology assessment. This can help organizations understand the current state of their infrastructure and technology and plan for the future. An IT partner can help with this stage, by looking broadly at the best options for new technology and how they can help organizations achieve their objectives. They can also evaluate how to optimize current tools to ensure peak efficiency. Because technology is interconnected, ensuring your partner is capable of supporting more than a narrowly scoped UC solution is critical to long-term success.
Surprising Benefits of Outsourced Cloud-Based UC
- Expertise and Support: Third-party experts specialize in this space and possess extensive knowledge and experience in deploying and optimizing cloud-based communication platforms to ensure they are set up for success from the start.
- Focus on Core Business: Leveraging a dedicated IT partner guarantees someone is managing your UC system while allowing your IT team to focus on other pressing business issues.
- Customized Solutions: Understanding the intricacies of a cloud-based UC system and all that it can offer takes time. IT partners that specialize in this space can easily assess a business’s current infrastructure, recommend the most suitable UC tools and customize features to enhance productivity, collaboration and customer engagement.
- Seamless Integration: A cloud-based UC system is a significant investment, and often on top of other existing technologies. Therefore, ensuring that your UC platform works seamlessly with your customer relationship management (CRM) tools, help desk software, project management systems and more is critical. Dedicated IT partners have experience implementing UC systems and aligning them with other workplace technologies.
- Security and Compliance: Cloud-based UC IT partners have been trained in and understand the necessary security measures and adhere to industry best practices. They can ensure your system is set up with the proper encryption, secure data centers and backup or recovery systems, as well as provide regular security audits to safeguard sensitive information. Additionally, they help keep your UC systems compliant by monitoring and staying up to date with evolving standards.
- Ongoing Innovation and Upgrades: Third-party support that is dedicated to following the latest advancements in communication technology can provide you confidence that your system has the access to the newest features, performance improvements and security enhancements as they become available.
Effective communication and collaboration are essential in today’s workplace, and cloud-based unified communications offer adaptable technology to support these efforts. By embracing this infrastructure, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and empower employees with the tools they need to succeed.
If you are ready to embrace the future and propel your business forward, contact Cerium Networks to learn how our team can become your trusted partner for implementing cloud-based UC and more.
