Businesses around the world are embracing digital transformation and its potential to enhance the customer experience, consolidate IT infrastructure and reduce operational expenditure. A key area is the contact centre and any associated engagement channels, with many organisations having already migrated to the cloud or planning a transition within the next two years.
According to a recent report by IDG, Cloud-Based Applications to Transform Customer Service, 46 per cent of businesses are already using cloud contact centre solutions, 33 percent are implementing cloud contact centre solutions and 17 per cent are planning to use cloud contact centre solutions within the next couple of years. The statistics reveal the fast pace of cloud adoption and suggests that companies who are not considering it as part of their long-term digital strategy could be left behind with an outdated and ineffective contact centre.
Moving the contact centre to an externally hosted cloud environment offers a flexible platform to streamline administrative procedures and human resourcing, with businesses of all sizes realising the rewards of migrating their customer relationship management (CRM) and workforce management (WFM) technology to a Contact-Centre-as-a-Service (CCaaS) model. By optimising resource allocation and automating forecasting and scheduling processes, this can lead to a significant boost in productivity and a considerable reduction in operational expenditure.
As the technology advances and grows in popularity, IT decision makers are having to consider whether their organisation should opt for on-premises infrastructure or a cloud hosted WFM solution, billed on a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model. Before making a decision, senior management need to weigh up the pros and cons of each approach to determine which one is best suited to their unique corporate strategy. Many organisations have invested a considerable amount of time, energy and money into expensive legacy equipment, the right software and dedicated teams of IT professionals to operate these systems, which explains why decision makers may be reluctant to move away from in favour of externally hosted cloud SaaS.
There are numerous benefits of hosting a contact centre in a cloud, but it may not be the right option for everyone as there are specific factors that will determine which model is best. First, let’s investigate some of the main differences between a cloud provider and hosting your own infrastructure on-premises:
Cloud SaaS model
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Stephen Ball[/caption]
The main advantages of a cloud-hosted WFM solution are around cost and convenience. After choosing a suitable provider, the software can be installed and configured in a very short period of time before being deployed across multiple sites, departments and locations simultaneously and with minimal disruption. After installation, the system can be activated immediately with the company simply charged a monthly subscription for the service
For this to work effectively, each area of deployment needs to have fast and reliable internet connectivity (ideally a high-quality connection with low latency) with a well-trained member of staff on-site who can oversee the process by liaising with the provider to ensure all settings, features and functions are properly configured. This greatly reduces the need for large in-house IT teams which can substantially reduce the operational costs associated with traditional contact centre and WFM solutions.
Additionally, any system maintenance, updating or troubleshooting issues will primarily be the responsibility of the service provider and therefore there is no need to have any equipment on-premises. This means that business owners do not have to worry about having enough physical space on-site to house the servers and racking required to run their applications and services.
A cloud WFM provider will usually offer flexible pricing options, so it is relatively simple to add new users, features and functionalities. These changes can usually be made with a simple adjustment to the monthly subscription package, but business owners should ensure they are asking the right questions about what is included in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and calculate the long-term pricing structure before making a decision.