In the rush to modernize, many enterprises are discovering that the road to digital transformation is full of more twists and turns than your average Formula 1 track.
Unsurprisingly, despite the industry hype, modernization has proved to be far trickier than many anticipated.
The contact center, in particular, has become a battleground of cloud-first messaging, aggressive vendor roadmaps, and ambitious AI promises.
However, while the pandemic accelerated adoption and innovation, it also underscored a harsh reality: modernization doesn’t have to mean moving at someone else’s pace.
As Miguel Angel Marcos, VP of Operations at Enghouse Interactive, puts it:
“During the pandemic, organizations learned very quickly that agility was critical. But perhaps more slowly, they are learning that control and compliance are non-negotiable.”
That sentiment reflects a growing reality in the enterprise CX space. While many organizations rushed to the cloud over the last few years, the dust is now settling, and so too is a more measured, pragmatic approach.
According to Marcos, recent research shows that after the initial surge of migration, nearly 50% of organizations remain cautious about moving fully to the cloud:
"The truth is that many businesses want to modernize and improve customer experience, but not all of them want to do it at the same pace or in the same way."
The Pace of Change and the Power of Choice
It’s nice to have choices.
You wouldn’t want to turn up at a restaurant and find there’s only one thing on the menu. Equally, it wouldn’t be much fun if you rocked up to your local cinema only to discover that they’re showing the same film all day, every day.
The same thing is true for enterprises. Legacy investments, regulatory requirements, and internal workflows often mean a one-size-fits-all approach simply isn’t viable.
Instead, they need a wider array of deployment choices from CX vendors so they can choose their own path and control their own journey to modernization rather than being stampeded.
Marcos explains that for some customers, “going fully CCaaS is completely fine, we offer that.” Others, however, “can’t or don’t want to move everything to the cloud.
“For them, modernization can still happen on-premises, with full AI and CX functionality.”
He highlights that hybrid models are increasingly becoming the bridge between traditional infrastructure and the cloud, with more and more customers layering in AI capabilities in the cloud, while keeping their core systems on-premises.
“It’s the best of both worlds; enabling innovation without disrupting business continuity,” he explains.
For example, a government contact center may retain on-premises systems for data sovereignty reasons but integrate AI-driven quality management and analytics from the cloud.
Others are running specific campaigns or BPO operations on cloud platforms while maintaining in-house control over core technologies.
Marcos stresses:
"The important thing is that customers can modernize at their own pace, in their own way, without compromise."
Flexibility First
The principle of flexibility and “modernizing on your terms” is at the heart of Enghouse Interactive's approach.
Marcos is clear that the company’s technology strategy is built around interoperability, not rigid migration paths.
