At Enterprise Connect 2015, hear what UC&C users have to say about their cloud communications experiences.
Ask any analyst, consultant, vendor, reseller, or service provider about the biggest trend in unified communications and collaboration, and you're likely to hear the word "cloud." We all know that the world is moving to the cloud, and most analysts agree that the majority of new UC&C sales will be cloud based -- in one form or another -- within the next three to five years. And, during their analyst briefings, vendors all boast about the increase in their cloud revenue and the number of new cloud customers they've gained over the past year.
As I mentioned in a previous No Jitter post, "...the new playing field is the cloud, and vendors have to work hard to set themselves apart and differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack." Every traditional UC&C vendor now offers some kind of cloud solution, whether delivered directly from the vendor (but still sold through reseller and channel partners) or delivered by service provider partners or resellers that white label the service. Even small resellers can now offer branded cloud services to their customers.
Each organization will consider various factors when deciding whether to use a public, private, or hybrid hosted and premises-based cloud. These factors include size and complexity of the deployment, the need to leverage and integrate with existing communication systems, the level of security and quality of service required, the functional capabilities of the vendor's cloud and on-premises products, and more. While most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will find that a multitenant public cloud service (where the SMB is sharing the service with many other SMBs) from companies like 8x8, RingCentral, Fonality, ShoreTel, and others will meet its needs, larger enterprises will turn to private and hybrid clouds. Expect hybrid clouds to lead the way for the foreseeable future, as organizations gradually replace legacy premises-based solutions with cloud services without having to do a rip and replace.
The list of cloud providers already exceeds 100 in the U.S., and grows with new names being added every day. During analyst briefings, vendors tout their increasing cloud sales and year-over-year gains in hosted revenue and new customers. While it's important to review all vendor claims with a critical eye, the point is, cloud sales are growing. For example:
• Interactive Intelligence's cloud-based revenue increased 78% to $18.9 million in fourth-quarter 2014
• More than 40% of ShoreTel's U.S. partners carrying the company's on-premises solutions have added ShoreTel Sky to their businesses; in the second-quarter fiscal 2015, hosted revenue was up 19% year over year
• The total future contracted value for Avaya's private cloud and managed services increased 20% from first-quarter fiscal 2014
• Mitel's cloud revenue exceeded 10% of its total fourth-quarter 2014 revenue
• Cisco reports shipments of 1.5 million licensed seats of its Hosted Collaboration Solution (although it's unclear how this translates to end-user payments)
• Interactive Intelligence's cloud-based revenue increased 78% to $18.9 million in fourth-quarter 2014
• More than 40% of ShoreTel's U.S. partners carrying the company's on-premises solutions have added ShoreTel Sky to their businesses; in the second-quarter fiscal 2015, hosted revenue was up 19% year over year
• The total future contracted value for Avaya's private cloud and managed services increased 20% from first-quarter fiscal 2014
• Mitel's cloud revenue exceeded 10% of its total fourth-quarter 2014 revenue
• Cisco reports shipments of 1.5 million licensed seats of its Hosted Collaboration Solution (although it's unclear how this translates to end-user payments)
It's great to hear from the vendors about how well their cloud offerings are doing and that the market is clearly growing, but what's more important to enterprise organizations is the impact the cloud will have on their businesses. Enterprises want and need to hear what other organizations have to say about their move to the cloud and whether they've benefitted from the move, and how they've overcome roadblocks. This is where the rubber meets the road -- what challenges did they encounter in their move to the cloud, and what would they have done differently?
At the Enterprise Connect 2015 conference taking place in Orlando March 16 to 19, I'll be moderating two cloud use case panels during which we'll be covering such topics as:
• How have enterprise organizations evaluated the various cloud deployment models, and what drove their decision-making?
• What challenges did they encounter, and how did they overcome them?
• What key lessons did they learn?
• What features and functions have proved to be a good fit for cloud implementation, and which are still better to keep on-premises?
• Did the enterprises save money by using the cloud? If so, how much? If not, why not? Did they realize any benefits besides cost savings?
• Do these enterprises plan to expand their use of the cloud, either to more of the company or by moving more functions into the cloud? Why or why not?
• How have enterprise organizations evaluated the various cloud deployment models, and what drove their decision-making?
• What challenges did they encounter, and how did they overcome them?
• What key lessons did they learn?
• What features and functions have proved to be a good fit for cloud implementation, and which are still better to keep on-premises?
• Did the enterprises save money by using the cloud? If so, how much? If not, why not? Did they realize any benefits besides cost savings?
• Do these enterprises plan to expand their use of the cloud, either to more of the company or by moving more functions into the cloud? Why or why not?
The first session, "Cloud Case Studies," will take place Tuesday, March 17, at 2:45 p.m., and will feature speakers from healthcare provider ChenMed and Rentokil North America, a pest control company. The second panel, called "Rewards of Moving Enterprise Communications to the Cloud," will take place that evening during an 8x8 cocktail reception (you can register for the event here). The 8x8 panel will include CIOs from Cayan, ChenMed, Shutterstock, and WMPH Vacations.
Cloud communications has moved from something everyone was talking about a couple years ago to something that companies of all sizes are now experiencing. If you're on the fence about moving to the cloud, or you know that you want to get there but have questions and concerns, it pays to talk to early adopters who can share their experiences and save you from some of the challenges they may have experienced.
I look forward to seeing you in Orlando next month!
Join Blair for her cloud case study panels at Enterprise Connect 2015. Register with code NJSPEAKER, and save $300 off an event pass.
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