BroadSoft has long been guiding service providers to the cloud via its BroadWorks cloud PBX and UC application software platform, and now is giving them another option with the introduction of managed cloud infrastructure offering called BroadCloud platform as a service, or PaaS.
Via BroadCloud PaaS, service providers will be able to accelerate their ability to offer BroadSoft Business applications by eliminating the need to deploy and manage requisite infrastructure. The BroadSoft Business portfolio comprises UC, team collaboration, and contact center applications, as well as a cloud aggregation service for bringing together and adding contextual intelligence to these various cloud communications applications.
The PaaS launch is not unexpected, as it follows from BroadSoft's October 2016 acquisition of VoIP Logic, a wholesale provider of BroadWorks-based cloud communications services. At the time of the acquisition, BroadSoft noted that VoIP Logic "offers service providers the control and flexibility to design, integrate and update their cloud services to address their customer's evolving requirements," and that it would be using the company's offering to complement the BroadCloud UCaaS solution.
With this PaaS model, BroadSoft hopes to shift the traditional service provider mindset of doing everything themselves to letting it do the heavy lifting instead, said Arvind Rangarajan, director of cloud product marketing at BroadSoft, during a briefing with No Jitter. Rather than worrying about managing software upgrades and patching, for example, service providers using BroadCloud PaaS will be able to focus on gaining new customers and retaining existing ones, building out core competencies, and innovating, he added. Service providers can, however, continue using existing operational support systems.
For BroadCloud PaaS, BroadSoft leverages the carrier-class reliability, redundancy, scalability, and security capabilities in place for the BroadCloud data centers. Service providers can control their own PaaS instances via an administrative portal, and use standard BroadWorks APIs for customizations and integrations, said Gary Spiegel, director of BroadCloud product management. "We're not reinventing the wheel," he said.
BroadSoft is offering BroadCloud PaaS in four seat-level packages as a way of defining how service providers can buy PaaS: SIP Trunk, Business Line, Standard Cloud PBX, and Premium Full UC-One. That said, service providers can mix and match these seat types to deliver customized packages to their enterprise customers.
Also of note is that BroadSoft is not limiting BroadCloud PaaS to service providers or carriers already using BroadWorks. Large enterprises can use the PaaS offering, too, Rangarajan said. "We're open for business ... and from a product perspective, there's nothing preventing us from addressing the gamut of existing segments."
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