Every company is constantly striving to improve its organization’s processes for sustained growth. In the current trend of the 4th Industrial Revolution or Digital Transformation, companies are engaged in various activities to maintain their competitiveness by rapidly embracing the latest digital technologies and adapting to the ever-changing environments.
From a company process perspective, communication systems play a critical role in company activities as a link between members or organizations and customers. As cloud technology becomes increasingly common with evolving IT technologies, there is a growing trend of change in the way communication systems used to be owned and operated by most companies in the past.
What is UCaaS (UC as a Service)?
Unified Communications refers to the efficient management of all means of communication, from telephony, e-mail, messaging to video conferencing systems, on a single platform. UCaaS (UC as a Service) is the service of a unified communications (UC) solution through a cloud service provider, which is the same as the existing on-prem unified communications solution in function but different in operation.
Only a few years ago, cloud solutions were often seen with doubts that it was not yet proven enough in the areas of security and options of customization. However, as cloud technologies and services advance, the market’s general concerns have been complemented, and cloud service providers are also offering cloud services at a more convenient and competitive price based on this technological maturity, increasing interest in UCaaS.
UCaaS offers many advantages.
Gartner Inc., a research firm, predicted in a recent report* that the cloud-based communications market will grow at an annual rate of 12.2% by 2023 to lead the future unified communications market. In 2019 alone, UCaaS has rapidly become one of the pillars of the communication market, with a 14.6% year-on-year growth rate.
* Forecast Analysis: Unified Communications, Worldwide (Gartner, Jan 2020)
Why is UCaaS, a unified communications service through the cloud, so rapidly being embraced in the market?
Scalability & Flexibility
UCaaS is optimized in the cloud environment which can provide the utmost flexibility in providing capacity expansion much easier than the conventional on-premise UC platforms. UCaaS does not require additional hardware but utilizes the data center’s hardware provided as a cloud service that through software settings can flexibly manipulate the capacity on demand. Therefore, UCaaS is seen attractive for its efficiency to the companies that have seasonal workloads or to companies like start-ups that would not expect to scale to their potential organizational bulk without costly adjustments according to the constantly changing circumstances.
Smart investment & expense management
The high upfront cost that could be a burden can now be minimized by using a cloud solution deployment. With a cloud solution there is no need to calculate the investment cost for an IT infrastructure, instead you simply focus on the needs of today without forecasting and analyzing the uncertain future capacity that may or may not be necessary. Most cloud service providers will give options for a PAYG (Pay as You Go) monthly charge model as a service, reducing the customer’s CAPEX by shifting investment cost to an OPEX for a more flexible management of cash flow.
Efficient use of company resources
As mentioned, UCaaS will optimize your investment in your IT infrastructure by enabling you to deploy a platform to meet the capabilities and capacity you need today and then scale as quickly as you need it. In addition, cloud platforms are maintained and managed by cloud service providers, eliminating the need to have separate in-house IT staff for maintenance. As a result, companies can maximize business performance by focusing their human and physical resources on their strategic areas through rational investments and operations.
The latest technology
Another great advantage of UCaaS is that you can always use the latest features and technologies. Cloud service providers periodically update and upgrade their UC platforms and apply new features and technologies to each site with less effort from remote locations. In addition, the cloud makes it easy to change systems as your business grows and your communication needs change. This means that you can quickly update or upgrade features to support your business needs, which greatly improves flexibility in changing business environments and technology changes.
By adopting UCaaS, you benefit with the functionalities from the conventional on-premise communications solution but at the same time benefit from additional merits like better expandability and flexibility that comes from utilizing the cloud environment. It’s surely a smart choice for your business communication. Click here and find more on iPECS UCaaS solutions from Ericsson-LG Enterprise.
