Communications on the Cloud

By Peter Radizeski, RAD-INFO Inc.  |  December 09, 2014

The IT/Telecom space is really a product pushing realm. We talk about solutions, but the solutions are often just hardware and software to replace the hardware and software you have. Now, with this cool new buzz word, “cloud,” we can replace the hardware and the software with stuff in “the cloud.” “Google (News - Alert) found that 81 percent of U.S. respondents believe that implementing Cloud technology will improve employee productivity and 71 percent felt it would reduce the time required to bring new products and services to market.”

If that is the case, then the cloud service can NOT just be a replacement. It needs to be a solution that impacts the business to deliver an outcome. None of that can happen without a change. Just replacing the key system with a cloud version is going to be clunky, because it is Hosted PBX (News - Alert) not hosted key system. It also won’t transform the business. To transform means that some things have to change – like the call flow and how the employees interact with the new functionality of the hosted phone system.

If the business was using ACT! CRM, then migrated to Salesforce.com (News - Alert), there are going to be differences. Some of those differences will affect behavior. That’s the point!

You can cram a server into a colocation rack and call it cloud but it isn’t. The whole idea behind cloud was to allow businesses to interact with enterprise class software from anywhere without having to maintain it. It is about flexibility and mobility. That means the workers have to be a little flexible too. But some of the early adaption trouble by employees is due to a poor expectation set by the salesperson. He is selling a replacement, a product – not a solution, system of change or a business outcome. C-Level executives are realizing that IT can be a competitive advantage. CMO’s are buying iPads for sales and having apps designed. This is the power of the cloud. Make sure you are not cheating your customers by selling them a replacement, when you should be selling a solution that will impact their business


Edited by Maurice Nagle