TMCnet Feature

Cloud-based video services give businesses the benefits of video conferencing technology without the major capital outlay for hardware, infrastructure and networking that is often required for larger scale deployments.

At the upcoming Cloud Communications Expo session, “Video Communications Made Easy,” experts from Blue Jeans Network, among others, will talk about how travel budgets, telecommuting, and video-embedded devices designed to drive collaboration have accelerated the demand for a more affordable approach to enterprise-grade video communications. 

An increasingly common approach is to turn to the cloud, for solutions that not only don’t require the significant up-front expense and IT overhead of on-premise solutions, but also offer simple deployment and ease of use.

TMC (News - Alert) CEO Rich Tehrani recently had a chance to catch up with Blue Jeans Network’s Stu Aaron, chief communications officer, who shared his insights into cloud communications, how the industry will evolve over the next 12 months and why cloud has made the on-premises PBX (News - Alert) obsolete. Their full exchange follows:

RT: How has cloud computing changed the communications landscape over the past year?

SA: It has made it possible for businesses large and small to deploy and manage key services without the need for heavy infrastructure investments, providing cost savings, time-savings and technology future proofing.

RT: What are enterprises looking for from their communications providers and how can those providers leverage the cloud to deliver on those expectations?

SA: Enterprises are looking for ease, interoperability, security, scale, technology/feature roadmap. Well-architected cloud-based solutions can deliver all of these with a compelling ROI as there’s no hardware or infrastructure to buy and manage.

RT: Cost savings is always the first thing mentioned when it comes to benefits of cloud. Aside from cost, where is the value proposition in cloud communications?

SA: Beyond cost savings, well architected cloud-based solutions will also deliver simplified management, better scalability, the ability to ride a technology improvement curve, a pay as you go model, and an ability to scale for burst capacity (rather than having to oversize for peak capacity).

RT: How has your own business benefitted from cloud-based communications?

SA: We “drink our own champagne” as they say, using our cloud based video conferencing service for more effective meetings between colleagues, suppliers, partners, customers, etc. all over the world. In fact, we recently used the Blue Jeans service to recruit job candidates in Kenya and Germany and the entire interview process took place over Blue Jeans without ever meeting the candidates in person. We are happy to say we now have two members of the Blue Jeans team.

By not travelling, we save time, money, and the planet all at the same time. By leveraging the cloud we get access to meeting participants all over the world as long as they have a video-enabled device and access to the Internet.

RT: Will cloud serve to fragment the industry or strengthen existing ecosystems?

SA: Both. Initially we’ll see fragmentation as a wave of private clouds from major vendors looking to capitalize on the trend, position themselves, and slow the market. But we’ll see a strong push for interoperability from customers who don’t want to be locked into single vendor clouds. This will ultimately drive a stronger ecosystem of solutions that work together. When offered hand in hand, interoperability and the cloud create more value and ultimately new market opportunities for the endpoint provider, service provider and every company involved in the value chain.

By dramatically increasing the number of video systems with which an endpoint can communicate, the usage of that endpoint increases, and then we experience the network effect.

RT: Is cloud communications primarily an SMB service? How can enterprises benefit equally?

SA: No. Everyone can and is benefiting from the cloud. Businesses large and small both stand to benefit from reduced costs, lower management and operating burdens, as well as other elements highlighted in the answer to question 3 above.

RT: What will be the greatest growth area as a result of cloud (e.g., mobility, video, social media, CEBP, etc.)?

SA: While the impact of the cloud will be far reaching, I believe that video collaboration has the greatest potential for growth. This is because of the tremendous market size disparity between audio and video communications today. Audio conferencing services account for 80B minutes a year, while video conferencing services only account for 200M. 

By moving video into the cloud and addressing traditional complexity, interoperability, and cost short comings of the “build it yourself model,” video conferencing can become the preferred medium for business communications. Even converting just 1 percent of audio conferences to video would create a market 10 times larger than the existing market.

RT: One of the greatest growth areas as a result of cloud is embedded multimodal communications in applications such as Skype and Facebook (News - Alert). What impact do third-party communications apps like these have on business communications providers?

SA: They have a tremendous impact. We’ve already seen a consumerization of IT with smartphones and tablets. With the mass propagation of consumer communications tools it’s only a matter of time before it spills over into the enterprise. Thus, solutions that can bridge the gap between traditional business communications tools and these new consumer solutions will be extremely valuable.

RT: Can Microsoft make a splash with its promised integration of Window Phone (News - Alert) and Windows 8?

SA: Let’s see what happens….

RT: When will cloud make the on-premises PBX obsolete?

SA: If you ask me, it already has.

RT: Why is Cloud Communications Expo a must-attend event?

SA: Because it sits at the intersection of everything that is critical to business communications… video, cloud, SaaS (News - Alert), social media, and clean tech.

“Video Communications Made Easy” will be held on Feb. 2,  from 2:00-2:45 p.m., during Cloud Communications Expo, co-located with ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. at the Miami Convention Center. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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