Call Center Management Considering the Cloud? Get Your IT Experts Involved

Cloud computing has gotten much attention as of late, yet the use of applications hosted on a provider’s server has been in place for quite some time. The difference now is that more companies are leveraging this cost effective approach to business by replacing traditionally on-premise networks. In the call center space, call center management are reevaluating the potential of moving solutions to the cloud.

A recent Cloud Times report highlighted the potential in cloud computing, including its ability to increase a company’s agility without building a new infrastructure. According to IT experts, the most effective way to move towards the cloud is for call center management to truly understand the applications that can effectively maximize the company’s benefits.

This includes identifying the company’s needs, recognizing whether or not the applications will run within the current infrastructure and creating the right IT solutions to address possible challenges.

Call center management can lead the charge in making a move toward the cloud, yet the IT team will have to create the best cloud solutions to match the needs of the company. This includes setting a standard application strategy and service model. These can vary based on whether the call center is in need of IaaS, PaaS or SaaS (News - Alert), which is often determined by the existing infrastructure and available budget.

The cost assessment is especially important if the call center is a small business. SMBs often do not have the necessary finds to support a full cloud platform. As a result, call center management must often select only the SaaS option. Fortunately, a variety of commodity applications are available to support the activities of the call center, making the migration an easy sell to upper call center management.

Vice president and principal analyst for Forrester (News - Alert) Research, James Staten said in the Cloud Times, “With SaaS, the entire cloud stack is all bundled into one: infrastructure, management, installation, and the product usage. And SaaS offers variety. It mirrors just about everything you can find in the application world today.”

Larger companies can also benefit from SaaS, allowing the call center organization to leverage the agility necessary to run strategic applications and even bandwidth-intensive apps such as CRM (customer relationship management) or ERP (enterprise resource planning). When budgets allow, larger companies can run SaaS on an IaaS or PaaS platform.

Call center management seeking the benefit in designing their own cloud platform can leverage the capabilities in IaaS and PaaS. The IT team especially may prefer the freedom of a proprietary cloud environment, allowing even more flexibility and control.

Regardless of structure or budgets, call center management can benefit from cloud solutions if selected and implemented according to the needs and culture of the organization. Without a clear plan in place, however, no migration will deliver on its promises.

Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli