Managing the IT infrastructure of your business while trying to deliver excellent customer experiences can be overwhelming. In a time where digital communications are vitally important to smooth customer interactions, teams that spend more time on business-as-usual activities than innovation into new channels and initiatives can, as a consequence, hamper business growth.
Partnering with a cloud communications provider for your IT services alleviates many issues facing businesses trying to manage their infrastructure while continuing to run operations. So, whether you're in the process of migrating your technology, managing legacy systems, or still discovering the capabilities of new technology, today's IT teams are occupied with a lot of housekeeping.
Here's how a cloud communications provider can help.
What is a Cloud Communications Provider?
An entity that leverages the cloud environment to provide telecommunications and other services.
- Gartner
A cloud communications provider offers a similar set of services to a managed services provider. However, where a managed services provider uses more in-house services, a cloud communications provider works with leading global partners to leverage world-class products and services, then adds layers of innovation into the mix.
A cloud communications provider should function as an extension of your core team – a team of specialists that listen, understand your business needs, and deliver a completely tailored service to meet your current and future requirements. They provide support and expertise to your IT infrastructure or device-centric services, and in the case of Olive, work towards simplifying often complex processes through digital enablement. They are there to build a roadmap and vision for the future alongside your key stakeholders.
How Cloud Communications Providers Work with Businesses
Minimising downtime for digital services is critically important. If your in-house teams and resources can’t manage the IT infrastructure alone or need specialist help adopting and deploying brand new technology among their teams, cloud communications providers can help.
And this doesn't just apply to enterprise scale businesses. Many smaller businesses have limited in-house IT capabilities, making them ideal for partnering up with a cloud communications provider. With their help, small businesses can take advantage of cloud technology to modernise their operations, driving productivity while improving communication through connectivity across the workforce.
The drivers for businesses adopting a cloud communications provider include:
- Facilitating business growth
- Adopting new technology
- IT skills gap among their workforce
- Escalating IT costs
- Extra support in building a vision for the future
With another company managing your IT infrastructure, they can act proactively and reactively to ensure your systems continue to function smoothly and your service operate at their highest capability.
When deciding to work with a cloud communications provider, understanding the variety of models will ensure you find the service and partner best suited to your organisation. Depending on the size of your business and its needs, you might choose:
- A per-user model. With this model, the number of users that require managed IT services is measured against the number of devices on the network. Extremely flexible and simple to understand, clients pay based on the number of users while the service delivery remains consistent.
- A per-device model. This pricing model is easy for businesses to adopt, with users paying a flat fee for each device supported by a provider. Prices vary based on the type of device involved per network managed
- A flat, all-inclusive model. This is a flat fee for all services included, selling the total experience as one cost.
Whichever model you choose can help dictate what level of service you receive.
The Benefits of Working with an Cloud Communications Provider
When migrating your IT infrastructure to a cloud communications provider, it can feel like you’re taking an incredible risk by putting your technology in the hands of others. However, businesses have a lot to gain from working with providers. While partnering with a specialist company might seem daunting and expensive on the surface, there are several key areas where a cloud communications provider helps improve your business.
Access to a Team of Specialists
Your in-house team may not be qualified to tackle the technological challenges that come with managing IT infrastructure and services. Not only that, but sourcing and recruiting, and training IT staff is a long process with a widening skill gap.
Working with a cloud communications provider gives you immediate access to a group of experts on the subject matter, acting as an extension of your staff. Fully trained and skilled, providers have teams in place to deal with network issues, technology adoption and deployment, cloud computing, telephony, consultancy, maintenance, and more.
Achieve Cost-Savings Throughout
Gaining this team of experts is also more cost-effective than you might expect. Employees come and go and hiring and training them is costly. With a cloud communications provider, you immediately get a solution with none of the recruitment hassle.
For many businesses, hiring and training experts for every technological specialty is impossible. Working with a cloud communications provider gives you access to a pool of specialists who you can call upon when needed. Having a partner working with your business that’s guaranteed to understand your IT services and infrastructure makes more financial sense than the laborious and costly process of recruitment, especially when longevity is never guaranteed from an employee.
Continuous Support for Your Team
Technology constantly grows more complex. With it, in-house IT management has become harder for businesses.
Cloud communications providers can offer your business 24/7 support in maintaining and managing your IT, removing a huge burden from the in-house staff. That support can be extended to cover you for as long as you need. Working with a provider means having someone else watching your back, ensuring constantly stable network functionality and peace of mind for your staff.
Centralise Your Data and Applications
Working with a managed network gives you the opportunity to centralise your applications and servers within specific centres. Access everything you need from a singular location while ensuring your network environment is secured and well protected. Olive’s Cloud Managed Service Platform harnesses our expertise of cloud technology, giving you a singular location for the applications necessary to running your business.
Our platform seamlessly bridges cloud, data, and mobility services. By centralising your vital applications and data, we’re able to provide a solution that’s fully scalable to meet your business needs and help keep you agile. Delivering truly sophisticated customer experiences becomes easy when your infrastructure is well-managed.
Focus on Your Strengths
Understand what you’re good at and then do it. Without the burden of managing IT infrastructure hanging over your business, you’re free to focus in on and excel at what matters most – your purpose.
Avoid letting IT issues jeopardise your business growth. By outsourcing your IT to an cloud communications provider, you gain more than a partner. You gain an extension of your staff, filled with specialist knowledge ready and waiting to support your team moving forwards.
TOPICS: Cloud Managed Service Platform