A lot of businesses are moving their communications to the cloud, so it’s no wonder if your organization is planning to do the same. As a matter of fact, cloud business communications market is growing by 23% annually, while the market is currently generating $2 billion in revenues each year.
So, before you take a step toward moving your business communications to cloud you must understand why you need it in the first place, as well as what awaits you in the future. Luckily, this guide will help you learn everything you need to know about public cloud communications for your business.
A Few Advantages Of Cloud Solution For Communications
First of all, cloud-based platforms for business communications are quite simple because cloud providers take care of both hardware and software so you don’t have to. Also, it’s scalable, which means that you can simply scale your business up and down to meet the needs and requirements.
Moreover, it’s cost-effective and affordable, because using public cloud providers allows you to predict monthly costs while having free upgrades and maintenance for your communications. Furthermore, it-cloud solutions involve mobility which lets everyone in your organization connect together, regardless if they work from home, branch office or on the road.
Public Cloud Communication Facts
Public cloud solutions offer many benefits to your business communication system. It’s important to familiarize yourself with all the features so you can efficiently plan out migrating your communications to the cloud.
- Public cloud solutions for business communications can be joined with private networks or they use simple internet connections such as (OTT) over the top services.
- They can be integrated with essential business tools, such as customer relationship management software (CRM). They also provide additional features for improved productivity and employee collaboration.
- Public cloud solutions can leverage private networking, such as VPN or company’s intranet for improved security and reliability measures.
Choosing The Right Way To Connect
Public cloud communication solutions can provide you with a public or private way to connect to the communication system. Which one you choose depends on your business goals and budget. Here’s what you need to know about both options.
- OTT and public internet connections – OTT leverages public internet connections and ISDN’s (Integrated Services Digital Networks) such as T1/E1 and Digital subscriber lines (DSL’s) for transmitting data from networks to users. Simply put, it uses public internet connections to host cloud communications for your business. However, these connections aren’t entirely secured and depend on your company’s bandwidth.
- (MPLS) Multiprotocol label switching – Businesses that want to utilize a more secure means of connecting can opt for MPLS. It uses high-speed telecommunications network to transport data. Every data packet transported over MPLS can safely reach its destination, because it contains all the necessary information about the network. However, this connection is more expensive, but it provides more privacy and security.
Communication Boost With SD-WAN
Software-defined wide area network or SD-WAN is used to connect company’s branch offices and remote employees using software and cloud solutions instead of hardware that normal WAN uses. For businesses that have offices around the world, this solution might come in handy since it’s a lot cheaper than a WAN solution.
The main benefit of SD-WAN technology is delivering a more secured business-class connection, as well as a cloud-enabled WAN connection. It supports multiple connections such as OTT and MPLS for better application optimization. Businesses that want to operate worldwide can greatly benefit from this feature.
Evaluate Your Business Requirements
Once you understand how public cloud providers operate, it’s time to evaluate your business goals and needs, so you can choose the right option for your organization. Here are a few things you should do:
- Determine your bandwidth – test your company’s broadband speed and bandwidth to determine whether or not your cloud solution can support it. Keep in mind that the better the bandwidth, the better the call quality.
- Determine future goals – If you’re planning on growing your company further, it’s imperative to use a cloud solution that will support additional users in the future. Also, keep in mind that you have or might have remote employees that are still a part of your organization and that your cloud solution needs to accommodate them as well.
- Choose a flexible provider – Your cloud communication solution will greatly benefit your business; so much in fact that it will help you grow your business. That’s why you need a flexible provider that can help you scale properly, expand further or even change deployment if needed. Make sure you check with your provider about the services and the features they offer that will help you improve and grow your business further in the future.
The best way to improve your business communications is to move them to the cloud. Cloud-based services offer many benefits that will improve work efficiency, productivity and collaboration on all business levels. With communications integrated in the it-cloud, you’re free to focus on other business aspects that will help you grow your company as a whole.
Oscar Waterworth is a digital nomad, huge web and tech enthusiast, blogger and senior editor at BizzmarkBlog. Has huge interests in digital technologies ranging from product development to interactive design and search engine algorithms.
“I don’t see the glass half-full nor half-empty; I see the glass twice as big as it needs to be.”
