Cloud versus On-premise is a popular battle. With growing customer demands, businesses now have to optimise their existing IT infrastructures in order to deliver outstanding customer experience and survive in a competitive environment.
- A report from The State of Customer Experience 2017, showed that Cloud Contact Centres are substituting on-premise call centres, with 39% of Contact Centres in the UK migrating to the Cloud, and 57% planning to move within the next few years.
If you have been considering moving to a Cloud based solution, here we highlight the main differences between On-Premise V Cloud Contact Centre technologies:
Less hardware, less hassle
On-premise: With an on-premise solution, the installation and configuration can take up to several months to complete. This includes planning the necessary hardware, licensing, setting up and making the software systems compatible.
Cloud based: is typically faster to deploy and cheaper to maintain as it does not require any complexity of maintaining the hardware and operates efficiently right out of the box, without any assembly.
Support agents anywhere
On-premise: Once installed, it is difficult to customise an on-premise solution. With on-premise systems, agents cannot work remotely making 24/7 customer service challenging and costly for the business.
Cloud based: Cloud-systems are set up on a subscription basis, meaning that adding or removing users is as easy as deactivating a subscription. Moreover, agents are able to work remotely by simply having access to good internet connection, meaning that a business is able to deliver robust customer support regardless of an agent’s location.
Scaling on demand
On-premise: Contact centre size and demand is easily susceptible to change. However, altering an on-premise solution to meet the new demands of the centre can be costly and challenging. As your call centre grows, it becomes necessary to invest in new hardware & architecture.
Cloud based: A cloud solution can offer high scalability when necessary, scaling up or down on the number of users instantly with no external investment on new hardware systems.
Hardware and Operational costs
On-premise: Many on-premise implementations are often hindered by significant upfront costs. These costs include the procurement of hardware (servers, headsets or phone, computers, etc.), the necessary office space for its accommodation, the software, installation, configuration and implementation. It’s also worth considering future expenses due to advanced revolutionising technology and frequent software upgrades.
As well as this, it is also important to consider that any implementation conducted in-house will over time, generate operating costs which can all slowly add up. The costs associated with running your own server include maintenance of the equipment, backups, upgrades and also hardware replacement. These costs are easily unaccounted for, and can add up beyond the set budget amount.
Cloud based: Typically no investment necessary in the hardware, hence these systems do not have substantial setup costs, aside from a strong internet connection.
For example, with a cloud based workforce management solution, you are able to avoid all the hardware/software headaches (and unexpected costs), allowing you to maximise your budget and deliver better customer experiences.
Everything you need in one solution
On-premise: You will often have to work with a number of different suppliers in order to get all of the solutions you need; from Call Recording, Workforce Management to Quality Monitoring and Speech Analytics, increasing your overall set up and maintenance costs.
Cloud based: A cloud solution can consolidate your Contact Centre infrastructure, PBX, and telecom suppliers with one vendor as well as provide you with the option to include advanced functionalities such as Workforce Management, Analytics and Quality Monitoring, with no new hardware or configuration needed.
