Enterprise Cloud
The technology world has shifted. What gear are you in?VOX provides consulting and solutions to support your journey with the enterprise cloud. Need help understanding solutions from different vendors and how they align to your business goals, we can help!
With the Cloud, Enterprise technology buyers now have greater options.
In addition to more intuitive and more robust on-premises solutions, cloud-based solutions have achieved a new level of “completeness”, where their cost, features, accessibility and security protection have made them a serious alternative for many modern organizations. Ultimately, cloud-based technologies offer organizations another tool, or arrow in their proverbial quiver, as they look for ways to improve their business and outshine the competition.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Advancements in technologies and how we use those technologies is driving significant change in modern organizations. The Cloud provides a key tool to this journey.
Cloud Guidance
The VOX Lifecycle Team is comprised of highly experienced consultants who work with enterprise-class customers on significant technology enabled projects.
Top 10 Strategies
Our experts have assembled a significant list of enterprise strategies for organizations considering a move to the Cloud (For 10 weeks beginning in June, we will unveil a new strategy every week).
Key Benefits of Cloud-Based Technologies
CapEx vs
OpEx
Integrated
Security
Available
Features
Flexible &
Scalable
Reduced
Maintenance
Anytime /
Anywhere
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Cloud-Based Technologies Offer an Additional tool, or Arrow in Your Proverbial Quiver
Advancements in technologies and how we use those technologies is driving significant change in organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries. Over the last few years, the elevation of mobile / wireless technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud-based access, flash storage, hyper-converged infrastructure, artificial intelligence and software-defined networking are just a handful of the game-changing innovations organizations are working to understand and integrate into a future-proof technology strategy.
Beyond technology, the exponential growth and impact of cyber terrorists, rogue nation states and next generation malware attacks has created the requirement for a new form of diligence regarding cybersecurity and risk management. The bottom-line is that more than any time since the industrial revolution, organizations are faced with such a vast amount of change that core, and foundational shifts are not just warranted, but necessary for survival.
“…foundational shifts are not just warranted, but necessary for survival.”
Voice of a CTO
Understanding how the Cloud Can Impact Your Organization is a solid business Strategy
NICK KOLINTZAS
CTO, VP of Engineering
Have Questions about Cloud Solutions?
Connect with a VOX expert to learn how Cloud can help modernize your infrastructure and how to choose the best fit for your business needs.
TECHNOLOGY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Cisco brings together networking, security, analytics, and management. We deliver cloud solutions that span your multicloud world,
Voice
BroadCloud
Cisco UCaaS, known as BroadCloud, is a global platform hosted by Cisco that lets service providers deploy a full suite of calling and collaboration applications. Applications can be scaled to meet the needs of enterprises, no matter what size or industry. This robust, carrier-grade infrastructure is fully managed and hosted by Cisco, delivering highly reliable, secure, and comprehensive cloud-calling capabilities.
Meetings
Webex
When we speak to customers about collaboration we hear the following things, users do not want to get tied up in technology, they want tools that just work, that help them get the job done in the most efficient manner. Those users require an experience that is intuitive and easy, in the office on the road at home. Cisco Webex was built for the Cloud and provides enterprise class quality with cutting edge experiences.
Software Defined
SDN, SD WAN, ACI
Provision, manage, and program networks more rapidly with software-defined networking. In this centralized approach to network management, the underlying network infrastructure is abstracted from applications. SDN provides choice in automation and programmability across data centers, campuses, and wide-area networks (SD WAN). Use Cisco software-defined solutions to build intent-based networks.
Now, Let’s Talk Security...
Cisco Cloud Security helps you adopt the cloud securely. With it, you can better manage security for the way the world works today. It protects users against threats anywhere they access the Internet, and it protects your data and applications in the cloud.
Affordability, your way with Cisco Flex Plan
Get cloud, on-premises, and hosted solutions in a user-based subscription. You can buy meeting, team collaboration, calling, and contact center services for all employees, or simply purchase what you need today and grow at your own pace. With the Flex Plan, one agreement includes software, upgrades, and support.
100% Subscription
Consume what & how you want
Deployment flexibility: On-Pem, Cloud, Hybrid
ENTERPRISE CLOUD STRATEGY
Top 10
Welcome to the Top 10 Cloud Strategies for the Enterprise!
In order to provide a smidgen of simplified clarity about the Cloud, the experts at VOX Network Solutions have distilled years of expertise, training, and client implementations into a compact list that we hope will help you better understand the Cloud and how you might want to use it to make a difference in your organization to drive and enable positive business outcomes.
Each week, for ten consecutive weeks, we will unveil a new Cloud Enterprise Strategy. We are presenting a single strategy each week in an effort to provide you with a focused idea, and some time and space to truly consider it. Think about how each strategy could impact your organization, do a bit of research on your own, and take this opportunity to develop your own strategic vision.
#1: Not a Technology Decision
Executive Summary
In addition to more intuitive and more robust on-premises solutions, cloud-based solutions have achieved a new level of “completeness”, where their cost, features, accessibility and security protection have made them a serious alternative for many modern organizations. Ultimately, cloud-based technologies offer organizations another tool, or arrow in their proverbial quiver, as they look for ways to improve their business and outshine the competition.
“Moving to the Cloud is not about being part of the in-crowd or using the latest, sexiest technology,” says Nick Kolintzas, CTO of VOX Network Solutions. “The Cloud and the technology solutions that take advantage of its inherent value are simply new options to solve business issues or requirements.”
The “Cloud” is a word that carries significant confusion and delusion. It is true, Cloud-based technologies have evolved. They have tremendous benefits for many companies, in many situations. But the Cloud is not THE answer to all your technology questions, opportunities and woes.
Key Insights
- Evaluate the Cloud as you would any Strategic Business Growth Opportunity.
- Create a Plan that includes: Current State Assessment, Business Requirements, Capabilities Inventory, Economic Assessment, Organizational Impact Assessment.
- Assemble a multi-disciplined Project Team that includes: Finance, Business Unit, Information Technology, Customer Advocacy, Compliance and Information Security.
- Engage a Project Manager that is well versed in the business, and has experience in the challenges of strategic, transformational initiatives. Make sure this individual is technology savvy, and has the ability to work with multi-disciplined teams.
#2: Inventory & Identify
Executive Summary
Once you’ve made up your mind to embrace the cloud and start evaluating, it is critical that we understand the current state, including: what you own, how effective it is, how you support it, and how much it costs you.
Historically, the mere thought of embarking on an effort to inventory and analyze your technical infrastructure was a heart-stopping event. Many enterprise-class organizations have locations spread across a significant geographic area, varying methods of technology procurement and support, and disparate technology manufacturer standards. So, there is often no single source of truth that makes this effort as simple as we hope it would be.
Good news, there are new tools that turn this mountain into an ant hill! Modern asset management systems are simply amazing, they discover all your technical assets, regardless of location or manufacturer. Also, they can tell you the status of virtually any asset, whether it is under warranty, or at end-of-life, they can even tell you how much that asset is worth, if you wanted to sell it.
Key Insights
- Transformation begins with understanding your existing investment, its capability and its value.
- Today’s Asset Management tools are far more powerful than what was available just a couple years ago. Modern tools cover a broad range of manufacturers and give you deep lifecycle information.
- Many organizations who migrate to cloud technologies are able to leverage the value of their current technology assets to partially fund their new investment.
#3: Define Users & Consumption
Executive Summary
The best business decisions are made when we understand the impacts on our most valuable resource, our people. To understand the potential of new Cloud technologies, we need to first understand who will use them, how they will use them and how much they need. In technical speak we call this “Consumption”.
We’ve all changed the way we go through each day as our smart phone has changed our behavior, expectations and interactions. This concept applies to the business world in a much more magnified fashion, as driving increased productivity with less people and greater demands on quality have really pushed boundaries of what is possible.
Take the time to tap into how your Team is using technology today. Methodically assess and document how each group or business unit has evolved its standard operating procedures and key performance indicators to leverage their technology resources and customer demands.
Key Insights
- Through investigating Consumption, and your existing technology investment, zero in on the technologies your team is using...and the ones they are not.
- Understand the “Why” behind the technologies that you have invested in that are not being utilized as expected.
- Through investigating Consumption, understand how people access the current technologies, how this impacts information sharing, and how this may expose the organization to compliance or information security concerns.
#4: Evaluate the Economics
Executive Summary
The financial implications of cloud-based technologies when compared to legacy on-premises infrastructure solutions is almost overwhelming. In fact, if your only consideration was cost, the decision making timeline would be reduced to a few minutes. However, making the right business decision is multi-faceted. We strongly recommend that you establish clear priorities and decision points in your cloud investigation, and not be too strongly swayed by the economics alone.
As you do your financial due diligence, make sure you evaluate both the direct costs of cloud-based technologies, as well as the indirect costs. For direct costs you will undoubtedly include subscription pricing for SaaS, IaaS, UCaaS, etc. Additionally, factor in reduced staffing, reduced facilities and overhead, to name a few. Indirect costs are a bit more hidden, but can be truly significant. Examples of indirect costs may be: less system down-time due to maintenance and routine updates, reduced solution costs from savings derived from purchasing bundled applications / services, and even improved performance due to greater technology adoption
Key Insights
- The most innovative Technology manufacturers have fully embraced the cloud and have a broad range of subscription plans...and, they have some amazing incentives to entice you to begin your cloud migration now.
- Moving your IT spend from CapEx to OpEx is extremely impactful, many organizations are able to extend their budget far beyond expectations and secure new applications and new functionalities to streamline operations and rejuvenate the customer experience.
- Modern Subscription plans come in all shapes and sizes and allow you to buy the solutions you need for the people who need them. It’s about agility, flexibility and accessibility.
- Don’t forget to investigate how Managed Services can help reduce hard dollars while improving service quality and enhancing the overall customer experience.
#5: Develop a Cloud Migration Strategy
Executive Summary
What is a Cloud Migration Strategy?
A documented direction, set of expectations and business objectives. A Cloud Migration Strategy will clarify what functions, applications and services are being moved to the cloud. And, it will dictate the timeframe, pace and approach to implementing the new cloud solutions while moving away from legacy solutions in order to minimize downtime and adverse customer impacts.
Consolidate, Analyze & Create
This is the 5th element of our Top 10 Strategies. In this component, we will bring together the first four Strategies as inputs to an overarching guideline on how we will actually implement our selected cloud technologies. Here is a recap of 1 through 4:
- Not a Technology Decision
- Inventory & Identify
- Define Users & Consumption
- Evaluate the Economics
Key Insights
- In the beginning, this is an analytical exercise as you leverage the information previously gathered and documented in reference to business requirements, current assets, user information and dynamics and financial analysis.
- Once the inputs are consolidated and digested, its time to visualize the business of the future and the impact of today’s decision on the organization of tomorrow.
- In order to clearly communicate your Cloud Migration Strategy to your organization, partners, customers and investors, we recommend that you develop a 1-Page executive summary with as few words as humanly possible.
#6: Evaluate Solutions: Voice
Executive Summary
Cloud Voice solutions are plentiful. As you are investigating these products, most can be found when you search for “Voice”, within the UCaaS topic. UCaaS is Unified Communications as a Service, and is a broad, overarching category that also includes collaboration and meeting solutions (which we will cover in our next Strategy (#7).
“Voice” most often covers: standard telephony, call-forwarding and handling, voicemail, fax line, and auto-attendant.
There are a host of young technology companies who provide Cloud Voice solutions. The lionshare of these solutions are built for small and medium sized organizations with less than 2,000 users and straightforward network architectures, spread across limited geographies. For large Enterprise-class organizations, there is a clear leader: BroadCloud, from Cisco.
Cisco BroadCloud is built for the Enterprise and can handle any level of network complexity with grace and simplicity. BroadCloud provides powerful, carrier-grade service through its global cloud platform and because of this, has become the leading provider of cloud voice for enterprise-class organizations.
Key Insights
- Built for the Enterprise: carrier-grade power for complex, robust environments
- A broad range of Subscription models through Cisco FlexPlan enable you to control your investment costs and lower total cost of ownership
- Easily Scale up or down to meet enterprise requirements across all markets and geographies
- Robust Integration for all your UCaaS solutions, Voice is just the beginning
#7: Evaluate Solutions: Meetings & Collaboration
Executive Summary
Collaboration Applications for instant messaging and presence and online conferencing solutions are often taken for granted, but can truly impact individual and team productivity. All these solutions are usually included within the UCaaS topic.
The keys to cloud-based meetings and collaboration solutions are integration and usability. We have all experienced the effect of solutions that don’t work, or are inconsistent when we are trying to get onto a conference call or see a team member’s desktop via screen-share. Probably the greatest area of wasted time in corporate America is online conference calls where the technology is supposed to work, but just doesn’t.
Enterprise cloud-based Meetings and Collaboration has a single player who is simply unmatched, Webex, from Cisco.
Cisco Webex is an enterprise tool that is the market standard for online collaboration. Cisco has worked non-stop to improve virtual online interactions with innovative functionality and an intuitive user experience.
Key Insights
- Cisco Webex has more than 130 Million active users each month
- Organizations across the globe rely on Cisco for cloud-based collaboration for team productivity and sharing
- Webex presents the most lifelike video in the industry helps your people develop relationships and provide superior customer engagement experiences
- Webex provides seamless Integrations to deliver the most robust, innovative enterprise UCaaS platform in the world
#8: Evaluate Solutions: Network
Executive Summary
The most talked about evolution in networking in the past ten years is enabling enterprise organizations to dramatically change the way they are implementing, managing and maintaining their global networks. This new approach is both faster to implement and simpler to support. Welcome to Software Defined Networking, SDN.
SDN is designed to make a network flexible and agile. SDN lets you design, build, and manage networks, separating the control and forwarding planes. As a result, the control plane is directly programmable, and it abstracts the underlying infrastructure for applications and network services. Network intelligence is logically centralized through programmable SDN controllers. Implemented in software, these controllers maintain a coherent view of the network domain. To applications and policy engines, SDN looks like a single logical switch.
The global leader in networking technology and innovation is Cisco, and their SDN solutions are the proven, de-facto standard for enterprise-class organizations.
Key Insights
- Simplify Operations - Reduce complexity by decoupling the control and data planes, while making automation highly secure and scalable.
- Achieve Faster Time-to-Market - Deploy applications and services faster by leveraging open APIs and easily integrate third-party products.
- Build Programmable Networks - Eliminate manual configuration. Provision and manage data centers, campuses, and wide-area networks.
- Lay the foundation for intent - Centralize configuration, management, control, monitoring, service delivery, and cloud automation.
#9: Evaluate Solutions: Contact Center
Executive Summary
The Contact Center is one of the most challenging business units where people, process and technology come together to provide the basis for truly memorable customer experiences.
Historically, many of the technologies that supported the Contact Center were complex, on-premises solutions that demanded significant customization and care. Over the last few years, however, new cloud-based solutions have provided new features, a simpler user experience and more cost effective alternatives. Many of these upstart cloud offerings were from companies with a limited track-record of success, and not a prudent investment for an enterprise-class contact center.
Fortunately, there is an enterprise cloud platform that provides a robust, integrated solution for the entire customer lifecycle via an omni-channel architecture. Known as the Cisco Customer Journey Platform, this innovative cloud contact center uses predictive analytics to improve business performance and reduce operating costs.
Cisco is the global market leader for infrastructure technologies and has deep history in developing purpose built cloud solutions.
Key Insights
- Cisco provides a fully integrated omni-channel contact center solution deployed 100% in the Cloud
- Cloud solutions are incredibly cost effective as they allow you to pay for only what you use, for Contact Centers this is a tremendous budgetary savings
- Seamless customer experiences are built-in with Cisco’s fully integrated omnichannel architecture
- Subscription Plans are fully customizable with Cisco FlexPlan, create your winning scenario!
#10: Manage the Transition
Executive Summary
The shift to cloud is underway. Cloud-based technologies have tremendous advantages over legacy on-premises solutions, and many vendors are putting the majority of their R&D investment toward their cloud-centric products and services. Below are some recommendations from the VOX Lifecycle Team:
- There is no single right way to transition from the older technologies to the new.
- Each company and situation is unique and demands focused strategy, planning and oversight.
- Cloud technologies are inherently different from on-premises technologies and will require an adjustment to processes, staffing and oversight metrics.
- Migrating to new Cloud technologies may impact compliance reporting.
About the VOX Lifecycle Team
This Team of highly experienced consultants works with enterprise-class customers on significant technology enabled projects. The Lifecycle Team is comprised of subject matter experts, technologists, business analysts, financial analysts and project managers.
COMPREHENSIVE CONSULTING SERVICES
Do you need an experienced Guide?
Business Strategy Analysis
Through our proprietary Lifecycle methodology, our team of experts will discover and document your business strategies, objectives and KPIs and how these align with your key business units and their core processes. This robust engagement yields enlightening results and creates holistic clarity to shed light on the business imperatives that are critical to your organizational success.
Business technology
assessment: UC/UCAAS
The UC / UCaaS Assessment is ideal for customers who are planning to implement collaborative solutions such as Voice, Video or Mobility. Our team of experts provides a thorough, consultative examination and analysis of your readiness for the migration to a new solution. The Assessment facilitates effective planning and deployment of a Unified Collaboration solution from end to end.
TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION
ASSESSMENT
Get more value from your existing technology investments, and achieve your desired business outcomes. This assessment measures adoption of in-house technologies by analyzing software versions, application and software usage, feature utilization and training programs and more.
Asset Discovery
& Management
Identify, define and inventory everything in your network, regardless of manufacturer. VOX Lifesigns is a powerful, cloud-based tool that evolves traditional asset management into an entirely new stratosphere, driving new layers of visibility, productivity, flexibility and transformation.
Platform Consumption
Review
The VOX Platform Consumption Review looks at existing investments in infrastructure including hardware, software, network architecture and application portfolios. We will provide recommendations for cloud migration strategies based on your business objectives. We will analyze your lifecycle policy including licensing costs, hardware and support programs and provide a cloud services roadmap.
Process Optimization
(vpop)
It’s our proven methodology to help companies improve their business operations and capture new financial upsides as part of the outcome. With vPOP, we take a deep dive into how your organization operates by identifying and addressing critical areas for cost gains and efficiencies. VOX will show you how to optimize your operational processes, technologies and people all while yielding substantial returns for your bottom line.
quarterly Business
Review
Business Reviews that take place throughout the VOX Lifecycle journey. Each QBR is a scheduled, formal event where the VOX Team meets face-to-face with the Client’s key leadership and decision makers to review and discuss key metrics, KPI’s and business objectives along with documented baselines, targets, and strategies contained in the customer success plan.
Contact center
assessment services
VOX helps you to better understand how your contact center is ahead or behind the curve in today’s market place. This in depth engagement allows you to help validate your concerns and identify areas for improvement. Your organization will be benchmarked against a variety of customers in your vertical, as well as industry standards and best practices.
VOX Lifecycle, is our proprietary, consultative framework designed to assist and enable our clients to make informed decisions to achieve their desired business outcomes.