Many invest in the notion that CCaaS is now the norm. Yet, this is not the case.
Just 29.5 percent of global organizations have switched to CCaaS, as per a 2023 Metrigy study.
More surprisingly, almost half of those businesses (48.2 percent) are considering shifting CCaaS platform providers by 2024.
These statistics may not paint the prettiest picture. However, they shine a light on an often suppressed narrative: the cloud can underwhelm.
CCaaS Transformation Troubles
CCaaS migrations don’t always go to plan. For instance, cumbersome data loads, unforeseen regulatory quagmires, and features that lag what the contact center had on-premise – typically relating to voice – can all present problems.
The result is that rapid public cloud transformation projects sometimes miss the mark.
Nevertheless, most still see CCaaS as the future. After all, heightened scalability, ease of integration, and rapid speed of innovation make for a compelling argument.
As an example of the latter, prominent contact center provider Avaya released 50+ CCaaS innovations in Q4 alone last year – taking advantage of the cloud-native foundation of its Avaya Experience Platform solution.
Given these attractive advantages, many more businesses will transition to CCaaS. Yet, most remain wary of risking customer, employee, and business outcomes.
The Need for a More Cautious Approach
As the aforementioned study suggests, 70+ percent of businesses have yet to switch to CCaaS. Many of these are large enterprises. Such businesses are typically more cautious and would prefer a gradual CCaaS transition.
After all, they have sunk significant sums of money into customizing their legacy contact center environments, creating a complex patchwork quilt of on-premise systems.
At one point, this ecosystem enabled CX innovation. Now, it holds businesses back. Meanwhile, the thought of replicating that environment in the cloud – or getting somewhere close - is daunting.
Of course, service leaders could start from scratch. Yet, they are often averse to tearing out that technology and replacing it, especially when off-the-shelf alternatives are hard to come by.
Thankfully, there is another option with Avaya’s contact center playbook.
Avaya’s Three-Pronged Contact Center Strategy
Unlike many market rivals, Avaya doesn’t force a single public cloud CCaaS platform upon customers.
Instead, it has developed three go-to-market CCaaS propositions. These are: Premises-based (includes Aura and Elite), Cloud (includes Avaya Cloud Office and Experience Platform), and Hybrid.