The growing international shift towards the provisioning of communication services from the cloud will be showcased at the IP EXPO, taking place in Johannesburg on the 15th and 16th November, by leading local converged communications provider, Internet Solutions.

 

“Many businesses have or are currently considering moving some of their IT services into the cloud, as this computing paradigm offers them numerous benefits in today's increasingly competitive marketplace,” says Craig Stewart, Product Portfolio Manager,  Innovation and Technology: Communication Services at IS. “However, what is stopping many companies from moving forward with a migration of their communication services into the cloud are the perceived barriers of this technology.”

 

According to Stewart, one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of cloud-based communication services is the traditional telecommunications landscape, and the traditionally high data costs associated with local fixed line and mobile data. “Thankfully a number of changes have occurred in the local industry that is rapidly starting to shape the landscape, which includes the entrance of a number of new mobile operators who are introducing radical pricing and packages into the market, which is driving competition in the sector. In terms of fixed line capacity and costs, a number of players are investing heavily in fibre infrastructure, which is already starting to benefit companies in the major metropolitan areas,” he explains.

 

Once connectivity has become an enabler rather than an inhibitor to cloud-based communication services businesses need to weigh up the benefits of this new technology against the cost of writing off legacy systems, like physical PBXs and on-site email servers. “There are a number of benefits to moving these traditional communication services into the cloud, not least of which is the reduced total cost of ownership,” says Stewart. “Firstly, businesses are better able to integrate these systems, which are currently fragmented across the organisation. This leads to better interoperability between divisions, disparate offices and also independent business partners.

 

“It also reduces the human resource requirements needed to run in-house communication infrastructure, as everything can now be managed and maintained from within the data centre by a small, dedicated team of experts,” says Stewart. “However, the key here is to choose the correct service provider, who can offer the expertise and the best underlying architecture to enable this form of computing.

 

Taking communication services into the cloud also allows businesses to leverage off of the virtualised platform on which they are provisioned, he explains. “This means that small to medium sized businesses can also have access to enterprise level technology, while any business can quickly and easily adopt and integrate the latest technology into their hosted communication infrastructure when it becomes available. It also makes it easier to adapt to shifting technology trends, like the current move towards the consumerisation of IT.”

 

Stewart believes that this gives businesses an important competitive advantage, as they become more nimble and can quickly scale to meet shifts in demand from their clients, as they have easy access to the technology that will be enable rapid growth. “With such a rich value proposition, many businesses are agonising over the decision to make this switch, but the truth of the matter is that they don't need to do a mass migration from the start. Incremental changes in the way a business provides their communication services and infrastructure can be made to ensure a smooth transition, and this is what I will discuss at my seminar at 12:15 on 16 November at the IP EXPO,” he concludes.

TAMMY DU PREEZ
Communications Manager
 
Tel: 087 365 7768 
Tel: +27 (11) 575 7768
Fax: +27 (11) 576 7768​
tammy.dupreez@is.co.za