The ‘2013 Cloud Contact Centre Survey’ reveals an increasing number of UK contact centres have started a cloud implementation process in a bid to migrate their services.
The research, which looks to better understand the use of cloud technology within contact centres, shows that 78% of those polled have moved into the implementation phase. A further number of respondents (41%) have either already chosen their cloud provider or are currently exploring options and deploying pilots, while 36% are taking steps to learn more about the cloud.
The results reinforce the findings from Interactive Intelligence’s 2012 research, which predicted 2013 would be the year of the cloud for UK contact centres. Carried out in December 2012, the survey revealed 73% of contact centres already operate in the cloud, were actively looking or would like to move their operations to the cloud.
Dave Paulding, Regional Sales Director UK, Middle East & Africa, Interactive Intelligence, says: “The most recent UBM survey carried out in April of this year, shows almost eight out of 10 contact centres have now moved into a cloud implementation phase. It is a very strong figure, demonstrating the ever-increasing attraction of cloud contact centre technology.
“We wanted to use this survey to delve a little deeper and find out directly from UK contact centres what the key drivers are for cloud adoption, what they think the impact will be and to understand any areas that may require additional support.”
The 130 respondents surveyed cited technical and functional factors as the key elements driving adoption of cloud in contact centres. When rating the importance in each category a high proportion, 47% stated that speed of solution and other functional capabilities were ‘very important’, whereas slightly less (45%) said technical factors such as flexibility, scalability, simplicity and security were ‘very important’ to their contact centre.
When asked opinions on how cloud adoption will impact their contact centre, an almost equal number said the biggest areas would be reduced costs (60%) and improvement to their customer service offering (60%). Just 13% said it would have no significant impact.
When asked to rate what skills are necessary to make a buyer’s choice, those surveyed highlighted assessing and understanding cloud risks as the most essential (40 out of 130 respondents). The area requiring additional consultation and business support to help inform a decision was IT issues (41%) including security, integration and management.
Paulding concluded: “The results demonstrate how perceptions surrounding cloud solutions have changed and, for many UK’s contact centres, it is not a case of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Our company is the number one choice for cloud based communications in the contact centre and we will continue to offer every support to those businesses looking to migrate their services to the cloud.”
Other key findings include:
• When asked which part of the business is most interested in adopting cloud, the highest proportion was in IT (56%), followed by sales and marketing departments (26%)
• When consulting about cloud solutions, the highest percentage of contact centres (58%) look to vendors to help inform their decision
