• Magnetic North research reveals over one in three contact centres actively considering moving to the cloud
• A further third of contact centre managers have become more open to the cloud in last two years
The contact centre market is undertaking a fundamental shift, with more than one in three contact centre managers actively considering a move to the cloud in the near future. A new research report from cloud-based contact centre software provider Magnetic North, entitled ‘Ahead in the cloud: Why contact centres are moving to cloud-based solutions’, also reveals that the last two years have seen an openness to the cloud grow for a further third of contact centre managers.
The report, which investigates where the contact centre market is in the cloud adoption curve, also reveals some of the reasons behind why contact centre managers are eager to make the move now.
• Frustrations with legacy systems are a core driving force for the shift, with cost of upgrades (cited by 40%), technical limitations (37%), long deployment times and costly integrations (both 28%) cited as issues with on-premise solutions
• Over half of contact centre managers say legacy equipment limitations are preventing them from rolling out a multichannel infrastructure and just under 50% state that their technology is preventing their contact centre from meeting its KPIs
• According to the research the top three drivers to the cloud are cost savings (52%), multi-channel service (41%) and compliance requirements (37%)
The research also revealed some serious issues with regards to the service contact centre managers get from their non cloud-based technology providers. A huge 65% indicated they have a less than satisfactory relationship, with over one in four (26%) saying they only see them when the system has a problem and one in five (21%) only see them at contract renewal time. A minority of 16% make regular contact but don’t understand the contact centre’s business.
David Ford, Managing Director, Magnetic North, commented, “We are now approaching a cloud contact centre crunch point, with a number of factors coming together to make cloud-based solutions the only sensible option.
“In the modern customer-centric business, it is essential that customers get the service they expect, and that increasingly means communication via multiple channels – and cloud solutions provide this functionality as requirements develop, without upgrade costs. Secondly, as regulatory requirements get more complex for contact centres they’re looking for technology to help them stay compliant, and again cloud-based systems manage this for the customer.
“But while these are large factors in cloud adoption, there’s another more traditional driver – the desire to save money. It seems like legacy on-premise providers are now just shooting themselves in the foot by sticking to their old inflexible licensing models, pricey upgrades and fundamentally failing to offer a good service. As a cloud-based technology provider we can now beat them on every count, not just technology and price, but with great service.”
