Seven myths about the cloud-based digital workplace

Complexity. Cost. Bad user experience. If these are some of the worries stopping you from moving your collaboration solutions to the cloud, you’re not alone.

But limping on with outdated infrastructure is far from the ‘safe option’, in the long term, it’ll cost you money, productivity and agility.

So what’s the answer? Having helped hundreds of large global organisations migrate to the cloud, there aren’t many fears we haven’t heard. Let’s tackle the seven myths we come across most.

Myth 1: it’s too big and  complex to get right

Whether you decide to move everything to the cloud at once, or use a service that bridges old and new systems, the right delivery plan will help you get it right first time.

One of our senior project managers on our cloud-based unified communications service One Cloud Cisco recently worked with a client to successfully deploy 5,800 users in just one weekend. That’s where our experience helps you come up with the right delivery plan.

Myth 2: there’ll be too much downtime and disruption

You’ll need an approach that’s structured yet flexible (not chaotic and rigid). And for that you need tools that make moving to the cloud as fast and risk-free as possible.

One of our apps automatically pulls big chunks of information from your legacy PBX, cleans it up, adds new data, converts it to cloud format, and uploads it to our cloud platform – cutting down deployment time by up to 80%.

Myth 3: we need to squeeze the ROI out of old systems first

Almirall, a life sciences company headquartered in Barcelona, was using different comms systems across its worldwide subsidiaries, which slowed down communication and decision making.

Now, thanks to a Cisco collaboration suite hosted by us, Almirall expects big improvements in productivity and staff satisfaction. And with worldwide research and development teams working together more effectively, they’ll be able to deliver new patents – faster.

Just like Almirall, you can integrate new systems with old, bridging the gaps between on-premise, private cloud and public cloud. And you can keep working with apps like Google for Work, IBM and Microsoft.

Myth 4: it’s too expensive, and hard to predict future costs

You can keep using the connections you already have in place, so moving to the cloud costs less than you might think. Once you’re up and running, you’ll have a single global price-per-user-type, with a clear, predictable rollout.

You can scale up and down when you want, and only pay for what you need. Plus we host the back-end systems on our side, so you don’t need to look after bulky equipment in back rooms.

Myth 5 : it’ll take years to see the benefits

We’ve seen people cutting travel costs because of reliable HD video conferencing. And when they do travel, clients have cut roaming costs by up to 45 per cent by using wi-fi and data channels for voice calls.

Plus, the relentless pace of digital transformation means it’s only a matter of time before you’ll need to bring in new tech or support more users. Both of which are cheaper and quicker to deploy in the cloud. So you’ll be able to show ROI even faster than before.

Myth 6: I won’t be able to give a good user experience

IT decision makers overwhelmingly agree that old IT systems can’t live up to employees’ demands for collaboration. Downtime, bad connections, apps that crash. You know the story. That’s why nearly two thirds of IT decision makers say they’re planning to update their collaboration tools.

The cloud offers plenty of reliable ways to communicate – like HD video conferencing, voice and instant messaging.

Half the battle is getting your people comfortable on new systems. That’s why in-life and adoption support is so important. Tools like BT One Cloud monitoring keep an eye on every call so you can address any problems before they escalate.

Myth 7: the security isn’t the same as with on-site servers

Just like on-premises servers, our networks comply with data security standards. But on top of that, your data will be duplicated and securely hosted in two data centres, in different regions. So if anything goes wrong with one set, your service will seamlessly transfer to the other without your users noticing a thing.

So, the security is not the same – it’s better. Plus, the agile nature of the cloud means you can get all the latest security updates, and stay ahead of new threats as they emerge.

So seven myths, all shown to be nothing more than just that, just myths. Moving your collaboration technology to the cloud is easier than you think, especially when you have a partner with such deep experience. Find out more about how we can help you can build a productive digital workforce.

Book a place at one of our Customer Experience Centres.