By Scott Gode

Implementing cloud-based unified communications and collaboration systems (UC&C) is no easy task for channel partners, and it all starts with making that strategic bet on which cloud structure to use. To that point, there are three types of cloud structures available public, private and hybrid and each features its own unique customer considerations when deploying UC&C.

First, it’s important to understand the definitions of each platform type:

Going Public

In spite of the media hype, public cloud comes with challenges and may prove most challenging for partners to sell particularly to the enterprise customer. According to Osterman Research, there are three primary reasons businesses and organizations don’t adopt public, cloud-based UC&C:

In addition to those worries, Osterman Research determined there are other concerns at play. For example, 49 percent of respondents said public cloud is not sufficiently mature; 48 percent thought integration with on-premises applications would be too complex or unworkable; and 47 percent think public cloud offers only a “one size fits all” approach. There further were fears about breaches and outages, particularly given recent problems with public cloud systems and infrastructure managed by companies including Amazon, Epsilon, Microsoft and Google.

Private Clouds

Perhaps the best way to overcome objections with the public cloud is to discuss private clouds. Indeed, while the public cloud works itself to maturity, key regional and national data center providers have grown much more aggressive in rolling out private cloud alternatives. These offer most of the advantages and none of the disadvantages of the public cloud. Because of that, 48 percent of organizations polled by Osterman Research would consider deploying private clouds also known as internal clouds or corporate clouds. These dedicated computing architectures provide fully hosted UC&C services within the customer’s Active Directory forest and internal network space, behind the corporate firewall. Respondents also indicated they think private clouds feature better malware prevention, data integration and perimeter security than their public counterparts. Private clouds further demonstrated a modest, perceived benefit in the context of storage management.

Hybrid

Another option many decision makers are considering is the hybrid cloud: a combination of a public and a private cloud deployment. For example, a private cloud could be used to pilot UC&C within an organization before rolling out the majority of users to the public cloud. Another option might be to use the public cloud for remote facilities for which dedicated, on-site IT staff are not economically feasible while maintaining a private cloud for a corporate headquarters.

One of the primary advantages of the hybrid cloud is that the private vs. public cloud debate does not become an all-or-nothing proposition; organizations can opt for a combination of services that will best meet their requirements and they can adjust this combination over time. Channel partners that successfully orchestrate the hybrid cloud relationships and interdependencies remove the back-end complexity from the customer’s IT department. This message was conveyed clearly in the Osterman Research findings: 45 percent of respondents indicated they see a need for hybrid UC&C services in their organizations, while another 30 percent were not sure. Only one in four said they did not see a need for hybrid services.

The availability of a hybrid cloud UC&C option would benefit many organizations and speed adoption of public, cloud-based UC&C. For example, as shown in the earlier cited data, only 10 percent of the respondents to the survey indicated that they would migrate to a public, cloud-based UC&C service within the next year. However, when asked how their answer would change if hybrid cloud UC&C were available to them, 26 percent indicated they would migrate within the next 12 months. The two primary messages to remember are:

How to Help Your Customer

First, develop a UC&C strategy, deployment and migration plan. Organizations should craft a multiyear plan that works toward unifying their various modes of communications to achieve lower costs, greater flexibility, corporate agility and enhanced employee productivity. The deployment and migration plan for the strategy can, and sometimes should, stretch the UC&C services over an extended time period. For example, with Lync Server, it often is advisable to install the IM and conferencing services, and then move on to the voice services.

Next, choose the right cloud platform and create the appropriate systems architecture. There are a significant number of public and private cloud-based UC&C solutions, and the options will continue to grow. These platforms provide the benefits of UC&C while alleviating internal IT organizations of the burden of deploying, configuring and managing the servers, software and other infrastructure elements required to manage a UC&C system. Organizations should explore the pros and cons of both versions of the cloud and find the one that works best for their requirements. Despite the well-publicized problems with the public cloud, customers should be encouraged to give it serious IT evaluation as a critical step but not a silver bullet in the journey to a full cloud environment.

Finally, consider where a hybrid platform may fit best. A combination of public and private cloud offerings may be the best choice, particularly for organizations with a large number of employees, a geographically disparate workforce and stringent data compliance requirements. The hybrid option actually may speed adoption of the public cloud because of the synergies that arise when the best elements of private and public cloud systems are used in tandem.

Scott Gode is vice president of UC&C management and marketing for Azaleos Corp., a provider of managed messaging, collaboration and unified communications services. He has more than 20 years of IT industry experience with Microsoft, Motorola and American Airlines. He received his master’s degree in business administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

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