A couple of developments in the mobile UC space.
Verizon rolled out Verizon Mobile for MS Teams. Microsoft just announced Operator Connect Mobile, which will allow your mobile device to become a Teams Phone endpoint.
Microsoft has a study about hybrid work HERE. Does Hybrid work without UCaaS? This article says no.
One of the stats on UCaaS from this story is as follows: “Single-provider UC solutions deliver a 56 percent lower total cost of ownership. As mentioned, UC systems can either be DIY, where companies assemble and integrate point solutions through in-house development. Or, one could subscribe to ready-to-deploy UC suites. Single provider solutions like the latter, unlock a much lower TCO as per a Metrigy 2021 report. This is due to significantly higher IT staffing costs.” Single full stack provider works better unless they are cobbling it together with some third-party stuff in which case the duct tape gets in the way.
In a Hornet Security study on Hybrid Cloud: “1 in 3 companies cite trust issues with cloud as reason for some workloads remaining on-premise.” Furthermore, ” The survey also shows that with experience comes more distrust in the public cloud. Respondents with more than 20 years of experience were more likely to express concerns with the trustworthiness of cloud platforms (34%) than those with one to five years of experience (24%). One-half of all respondents mentioned “legacy systems or software” as another major reason certain workloads must remain on premises. “Application compatibility” was reported as a roadblock to cloud migration for four in 10 companies. Industry regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA and CMMC, among others were also cited as obstacles for cloud adoption by 29% of respondents.” There are many reasons for on-premise and private cloud. And there are great solutions for both.
Here’s the rub about HYBRID: It has ALWAYS been HYBRID. Hybrid work, hybrid cloud, hybrid everything – that has been the environment for so many years. When hardware partners say cloud isn’t for everyone, I roll my eyes. Why? Payroll, email, website, CRM, e-commerce, Microsoft Office365, Google, and on and on – all in the cloud. How many businesses use no cloud apps? Very few. Hybrid work? Salespeople, answering texts/calls at home or on the road, email! All off site. Always on work environ. That’s why everyone is burnt out. The pandemic just prevented people from blowing off steam – and being social which is one of the key ingredients for happiness. But work kept grinding away – and employers have lost sight of everything, except the stock price. </rant over>
Here’s a few other factors in the way of cloud migration: most software projects take a long time – even longer from 500 employees to 5000 to 10,000 – longer (and harder) with global than with local. Rolling out a new comms platform is like switching from Office to Workplace or Apple to Windows. It is BIG! Too many moving parts. Not enough squeeze in the lemon for an exec to godfather it for 3-4 years. And not everything can be easily migrated. Think backup appliance to data center storage array over a 56K modem. These are real problems.
When the office manager still wants her receptionist car on her desk phone instead of even trying a softphone or browser, no progress will be made there. Period.