The Evolution to Cloud Communications

The Evolution to Cloud Communications The adoption of Cloud Communications by enterprises: An evolution, not a revolution Table of Contents Introduction... 1 The Emergence of Private, Public and Hybrid Cloud Communication Solutions... 1 Evolving to Cloud Communications... 2 Enterprise Benefits from Cloud Communications... 3 Cloud Service Provider Benefits from Cloud Communications... 4 Avaya The Leader in Collaborative Communications... 4 The Avaya Collaborative Cloud TM Solutions... 5 Why the Avaya Collaborative Cloud... 6 Conclusion... 6 Learn More... 7 Introduction The emergence and adoption of Cloud Communications is an important trend in today s Enterprise Communications and Collaboration market. Both enterprises and cloud service providers (CSPs) are seeing significant value from the introduction of managed, hosted and cloud communication applications and services. While the concept of managed and hosted services is not new, the emergence of cloud architectures has redefined and reignited interest in subscription based Cloud Communication models. Every day, enterprise executives and IT organizations hear how the Cloud is a revolution that is transforming their industry. Yet the reality is, the adoption of Cloud Communications by enterprises will be an evolution, not a revolution. Though there are important differences between managed, hosted and cloud services, the bigger story is the growing demand from enterprises interested in working with CSPs to manage, host and deliver communication applications from the cloud. The opportunities are exciting for both the enterprises interested in the benefits of Unified Communications and Collaboration applications and the Cloud Service Providers able to launch new communication solutions to drive new revenue streams and introduce differentiated offers. This white paper presents the case for enterprises and CSPs to embrace managed, hosted and cloud communication solutions, enabling enterprise users to connect anytime, anywhere on any device by using communication and collaboration applications in more intuitive and meaningful ways. The paper also presents an overview of the solutions Avaya offers to help enterprises and CSPs adopt and benefit from the Cloud. The Emergence of Private, Public and Hybrid Cloud Communication Solutions Enterprises and CSPs have started evolving their communication and collaboration solutions to introduce private, public and hybrid Cloud Communication solutions enabled by virtualized, decentralized cloud architectures. avaya.com 1

While the concept of managed and hosted services is not new, the emergence of cloud architectures has redefined and reignited interest in subscription based Cloud Communication models. Figure 1 The range of Cloud Communication options for Enterprises and CSPs The evolution from on-premises Unified Communications (UC) and Contact Center (CC) applications toward Cloud Communications includes a progression in how the enterprise builds, deploys and consumes communication applications. Initially, many enterprises have focused on the introduction of private cloud solutions as a complement to their on-premises communication and collaboration applications. Whether built by the enterprise or provided as a managed service, this approach enables enterprises to gain early benefits of decentralized communication applications while maintaining a private, secure deployment. To gain the full benefits from a Cloud Communications solution, enterprises are considering the adoption of public, multi-tenant communication applications delivered as a hosted or cloud service. In most cases, the hosted or cloud communication service is delivered and billed under a subscription pay-as-yougo pricing model that enables an enterprise to match operating expenses with usage and demand. In the space between the private cloud and public cloud, hybrid cloud communication solutions are emerging. Hybrid Clouds combine on-premises, private and/or public cloud communication applications and resources to maximize existing enterprise Unified Communications, Contact Center and Video investments by complementing them with new cloud applications. Evolving to Cloud Communications For most organizations, the path to cloud communications is not a quickly decided, all-or-nothing choice. It is more than simply selecting a private or public option, and determining when and how many communication and collaboration applications to migrate. Instead, many enterprises are using both avaya.com 2

the private and public cloud building their own private cloud for specific applications or departments while also utilizing a hosted cloud communications model for some applications in the public cloud. This creates a hybrid cloud model where resources are split between the enterprise and the CSP, and optimized for performance, cost and strategic priorities. Organizations are engaging cloud communication solutions and services gradually, often starting with managed, private outsourcing of communication applications. Reasons for this gradual and balanced approach include: Preserving investments in on-premise equipment with depreciation life still remaining. Unproven return on investment and quality of service skepticism by IT professionals. Before making significant investments in new applications, some organizations may choose to minimize risk by using them in the cloud. Security concerns for sensitive data. Organizations may choose a balance of public and private cloud implementations to preserve control of intellectual property and meet data and organizational security needs. Enterprise Benefits from Cloud Communications Cloud Communications represents a significant shift in the way that enterprise IT resources are managed, operated, and consumed. Important benefits of Cloud Communications to enterprises can include: Reduced capital expenses (CapEx) Enterprises can reduce capital expense by optimizing infrastructure asset virtualization and leveraging the shared communication and collaboration resources available from hosted and cloud solutions. With these savings, enterprises can re-allocate IT resources to high-gain productivity opportunities across the department or business. Efficient operating expenses (OpEx) Cloud Communication business models typically introduce pay-as-you-go utility pricing billed on a monthly basis and treated as OpEx by the enterprise. This gives enterprises greater control over their expenses, delivering predictable monthly billing without costs for unused services. Simplified experience and management Cloud Communication solutions can establish a common, simplified overall application and infrastructure management while enabling a better, consistent experience for users and administrators. Improved flexibility Cloud Communication solutions introduce new, flexible ways for the enterprise to deploy, integrate and consume communication and collaboration services. avaya.com 3

Faster deployment of applications With Cloud Communications, enterprises can respond and scale quickly based on seasonality or demand fluctuations. They can also easily adopt new features for a subset of users before rolling out applications to a broader set of users. Complexity Reduction Enterprises gain a simpler environment by removing technology obsolescence concerns and receiving automatic system upgrades as changes occur and new features are developed. Cloud Service Provider Benefits from Cloud Communications By introducing hosted Cloud Communication solutions, CSPs help organizations improve business agility while optimizing budgets and resources. Enterprises can off-load the challenges of managing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments, widely dispersed workforces and the shifting demands of end-customers. Cloud Communication solutions enable CSPs to evolve and augment enterprise communications with cloud-based solutions as well as provide greater interoperability by federating communications across vendors, domains and protocols. Cloud Communications benefits for CSPs include: New UC, CC and Video revenue streams With cloud communication platforms, CSPs can quickly introduce a number of new UC, CC and Video communication bundles to their enterprise customers. Flexible platform with scalable capacity Hosted Cloud communication platforms allow CSPs the flexibility to deliver multiple cloud communication bundles that are easy to manage as demand increases. New value added applications and services By adopting cloud communications platforms, CSPs can quickly define and deploy a broad range of new value added applications and services to their UC, CC and Video offers, customize offers, and differentiate their cloud communication solutions. Avaya The Leader in Collaborative Communications Avaya is a leading global provider of next-generation business solutions, providing unified communications, real-time video collaboration, contact center, networking, and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. Avaya s objective is to give people the best collaboration experience regardless of the device, location, or media they choose. avaya.com 4

Avaya believes innovations in technology can enable collaboration. As organizations move toward a more geographically dispersed, 24x7 workforce, they need tools that will enable users to quickly solve all of their business challenges. Seamless and effective collaboration platforms are essential to support this objective. The Avaya Collaborative Cloud TM Solutions The Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio of solutions provides a strategic framework for delivering communication services and applications to enterprises and CSPs via the cloud. Providing both choice and flexibility, the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio includes a variety of solutions that lets enterprises and CSPs build, manage, enable and deliver cloud communications and collaboration solutions. Enterprises can choose a private, public or hybrid cloud to support discrete services or holistic solutions. Recognizing that the adoption of cloud communication solutions by enterprises will be an evolution, not a revolution, the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio is focused on enabling enterprises to evolve, augment, federate and simplify their cloud communication and collaboration applications for Unified Communications, Video Collaboration, and Contact Centers. With the Avaya Collaborative Cloud solutions enterprises and CSPs can: Evolve toward Cloud Communications and Collaboration Offer path, pace and choice across public, private, hybrid, managed, hosted and cloud options Manage costs and optimize investment through licensing choices Choose from flexible business models that accommodate variable business priorities Augment on-premises enterprise applications with cloud communications Deliver overlay Avaya cloud applications to on-premises enterprise users Expand Avaya enterprise applications with partners complementary cloud applications and services Enhance and complement existing solutions with innovative communication and collaboration applications Federate cloud communications across enterprise domains Align users across different enterprise domains, platforms and protocols Interoperate from the enterprise to cloud applications and across clouds Simplify and enhance user experiences Simplify and personalize user experiences Simplify communications environments Easily manage hosted applications and introduce new offers to enterprises avaya.com 5

With the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio of solutions, enterprises can evolve to the cloud on their own path and at their own pace. The Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio offers a number of flexible deployment options for private, public and hybrid cloud solutions, and helps provide investment protection by allowing enterprises to leverage existing endpoints as they migrate. Why the Avaya Collaborative Cloud Based on several unique Avaya differentiators, the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio offers CSPs and enterprises a rich and compelling suite of UC and CC solutions. With the Avaya Aura platform at its core, the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio delivers an open architecture for both hosted and private cloud solutions. The Avaya Collaborative Cloud solutions enable CSPs to offer hosted UC and CC solutions that address multiple segments without the need to manage multiple platforms and solutions from multiple vendors. All of the hosted Unified Communications and Customer Experience Management applications are managed by a single, centralized administration overlay. With the pay-asyou-sell utility license pricing, CSPs pay only for licenses used by their customers, providing a cost-efficient virtualized platform for hosted UC, CC and Video solutions. As customer needs grow, CSPs can expand their systems without significant upfront costs, giving them greater control over cash flow and expenses. Additionally, Avaya offers a full suite of professional services across managed, outsourced, hosted or cloud deployment models and support for go-to-market and joint marketing initiatives. With the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio of solutions, enterprises can evolve to the cloud on their own path and at their own pace. The Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio offers a number of flexible deployment options for private, public and hybrid cloud solutions, and helps provide investment protection by allowing enterprises to leverage existing endpoints as they migrate. Enterprises can optimize their business solutions by augmenting existing infrastructure with innovation applications from the Avaya cloud. The utility subscription pricing model shifts costs from capital expense to operating expense to help businesses match expenses as usage and demand scales. Finally, the Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio delivers a consistent and seamless user experience for enterprise users across on-premises, hosted and cloud communication applications while supporting the growing adoption of enterprise BYOD mobility options. Conclusion The emergence of cloud technologies and architectures has redefined and reignited interest in subscription based cloud communication models. While we will continue to hear how the cloud is a revolution, adoption of cloud communications will be an evolution. Thus, it is important to have flexible options whether private, public or hybrid to transition and gain the benefits of the cloud. As enterprises and CSPs evolve toward cloud communication, each will have different business and technical drivers that will result in a number of different deployment models based on their priorities, path and pace of introduction. Many enterprises and CSPs have initially focused on deploying private cloud avaya.com 6

solutions as a complement to their on-premises communication and existing collaboration applications. This approach enables enterprises to gain early benefits of decentralized communication applications while maintaining a private, secure deployment. Other enterprises and CSPs are considering the introduction of public, multi-tenant communication applications delivered as a hosted or cloud service. Still others are interested in the benefits of hybrid communication clouds that combine on-premises, private and/or public cloud communication applications and resources. Learn More The Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio is designed to help enterprises and cloud service providers evolve, augment, federate and simplify their cloud communication solutions. For more information on the Avaya Collaborative Cloud, contact your Avaya Account Manager or Avaya Authorized partner. Or visit www.avaya.com/cloud. About Avaya Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com. 2013 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks identified by,, or SM are registered marks, trademarks, and service marks, respectively, of Avaya Inc. 04/13 UC7257 avaya.com 7