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The ease of integrating cloud services with
on-premises equipment is now enabling
small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to
take advantage of the range of cloud-based
collaboration and communication services
– without compromising existing CAPEX
investment, while addressing several SMB
pain points in the process.
The need to on-board devices rapidly
and scale up to support new users as
SMBs grow is essential. Without the flex-
ibility and scalability to do so, SMBs can
be left with major IT issues from any period
of business growth or digital transforma-
tion. Hot-desking and home
working are especially chal-
lenging for business lead-
ers looking to maintain a
single point of collaboration
for mobile workforces, as
fully on-premises communi-
cations systems are just not
suited to the task.
There has been a lack
of cost effective options to
adapt existing platform in-
frastructure, leaving smaller
businesses at a technologi-
cal disadvantage to their larger competitors,
and this has forced some businesses to di-
vert resources and make costly investments
in changing platforms altogether in order to
continue supporting business needs.
Hybrid cloud solutions help address
these business challenges, enabling SMBs
to adapt without the CAPEX investment. In
a hybrid approach to communications, modu-
larity is key: you can provide basic communi-
cations on-premises with the ability to easily
adopt additional cloud-based services on a
case-by-case basis.
By
Jack
Jachner
One Foot
in the Cloud
F
rom backups on consumer smartphones and hosted office
suites to multimedia collaboration, cloud services are here
to stay. Gartner predicts the global public cloud services
market will grow by 18 percent this year alone.
The hybrid
approach to
UC&C
Source: 451 Research
Incorporated Into Overall IT
Capex/Opex Budgets
Tied to Specific Line Item
Upgrades
Spread Across Varicus
Participant Groups
From a Singular
Department/Business Unit
Other
63%
29%
28%
21%
4%
Funding for IoT Initiatives
Source: 451 Research
Please describe how your organization plans to fund its IoT Initiative/projects
63
47%
42%
39%
32%
24%
24%
17%
16%
13%
11%
11%
4%
Data center IT Equipment
Cameras/Surveillance Equipment
Smartphones & End User Devices
Data center Facilities Equipment
Building and Other Structures
Environmental Sensors
Industry Specific/Field Equipment
Automobiles/Fleet Equipment
Factory Equipment
Retail Operations & Physical Advertising
Devices in Supply Chain
Medical Devices
Other
What type of cloud services are you currently using
and expect to use two years from now?
Source: Forbes Insights; Cisco; survey of 302 IT executives
Hybrid of both private and public cloud services
Only private cloud and/or using a managed cloud provider
Only public cloud delivered by a third-party service
We do not use cloud services of any kind
77%
56%
10%
29%
13%
12%
0%
3%
Now
In two years
Core Communications
Channel
Vision
|
July - August, 2017
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