Software as a Service (SaaS), also known as hosted solutions or cloud computing, is fast becoming a very popular method of delivering an increasingly wider range of contact center applications, as an alternative to premises licenses and thin-clients. We approached a wide several leading firms on the benefits and issues with SaaS in the contact center. Here the answers, in whole and excerpted.
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Enkata (www.enkata.com)
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Liz Amarai, Senior Director of Product Marketing
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There are a couple of reasons that customers are becoming fans of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. For Enkata’s customers, the choice was made because it involved minimal IT involvement, faster implementation and the ability to incrementally scale. Enkata’s customers also preferred the lower up-front outlay of an annual subscription versus the traditional license/maintenance model. Additionally, the lower total cost of ownership is also a big plus.
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The lines are blurred every day. It used to be that companies wouldn’t consider any mission-critical applications in a SaaS model, but applications like Salesforce.com really broke that barrier. Today, Enkata see customers choosing to adopt SaaS offerings even for core infrastructure, such as telephony. The only applications that would not work as a SaaS offering are those that are completely proprietary to a company or require unusual customization. However, flexible, user-oriented applications like contact center performance management and analytics are a perfect fit for SaaS, because they take the burden off the overworked IT departments while helping customers solve challenging business problems.
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SaaS-suitable solutions are definitely a growth area in the software arena. Technology, hosting and security standards have evolved to the point that all types of applications are being offered in a SaaS model.
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Almost everyone (with one or two notable exceptions) is now offering a SaaS alternative. We wouldn’t expect traditional premises- based solutions to disappear completely, but whole product lines are now being offered…