I can guarantee that everyone reading this is within arm’s reach of something that, even if it’s brand new, reminds them of the way things used to be. Whether it’s a piece of tech, an entire setup or simply the way in which something gets done, everyone is going to struggle to find a single thing that hasn’t been entirely transformed in the past ten, hell even the past five years.
And in most cases, we’re all happy for these transformations, these changes have either iteratively or in one massive leap made each of our lives better… yet when it comes to facing these changes there is a resistance as we hold onto what we know and what we’re used to.
This goes double for when this change is made by an external force, after all it’s only natural to initially distrust a move that someone else has made for us, made even worse by jargon that’s seemingly impenetrable and the blurring of lines between what belongs where or whether somethings being used in the right way.
For better or worse (depending on what you bring to the table), things are simply not the way they used to be, and they never will be again. Even the slow and confident telco is near the finishing line of the race towards the cloud.
The future is now hybrid, and this future does not include boxes in basements, or traditional communications. If this vision of the future is daunting, I’m here to let you know that it doesn’t have to be. Everything from migration to implementation is a lot easier than you think. The organisations who are leading this change have made it easy for you to evolve with the times, all you have to do is make the choice.
How our industries are evolving
Improved tech and evolving work models are driving a shift to the cloud. Organisations are increasingly embracing flexible working and are leveraging improved, simplified UC to support workers wherever they are without having to worry. And when we say wherever they are, we mean it.
A lot of leaders are looking to the deskless as the next focus of their attention, after all they do represent over 80 per cent of the global workforce. If this wasn’t enough, there is also of course the looming shadow of the big PSTN switchoff that will spell the ultimate demise of traditional communications once and for all.
But this market shift isn’t just about the move to the cloud. It’s also being driven by the fact that businesses realised long ago that they can have everything they will ever need all in one place. With a unified system, they get simpler IT management, easier logistics, straightforward compliance and a smooth experience, all of which often outrank advanced features for SMBs in most markets.
Having one platform that handles all of their communication and collaboration needs is the logical first step for any small business, and because of this expectancy a lot of UC features that once kept you ahead in the market are now commoditised.
And we couldn’t talk about features without mentioning artificial intelligence at least once. It’s true, AI tooling is a big draw for a lot of businesses, but it is in fact voice that’s still viewed as one of the most crucial communication features in location-based, hybrid or fully remote SMBs.
How providers can evolve with the communications market
Like it or not, you’re not going to ‘out-Teams’ Microsoft. No matter which way you cut it the collaboration market is now fully dominated by the big purple monster from Redmond, Washington.
With a burgeoning user base and a percentage of PSTN enabled users that feels like it ticks up a point every other week, Teams has shown that businesses of all sizes can indeed have it all when it comes to their cloud communications stack.
And as we’ve already covered, your customers want to have everything in one place, which means a lot of them are already looking to add comms on top of their collaboration tool within the Microsoft tenant.
Here’s the good news, and it’s something that has seemingly gotten lost in the noise for a lot of organisations – Microsoft are putting service providers at the centre of their communications strategy and they’re giving you a few ways to do it.
There is one simple guiding truth for you to know – you need to stop seeing Microsoft as a threat. Co-opetition is one of the leading trends that we are seeing for channel companies looking to win in the long term and the vast majority of vendors on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for UCaaS have already seen great success in offering a route into Microsoft for comms.
Whether it’s through a Direct Routing solution or through the Operator Connect marketplace, providers across the globe have already proven that they can are able to turn Microsoft Teams into one of their biggest opportunities to reduce churn and boost seat numbers.
Looking to learn more about how you can turn Microsoft Teams into one of your biggest strengths? Get in touch with us today.