The answer is that it depends on the specifics of each situation. Prospects should perform both total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI) analyses to assess their unique needs, but there are also some generally applicable guidelines to follow.
It’s likely to be more beneficial to purchase a premises-based solution if your organization:
• Plans to keep the contact center solution for more than three years
• Does not plan to upgrade it
• Has relatively experienced resources to staff and support it
• Does not need to scale up and down
• Has the money to make a large up-front capital investment
It’s likely to be more beneficial to use a cloud contact center infrastructure solution if your organization:
• Is capital-constrained
• Plans to implement new functionality in order to gain a competitive advantage
• Needs many people to maintain a premises-based solution
• Needs to scale up and down throughout the year
• Uses multiple sites, which may include at-home agents
Many chief financial officers prefer to invest in cloud solutions rather than purchasing licenses for systems and applications, because it gives them more flexibility. Cloud solutions require no capital investment, little to no implementation and integration fees, payments that scale in line with business activity, no support costs, limited risk and obligations, and ongoing investment protection (no need to pay for upgrades).
Author: Donna Fluss, founder and president of DMG Consulting LLC, is highly regarded by industry, enterprise, contact center and financial leaders as one of the foremost experts on contact center, analytics and the back office. With 29 years of experience helping organizations build world-class contact centers, and assisting vendors to develop and deliver competitive solutions, Fluss created DMG Consulting to deliver unparalleled and unbiased research, analysis and consulting services. She is a renowned speaker, author and expert source for numerous industry and business publications.
Source: InIn
