Cloud contact services tend to be cheaper, safer, and more accessible than on-premise call centers. So why do so many enterprises keep wasting money on an inferior model?
It turns out there’s a raft of bad reasons for maintaining the status quo. Get ready for the justifications executives furnish for holding on to their on-premise solutions — and why those arguments just don’t add up:
Reason No. 1: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Ah yes, the old chestnut of keeping equipment as long as it runs. Lots of IT managers lean on this adage when they don’t like change, or fear introducing too much novelty will disrupt the business.
To be sure, there’s a certain value to resisting the temptation to replace solutions that are working just fine. No need to tinker with a proven formula. Just because there are new ways of doing things doesn’t mean you should abandon the old ways.
For all its virtues, that reason isn’t very persuasive when it comes to cloud migrations. Services like Five9 can accelerate outbound calling speed by more than 40%. Think of it like the difference between an old manual typewriter and a modern keyboard.
The question isn’t whether on-site services are broken, but whether they’re working as well as cloud alternatives. Put that way, it’s not so clear companies should be clinging to on-premise solutions.
Reason No. 2: We spent a lot to make our contact center on-premise. Let’s at least recoup our investment.
Closely related to the argument that we shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken is an argument about getting a return on your investment.
There’s a good reason this justification makes the rounds: On-premise equipment costs a lot to install and maintain. You’re already in deep, the reasoning goes, so you might as well double down. Get a return on your investment before moving to a new solution.
Investments notwithstanding, throwing away money in the present just because you threw away money in the past epitomizes bad decision-making. It’s a classic instance of the sunk-cost fallacy, which defends continued expenses on the basis of prior investments.
The truth is, it’s usually better to cut losses than to continue hemorrhaging costs in the name of perseverance. Being averse to loss can sometimes blind one to opportunities for gain.
Run the receipts before you insist on keeping your contact center operations on-premise. Does the data support staying the course? Or do the numbers point to a cloud-based future?
Reason No. 3: On-premise solutions offer greater peace of mind. After all, you have a lot more control over what’s right there all the time.
There’s a certain comfort that comes from maintaining contact centers onsite. You’ve installed the equipment and acquired the license. Then, you’ve customized your solution and adapted it for your office. From there, you’ve overseen ongoing security updates to protect it.
Doesn’t moving this familiar setup to a location you can’t see or directly maintain sacrifice peace of mind?
It’s easy to see the emotional appeal of this line of reasoning, particularly when a firm works in heavily regulated industries.
Unfortunately, the conviction that on-premise infrastructure offers greater security and control turns out to be a mirage. Appearances to the contrary, most companies can’t prevent onsite data loss and compromise the way offsite data centers can. Cloud-based solutions make new integrations fast and seamless. It’s usually easier to craft a solution that fits your enterprise’s evolving needs in the cloud than on-premise.
Every contact center is different, of course. There might be good reasons for some to stick with on-premise call centers and their infrastructures. But don’t get taken in by bad justifications for sticking to onsite solutions. For the vast majority of such firms, migrating data to the cloud represents a better value. The numbers don’t lie — but managers who cling to old ways sometimes do.
