Security, network services top enterprise challenges for deploying UCaaS, CCaaS

With distributed working taking place on unprecedented levels, unified-communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and contact-centre-as-a-service (CCaaS) solutions have never been so important, but businesses are still finding their implementation a challenge.

According to a market trends report based on research by software-defined network and cloud platform provider Masergy, security and network services are the top challenges for enterprises deploying or considering UCaaS and CCaaS technologies, and decision-makers prefer bundled solutions that add security features, a software-defined network and 24/7 performance monitoring.

Conducted in partnership with IDG Research, the study analysed responses from IT decision-makers at global enterprises that are evaluating, planning to implement, or have implemented UCaaS or CCaaS. Findings revealed that data security and network performance were the top two areas that IT focuses on to ensure their UCaaS and CCaaS solutions are successfully delivering on business goals.

As regards security, 70% said it was an issue with regards to UCaas and CCaaS deployments, and 93% found it highly important that security features and services were bundled with their UCaaS and CCaaS solutions. As many as 46% said the issue was critical.

Maintaining consistent service globally and managing network performance were also top concerns, as cited by 63% and 57% of the respondents, respectively. These matters, said Masergy, reflected the nature of the solutions available on the market today. It added that both UCaaS and CCaaS were mission-critical and that poor service levels could directly impact daily business operations by reducing productivity and creating poor customer experience.

Moreover, integrated solutions from a single provider were found to be taking precedence, because respondents said they result in easier implementation and management with better visibility and fewer integration issues. Masergy’s study found that increased IT flexibility was the top driver (40%) of a UCaaS or CCaaS investment and just more than half (51%) of respondents preferred an integrated UCaaS/CCaaS solution – one that includes network services from a single provider.

In addition, as many as 93% said that it was highly important that their UCaaS and CCaaS solutions came bundled with network services in a single, seamless approach. In addition, when considering network service to support UCaaS and CCaaS, 90% of respondents rated a fully managed service with 24/7 monitoring and a software-defined network (SD-WAN) as highly important criteria. More than half of the respondents’ organisations (51%) currently use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking with their UCaaS and CCaaS solutions.

Masergy said the bottom line was that although data security and network performance are legitimate concerns for adopting a UCaaS or CCaaS solution, they don’t have to prevent organisations from realising the benefits of moving to the cloud and modernising their business. A bundled solution from a managed service provider can provide the assurance organisations require to move their mission-critical workloads to the cloud with confidence.

“The maturity of UCaaS and CCaaS has today’s decision-makers less worried about technology features and more concerned about secure application performance across the network and the cloud,” said Masergy chief digital officer Terry Traina. “No other UCaaS/CCaaS provider on the market is better positioned to address the breadth of IT needs with a single platform. Masergy’s SD-WAN, security and cloud applications unite to deliver global performance for critical communication applications.”