Workforce Management Featured Article
Why Workforce Management in the Cloud?
With all the hype surrounding the cloud, many a purchasing manager or IT decision maker is left wondering whether the benefits truly deliver or if on-premise deployments are still the reliable route. The consistently increasing number of cloud deployments in everything from data backup to workforce management demonstrates the benefits must be more than just hype.
Last week, Monet Software posted a new blog concerning this very topic. The writer suggests that cloud computing will continue to move at full speed in 2012 as more and more call center software solutions, including CRM, ACD, PBX (News - Alert) and workforce management are delivered through the cloud. A number of companies have identified the benefits of such a migration and are taking the leap for a number of reasons.
Here, we’ll take a look at some reasons why a move may be worthwhile for your organization:
Ease of use – no technology advancement is easily accepted if it’s difficult to use. When this occurs, demonstrating ROI is difficult. Cloud-based solutions, by comparison, are designed to enable fast adoption, even with little training.
Low investment – it’s much easier to stake your case for making an internal change when the change costs very little. Traditional deployments within the call center demanded significant upfront investments. Now, the investment for workforce management and other cloud-based investments is either eliminated or substantially reduced with cloud-based deployments.
Speedy Implementation – software implementation projects were often long and painful processes, which generally delayed the software rollout to meet the changing needs of the business. Those organizations interested in the benefits of workforce management can instantly create an account, configure the platform and even use self-service to rollout and use the solution in just weeks, if not days.
No maintenance / latest version – when your operation relies heavily on the network and supporting applications to conduct standard businesses processes, everything could come to a halt if the system goes down due to a faulty server, outdated software, etc. The cloud-based workforce management solution is served by the provider on their end and the customer never has to feel the pain of updates. Plus, instant access to updates means you always have the latest version.
Virtual call centers – call centers throughout the world have a number of different locations, including home-based agents. When these organizations leverage workforce management in the cloud, all agents and the center have access to a consistent infrastructure to forecasting, scheduling, etc.
As companies continue to adopt technology solutions in the cloud, their reasons for doing so extend beyond what is listed here. The point is that the benefits in such deployments are not just hype, they truly are demonstrated through workforce management and other robust deployments for the call center.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Chris DiMarco