The digital age has an ever increasing impact on the way in which we communicate with each other. In view of this, our penultimate blog discussed the requirements to be met by a modern attendant solution. Yet before a new attendant solution can be commissioned at all, companies have to think about how this will be implemented. As you certainly all know, two scenarios in particular are under discussion in this connection: should the Unified Communication solution be obtained from the cloud or should it be operated on the company infrastructure? In the case of UC from the cloud, experts refer to UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) or also Hosted UC, i.e. the UC service is taken from the cloud. If, on the other hand, a company uses its own servers for implementation, it has opted for an on-premises solution.

It is clear that a decision for a cloud or on-premises solution largely depends on the company's requirements and ideas with regard to the new UC solution. If you talk to UC experts about this topic, one thing becomes clear: neither UCaaS nor on-premises UC is better – both approaches are simply different and each has its own advantages depending on the field of application. For this reason, the following factors must definitely be taken into consideration when planning a new UC solution.

1. Distribution of staff

Do all employees work at the same location? Is mobile working important or even mandatory for your company? If mobility is a key requirement for the new UC solution, there are certainly strong arguments for choosing UCaaS, as the cloud offers more flexibility in this regard. But if a large number of people are working in the same building and only rarely leave this location to perform their work, an on-premises solution is probably the better alternative.

2. Customizations of the UC solution

If the standard functions and features of the UC solution are not sufficient for a company, UCaaS is not the best option, for in this respect solutions from the cloud are quite limited. As soon as customizations of the UC solution are desired, an on-premises installation is most certainly the better choice. One reason for the on-premises solution could, for example, be the mandatory integration of existing business applications into the UC solution.

3. Scalability

Depending on the requirements and area of application, scalability of the UC solution is a major topic. In contrast to the on-premises solution, a UCaaS solution is very dynamic. If high scalability is required, both for the solution itself and the number of users, you should opt for UC from the cloud. In most cases, with UCaaS the number of users can even be adapted "on the fly"

4. Costs of the UC solution

The two solutions also differ with respect to the payment models. If a company prefers to pay for the infrastructure and solution up front and amortize the costs in subsequent years, an on-premises solution is certainly the better choice. In contrast, in most cases UCaaS solutions offer a subscription pricing model, i.e. payment on a per-month and per-user basis. Another important point to consider is the planned service life of the UC solution. The longer this is, the more worthwhile it probably is to buy the solution, i.e. to opt for an on-premises solution.

5. Global or regular use

This factor should also not be underestimated. If a company is planning to use the UC solution only regionally, UCaaS can definitely be considered. If, however, a standardized solution is intended for global use, an on-premises solution again probably offers more advantages. Many UCaaS providers only act in a particular country or individual region. With global use, several UCaaS providers which offer the same UC service would therefore be required.

So there are some aspects which speak in favor of the use of one or the other solution – this is always highly individual. The following overview is intended to help in the decision-making process: 

Being aware of your company's requirements is the key to success when deciding on your new UC solution. Would you like to discuss with us which approch would suit your company best? Contact us, our experts are happy to help.

Further information regarding this subject: b+s Cloud Services UCaaS 
Bucher + Suter AG is a member company of the Noser Group.