Long before cloud was on the tip of every IT and business leaders’ tongues, it was the backdrop for the second film of the classic “Star Wars” trilogy, “The Empire Strikes Back.” I’m not referring to the cloud as we know it today, of course, but Cloud City, the “metropolis of sophisticated beauty and political freedom,” perched on the planet Bespin.

Cloud City, the place where Han Solo was encased in carbonite, was known as “a sanctuary for those trying to escape the turmoil gripping the galaxy.” And, it has far more parallels to today’s customer experience climate than one might think. Just consider the intricacies and challenges for customer experience leaders every day. An ever-growing list of channels to manage, connecting multiple systems in use, harnessing an inordinate amount of data to deliver more personalised service, to name just a few.

Today, the cloud serves as the sanctuary to provide organisations with the freedom to deliver experiences so good they exist in our galaxy — not one that’s far, far away. While plenty of organisations already have moved to the cloud, an increasing number are still carefully considering how the shift will support their credo to provide better customer experiences.

We’re at a point where it’s no longer a question of if organisations will make the jump to the cloud, but when. Trends across our own customer base show that the time is now for many businesses. In fact, nearly 70% of new customers chose a cloud solution from Genesys last year.

Which leads us to the next chapter in the Genesys story.

PureCloud Is Now Genesys Cloud

While Genesys has been a leading provider of on-premises contact centre solutions throughout our nearly 30-year history, we’ve undergone a transformation. Today, we have emerged as the world’s leading public cloud contact centre provider.

To better reflect who we are as a company and how we’re helping our customers, we have changed the name of our flagship software as a service (SaaS) offering from the PureCloud application® to Genesys Cloud™.

This isn’t just a name change though. It publicly reflects the way we’ve been innovating and going to market for quite some time. As a cloud company, we’re creating and delivering all our new innovations in Genesys Cloud — and then making them available to Genesys Multicloud CX (formerly PureEngage) and PureConnect customers. This enables all of our customers — those using cloud, on-premises and hybrid solutions — to adopt new Genesys technologies faster.

Genesys Cloud is more than just another SaaS offering; it’s both an all-in-one solution and an innovative development platform. Like Cloud City, Genesys Cloud gives its customers freedom and sophistication. With its open APIs, immense scalability and reliability, Genesys Cloud is the world’s leading public cloud contact centre platform helping organisations of all sizes across the globe provide better experiences to their customers and employees.

Introducing Experience as a Service

At the same time, we’re launching Experience as a ServiceSM powered by Genesys Cloud, which enables organisations to achieve true personalisation at scale.

We all know the notion of personalised service is not a new concept. However, I would argue very few businesses get it right. While plenty of organisations are good at targeting personas or market segments, few deliver truly memorable, one-of-a-kind customer interactions through personalisation. The challenge lies in effectively analysing the copious amounts of data that omnichannel interactions create. When organisations leverage the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI), they can provide the level of personalisation consumers demand — that’s what we enable with Genesys Cloud.

The Force Is With Us

Delivering Experience as a Service and getting personalisation right is bigger than Genesys alone. It takes a cohesive ecosystem of partners. To that end, we’re focused on strengthening strong strategic alliances with the most forward-thinking technology providers in the world, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Salesforce, Zoom Video Communications and more. Together, we’re making it easier for organisations to integrate solutions and connect data between disparate systems to link every step of their customers’ journeys.

We’re also putting additional focus on our partner network, working more closely than ever with companies, like Accenture, Avtex, Cognizant, ConvergeOne, NTT and Orange Business Services, to ensure our customers have the right support in place to execute on their cloud strategies. Finally, to help organisations extend the Genesys Cloud platform with seamless access to cutting-edge applications, integrations and services, we continue to grow the AppFoundry with innovative companies like eMite, Mobile Office and Softphone.

2020: Building on the Foundation

As I look back on the many conversations I’ve had with customers, partners and employees since joining Genesys, one thing stands out: All businesses are looking for the same thing. They all want to reach customers in the right way — addressing their every need with empathy so each experience feels unique. Through Experience as a Service, we’re the best-positioned company in the industry to make it a reality.

When I look to 2020, I’m particularly excited because I know Genesys already has the foundational elements to help businesses deliver personalisation in the right way — with Genesys Cloud, Genesys AI and our AI orchestration. We have the expertise, relationships, innovation and the right team.

And just as Lando Calrissian, the legendary Rebellion general, says, “You truly belong here with us among the clouds.”