There’s been a lot of buzz lately regarding multicloud, but it can still be hard to grasp why it even matters. I’ll start with a quick definition. In its simplest terms, Genesys multicloud is an ecosystem of leading cloud platforms and technology providers, including the option to choose public or private cloud deployments. And the benefits are many.

If you run a call centre, here are the top four things you should understand about the power of a multicloud solution.

  1. Get New Features Fast — Really Fast

You might not even realise it but, as a consumer, you have an expectation of continuous updates. Whether you use the apps on your phone or the web, when you open LinkedIn, The Weather Channel, ESPN or the Chipotle app, your expectation is that you’re using the most current version with all the latest buttons and features — and your rewards points should be up to date, too. Gone forever are the days of manually updating apps.

Now, if you work in a call centre, think about the applications and systems you use and depend on every day. If your last new version upgrade happened many months or even years ago, or if you’ve been told that any new functionality, such as adding SMS or social as a customer service channel, will take six to 12 or more months, it’s time to explore how a multicloud architecture allows for ease of upgrades and speed of deployment.

By containerising our Genesys Multicloud CX™ contact centre software, our customers reap the benefits of a cloud solution (continuous delivery, scalability, resiliency) — whether they’re all-in with our Software as a Service (SaaS) model or elect to keep it as a private cloud that’s either customer- or partner-operated. New features and functionality are available no matter how your deploy your tech stack.

  1. More Options for Upgrading Than Ever Before

For those who’ve have been in the contact centre industry for some time, it goes without saying that everything seems to be difficult, expensive and takes a lot longer than it should — whether it’s adding new features, deploying a new channel or updating the IVR.

The ease and accessibility of cloud-based applications changes all of that. With multicloud, it’s easy to add new functionalities like voicebots to your existing IVR or a chatbot to your website – no matter if it’s Amazon Lex, Google Bot, IBM Watson or any other niche bot. The open framework makes integration straightforward, often with no physical hardware necessary.

The flexibility of multicloud extends to your agents, too. Today’s agents depend on multiple systems and applications to get the job done, many of which are cloud-based. It’s both an “art” and “science” to design an ideal agent desktop – and that’s where the flexibility of multicloud comes in. Make your contact centre application primary for the agent, with applications like Salesforce or Adobe as pop-ups or embedded as clickable icons or links. Or you could have your CRM application take up the prime desktop real estate with other applications embedded or just one-click away. Why? Because intuitive, easy-to-use desktops make for productive agents.

  1. Land Where You Fit Best — All-in-One or Best-of-Breed

The power and benefits of an all-in-one solution are undeniable. When applications are pre-integrated or built from the ground-up to work together, ease of installation, use and management is evidenced in time-to-value and the ability to successfully run your business. For instance, with an all-in-one contact centre application, you can start with inbound and outbound voice calls – and the moment you’re ready to add a new digital channel (web chat, messaging app, email), it’s a simple as enabling the functionality, building the work flow, and assigning agents. And from the very start, that new digital channel is automatically included in your reports and a cohesive part of your customer’s journey.

But there’s also a valid argument for those who prefer a best-of-breed approach — where they look for industry-leading vendors across different functionality (i.e., workforce management, IVR, CRM). These organisations may select vendor A for workforce scheduling software, vendor B for their outbound dialler, and vendor C for the remainder of their contact centre functionality. Organisations that take this best-of-breed approach benefit from the openness of a multicloud architecture.

For instance, you’re using the Microsoft 365 suite of applications and want to expand the collaboration capabilities of Teams into your contact centre, it’s no problem. Or if you have numerous different bots to manage from several acquisitions (one excels with German while another helps with compliance that’s specific to your industry), Genesys Multicloud CX and our muticloud architecture lets you orchestrate all of your bots in a manner that makes the best of each technology and capability.

  1. Execute Your Cloud Strategy, No Matter What It Is

Those who are closest to your corporate cloud strategy might find this the most exciting of all. Whether your strategy is to get to cloud ASAP, make the move in a couple of years or remain on-premises in a private cloud, it’s no problem. Maybe you signed on with one of the leading Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers (Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Adobe Cloud), and you’re looking to move all your systems and applications over – that’s no problem, either.

Want to keep managing your contact centre application with your own IT team, no problem. And if there comes a time when you’re looking to change who’s responsible for the operation and management of the solution (vendor, partner or yourself), a multicloud architecture not only makes this possible, it makes it simpler and straightforward.

Bottom line is that there are so many benefits to a muticloud approach. If you’ve already selected the cloud(s) and IaaS provider you want to use, Genesys gives you that flexibility. If you’re looking to make the move to cloud with either a partner or Genesys taking care of the maintenance and operation, you have that choice as well. In summary, the Genesys Multicloud CX architecture gives you the flexibility to choose where you want to deploy, who you want to operate, when you upgrade and how you mix-and-match your tech stack.

To learn more about containers, read Randy Carter’s blog “Containers and Genesys Multicloud CX: Expanding on What’s Possible, and Tod Famous’ blog “Delivering a Multicloud, Multivendor Future for Enterprise Contact Centres.”

And learn more about Genesys Multicloud CX, visit here.