Time To Lead: Cloud Vendors Need To Take Charge of Hybrid Cloud Deployments

  For the past few weeks Twitter has been abuzz with talk of Hybrid Cloud.  From Dave Michels' article in NoJitter to Gartner to Phil Wainewright's heady piece comparing multi-tenant to multi-instance deployment, Hybrid Cloud is the topic du jour (or at least for this cycle).  But is there anything new here?  I have worked on many "hybrid" cloud deployments, we just never gave it a name. 

  My first thought was that the analysts were finally discussing what has been a necessary evil for solution providers.  Rarely are deployments ever ideal - in which the customer needs exactly what you sell and nothing else.  Few cloud vendors offer everything an enterprise needs or considers part of their telco ecosystem (something that must be redefined for every client) and those who do offer "everything" have such a watered-down offering that best-in-breed rarely defines any part of their stack.   A good salesperson or consultant knows when to look elsewhere for a critical component to their overall solution, not only to satisfy the customer but also to maintain their integrity.  The result is a Hybrid Cloud deployment.

  Setting aside Wainewright's detailed discussion of multi-tenant vs. multi-instance (but only for a minute - it's very interesting too), I'd like to draw a distinction between two kinds of Hybrid Cloud solutions.  The first I call cloud-cloud (feel free to help me with a better name): two or more cloud application providers integrate to deliver a complete solution for the client.  The second kind of Hybrid Cloud deployment is a cloud-premise mix in which a cloud provider (ACD for example) integrates with an on-premise solution (a PBX let's say).  The third kind is really just an amalgamation of the first two in which there are multiple cloud applications and one or more on-premise systems with which to integrate.  This third kind of Hybrid Cloud solution requires significant resource investment from the client (especially in project bandwidth), not to mention patience and vision.

  Speaking of patience and vision...this is something I would like to see more of in the contact center space.  It will be 2014 in a few days and still very few companies have a coherent vision for what their customer experience is supposed to be.  There is nothing more frustrating than getting wrapped around the axle on features and functions without having a clear goal.  I try very hard to help guide the conversation towards more holistic design but those opportunities, those thrilling engagements, are few and far between.  More often cloud vendors are filling a gap in the incumbent's product leading, once again, to a Hybrid Cloud deployment.

  By the way - the reason cloud vendors find themselves plugging holes rather than leading the CX charge is because very few are project focused.  I have seen first-hand how the need to push product (sell what's on the bus - they say) degrades a cloud vendor's ability to implement complex solutions involving more than one vendor.  Sure, cloud vendors are often in the mix but they rarely lead these deployments.  Instead a channel partner from one of the big hardware guys leads.  Unfortunately biases persist and system integrators retreat to their comfort zone and push a less-than-ideal solution rather than stretch and grow by integrating with a better but less familiar cloud application.  A focused client can overcome this by staying engaged but isn't that what they hired the system integrator to do? 

  Because cloud vendors are required to integrate in most of their enterprise engagements they should be very experienced at leading these kinds of deployments.  Unfortunately most are not.  I happen to work for one of the few cloud vendors with decades of experience leading complex deployments that include multiple vendors.  Their project focus was what attracted me.  Companies like this will have a healthy mix of multi-tenant and multi-instance deployments.  Multi-tenant pays the bills and keeps the lights on but multi-instance is where the creative work really gets done.  For those customers who need version control, rock-solid performance and uptime, redundant telco paths, and custom code and integrations, separate-redundant instances fits the bill.  For those clients who truly want a best-in-breed CX solution, look for a vendor that:

• Is highly experienced 
• Knows their strengths 
• Willing to work with other vendors 
• Has the bandwidth and expertise to manage the project
• Offers and Enterprise Support Model and stays engaged post-deployment
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  Hybrid Cloud is not new but we will see a lot more of these kinds of deployments because Cloud has arrived.  Hopefully a few more cloud vendors will step up and start leading complex deployments.  When that becomes the norm the old hardware guys will finally have something to worry about.