September 30, 2020

Cloud vs. Hybrid Collaboration. Which is Right for You?

Understanding Cloud and Hybrid Collaboration Solutions

The world is changing, and the way organizations collaborate and communicate is now different. In-office meetings or traveling to meet with colleagues or customers have been replaced with video conferencing solutions. Organizations are relying on collaboration tools to get their work done, whether they are working from home, in-office or on the go.

Most businesses have a mix of hardware, software and data centres that have been added over time. It is important to look deeper and understand the solutions you currently have available and the changes required to prepare for your new collaboration solution. It will be valuable to define your company’s needs and the capabilities required to best serve your employees and customers and make a decision on the necessary hardware and software required for the transition.

The Right Collaboration Solution with Cisco Webex

The right collaboration solution accelerates the pace of business and increases productivity and engagement within your workplace and allows you to attract and retain the best talent. Cisco Webex provides a single, unified platform integrating all your collaboration needs to deliver a simple, intelligent, and delightful experience for customers. Our platform enables you to call, meet and message from one single application.

Webex integrates seamlessly into many industry-leading applications, allowing your team to keep their current workflow without missing a beat. Our integrated solution provides complete collaboration without compromising your convenience, security, and privacy. We provide flexible deployments giving you the option to take advantage of our cloud or hybrid collaboration solutions based on your business needs.

Cloud Collaboration Deployments

Cloud Collaboration deployments allow customers to move their resources, data storage, applications, servers and networks to the cloud. Cloud deployments have been proven to be secure, reliable and cost-effective. More and more organizations are moving their infrastructure to the cloud because cloud collaboration solutions provide lower upfront costs, less maintenance, and reduced infrastructure requirement, with the option to scale up and down as needed. They also enhance team collaboration and increase employee productivity and engagement.

With cloud video conferencing, your system can be up and running in minutes, allowing you to connect with your colleagues and customers with high-quality audio and video. Users are able to seamlessly communicate face to face, while administrators have an easier way to manage and provide effective collaboration. Video conferencing solutions transform your meeting experience and provide you with the freedom to communicate effectively with multiple locations and collaborate with remote stakeholders.

Capabilities You Can Trust

Cisco Webex provides a modern and easy to use interface to meet, call and message and it seamlessly integrates with your current workflow and applications. Cisco Webex delivers powerful AI and machine learning capabilities across the Webex portfolio. With capabilities such as voice intelligence, real-time transcription, People Insights, Facial Recognition, and Webex Assistant, Cisco Webex helps teams work smarter and better, no matter where they are. Administrators can take advantage of the intuitive, single-pane-of-glass management portal with real-time actionable insights to scale up and down, and provision, administer and manage their Cisco Webex services. Our built-in security and compliance requirements provide you with strong encryption, compliance visibility, and control while collaborating inside and outside your organization.

Hybrid Collaboration Deployments

Moving to the cloud does not have to be an all or nothing solution. Many organizations have made significant on-premises investments and they leverage the hybrid approach, transitioning some systems to the cloud while continuing to run others on their on-premises infrastructure. Hybrid deployments allow you to make the transition to the cloud at the pace suitable for your organization while maximizing your existing investments. According to Nemertes Research, “Hybrid enables organizations to adopt cloud strategically, delivering less disruption and faster access to specific capabilities like meetings and team collaboration from the cloud.”

About the Best Migration Path for Your Business

Cisco Webex allows customers to select the best migration path suited for their business needs and goals. Our flexible deployments enable customers to connect to the Webex Cloud and take advantage of the latest cloud innovations while protecting their existing investment and infrastructure. Cisco Webex Cloud is secure, reliable and highly available with unmatched performance.

The Webex Cloud is built and optimized for real-time media, with a global network that is engineered for effective meetings. It provides greater quality, reliability, and security that is impossible to achieve on the open and public internet.

Next Steps

Organizations around the world are embracing cloud collaboration solutions to provide a greater experience to their employees and customers. They rely on Webex to get their work done and collaborate with their teams, partners, and customers anywhere in the world.

We have a suite of Hybrid Solutions that can help you connect your on-premises solutions to the cloud and experience significant cost savings, and high-quality audio and video, with the latest innovations and cognitive features.

Get started on Webex Teams

Our expert team is here to help you learn more about the power of a cloud collaboration solution or guide you on the first steps of your migration journey. Get in contact with our team to start the conversation and see how Cisco Webex can improve collaboration in your organisation.