Operate from anywhere Leaders open up.

Thinking ahead will get you everywhere.

That’s what today’s forward-leaning IT leaders will tell you: Early moves to the cloud put them ahead of the game when a whole new playing field was created for businesses in 2020.

Now, in 2021, the bases are being reset.

Gartner predicts that through 2021, remote work will increase by 41%, heralding a hybrid workplace where 30% of employees will work permanently from home, 30% will work from home one day a week, and 40% will be remote up to four days a week.

Total IT spend to support this new operate-from-anywhere environment will grow to $332 billion this year as organizations focus on both remote and on-site options as part of the same solution, says Gartner. But while immediate spending may rise, cost savings through platform consolidation is the ultimate name of the game.

“Many organizations, already hesitant to procure products with capabilities that overlap with those of existing collaboration tools, have started looking for opportunities to eliminate overlapping services, due to economic and business pressures,” say Gartner analysts in their latest Unified Communications as a Service Critical Capabilities report.

“Most organizations’ back-office telephony requirements can now be met by UCaaS providers, and many organizations can also fulfill their contact center requirements by using these providers’ adjacent contact center offerings.”

Thinking ahead will get you everywhere.

That’s what today’s forward-leaning IT leaders will tell you: Early moves to the cloud put them ahead of the game when a whole new playing field was created for businesses in 2020.

Now, in 2021, the bases are being reset.

Gartner predicts that through 2021, remote work will increase by 41%, heralding a hybrid workplace where 30% of employees will work permanently from home, 30% will work from home one day a week, and 40% will be remote up to four days a week.

Total IT spend to support this new operate-from-anywhere environment will grow to $332 billion this year as organizations focus on both remote and on-site options as part of the same solution, says Gartner. But while immediate spending may rise, cost savings through platform consolidation is the ultimate name of the game.

“Many organizations, already hesitant to procure products with capabilities that overlap with those of existing collaboration tools, have started looking for opportunities to eliminate overlapping services, due to economic and business pressures,” say Gartner analysts in their latest Unified Communications as a Service Critical Capabilities report.

“Most organizations’ back-office telephony requirements can now be met by UCaaS providers, and many organizations can also fulfill their contact center requirements by using these providers’ adjacent contact center offerings.”

Thinking ahead will get you everywhere.

That’s what today’s forward-leaning IT leaders will tell you: Early moves to the cloud put them ahead of the game when a whole new playing field was created for businesses in 2020.

Now, in 2021, the bases are being reset.

Gartner predicts that through 2021, remote work will increase by 41%, heralding a hybrid workplace where 30% of employees will work permanently from home, 30% will work from home one day a week, and 40% will be remote up to four days a week.

Total IT spend to support this new operate-from-anywhere environment will grow to $332 billion this year as organizations focus on both remote and on-site options as part of the same solution, says Gartner. But while immediate spending may rise, cost savings through platform consolidation is the ultimate name of the game.

“Many organizations, already hesitant to procure products with capabilities that overlap with those of existing collaboration tools, have started looking for opportunities to eliminate overlapping services, due to economic and business pressures,” say Gartner analysts in their latest Unified Communications as a Service Critical Capabilities report.

“Most organizations’ back-office telephony requirements can now be met by UCaaS providers, and many organizations can also fulfill their contact center requirements by using these providers’ adjacent contact center offerings.”

Thinking ahead will get you everywhere.

That’s what today’s forward-leaning IT leaders will tell you: Early moves to the cloud put them ahead of the game when a whole new playing field was created for businesses in 2020.

Now, in 2021, the bases are being reset.

Gartner predicts that through 2021, remote work will increase by 41%, heralding a hybrid workplace where 30% of employees will work permanently from home, 30% will work from home one day a week, and 40% will be remote up to four days a week.

Total IT spend to support this new operate-from-anywhere environment will grow to $332 billion this year as organizations focus on both remote and on-site options as part of the same solution, says Gartner. But while immediate spending may rise, cost savings through platform consolidation is the ultimate name of the game.

“Many organizations, already hesitant to procure products with capabilities that overlap with those of existing collaboration tools, have started looking for opportunities to eliminate overlapping services, due to economic and business pressures,” say Gartner analysts in their latest Unified Communications as a Service Critical Capabilities report.

“Most organizations’ back-office telephony requirements can now be met by UCaaS providers, and many organizations can also fulfill their contact center requirements by using these providers’ adjacent contact center offerings.”

Learn more about 8x8’s Open Communications Platform

Meet 8x8 X Series

Learn more about 8x8’s Open Communications Platform

Meet 8x8 X Series

No small change.

Even historically change-resistant contact centers are getting their day in the sun. Gartner forecasts:

In 2024, cloud contact center agents (56%) will exceed on-premises agents (44%), a transition that will have taken two decades.
On-premises contact centers will increasingly become technologically inferior compared to their cloud counterparts, resulting in a −12.5% CAGR for on-premises agents.
And by 2025, 40% of customer service organizations will become profit centers by becoming de facto leaders in digital customer engagement.

No small change.

Even historically change-resistant contact centers are getting their day in the sun. Gartner forecasts:

In 2024, cloud contact center agents (56%) will exceed on-premises agents (44%), a transition that will have taken two decades.
On-premises contact centers will increasingly become technologically inferior compared to their cloud counterparts, resulting in a −12.5% CAGR for on-premises agents.
And by 2025, 40% of customer service organizations will become profit centers by becoming de facto leaders in digital customer engagement.

No small change.

Even historically change-resistant contact centers are getting their day in the sun. Gartner forecasts:

In 2024, cloud contact center agents (56%) will exceed on-premises agents (44%), a transition that will have taken two decades.
On-premises contact centers will increasingly become technologically inferior compared to their cloud counterparts, resulting in a −12.5% CAGR for on-premises agents.
And by 2025, 40% of customer service organizations will become profit centers by becoming de facto leaders in digital customer engagement.

No small change.

Even historically change-resistant contact centers are getting their day in the sun. Gartner forecasts:

In 2024, cloud contact center agents (56%) will exceed on-premises agents (44%), a transition that will have taken two decades.
On-premises contact centers will increasingly become technologically inferior compared to their cloud counterparts, resulting in a −12.5% CAGR for on-premises agents.
And by 2025, 40% of customer service organizations will become profit centers by becoming de facto leaders in digital customer engagement.

Leaders open up.

Long-time tech leader Acer has seen big benefits from an early move to a cloud platform that unified communications across its seven Americas-based corporate offices and the company’s contact centers. Their forward thinking in 2019 proved profitable as demand for Acer’s computers and peripheral equipment for professionals, students and gamers skyrocketed with the move to all things remote in 2020.

“We already had everything ready for our contact center agents to have access and operate from anywhere,“ recalls Marcella Prieto, Senior Manager of Customer Service for Acer’s Pan-America Region. Even the contact center supervisors were sold. “At first, many of the call operations managers were concerned that they weren’t going to be able to supervise their agents like they had done in the in-office setting,” says Prieto, “but 8x8 has allowed them to monitor agent performance and run reports at any time.”

Confirms Mark Groveunder, Senior Vice President of IT and Service for Acer’s Pan-American region, “At Acer, we’ve seen the data and we’ve proven that work from home can work. Now that we’re doing it successfully, the expectation is that, even when we do return to offices, we’ll have a lot more people working from home.”

Leaders open up.

Long-time tech leader Acer has seen big benefits from an early move to a cloud platform that unified communications across its seven Americas-based corporate offices and the company’s contact centers. Their forward thinking in 2019 proved profitable as demand for Acer’s computers and peripheral equipment for professionals, students and gamers skyrocketed with the move to all things remote in 2020.

“We already had everything ready for our contact center agents to have access and operate from anywhere,“ recalls Marcella Prieto, Senior Manager of Customer Service for Acer’s Pan-America Region. Even the contact center supervisors were sold. “At first, many of the call operations managers were concerned that they weren’t going to be able to supervise their agents like they had done in the in-office setting,” says Prieto, “but 8x8 has allowed them to monitor agent performance and run reports at any time.”

Confirms Mark Groveunder, Senior Vice President of IT and Service for Acer’s Pan-American region, “At Acer, we’ve seen the data and we’ve proven that work from home can work. Now that we’re doing it successfully, the expectation is that, even when we do return to offices, we’ll have a lot more people working from home.”

Leaders open up.

Long-time tech leader Acer has seen big benefits from an early move to a cloud platform that unified communications across its seven Americas-based corporate offices and the company’s contact centers. Their forward thinking in 2019 proved profitable as demand for Acer’s computers and peripheral equipment for professionals, students and gamers skyrocketed with the move to all things remote in 2020.

“We already had everything ready for our contact center agents to have access and operate from anywhere,“ recalls Marcella Prieto, Senior Manager of Customer Service for Acer’s Pan-America Region. Even the contact center supervisors were sold. “At first, many of the call operations managers were concerned that they weren’t going to be able to supervise their agents like they had done in the in-office setting,” says Prieto, “but 8x8 has allowed them to monitor agent performance and run reports at any time.”

Confirms Mark Groveunder, Senior Vice President of IT and Service for Acer’s Pan-American region, “At Acer, we’ve seen the data and we’ve proven that work from home can work. Now that we’re doing it successfully, the expectation is that, even when we do return to offices, we’ll have a lot more people working from home.”

Leaders open up.

Long-time tech leader Acer has seen big benefits from an early move to a cloud platform that unified communications across its seven Americas-based corporate offices and the company’s contact centers. Their forward thinking in 2019 proved profitable as demand for Acer’s computers and peripheral equipment for professionals, students and gamers skyrocketed with the move to all things remote in 2020.

“We already had everything ready for our contact center agents to have access and operate from anywhere,“ recalls Marcella Prieto, Senior Manager of Customer Service for Acer’s Pan-America Region. Even the contact center supervisors were sold. “At first, many of the call operations managers were concerned that they weren’t going to be able to supervise their agents like they had done in the in-office setting,” says Prieto, “but 8x8 has allowed them to monitor agent performance and run reports at any time.”

Confirms Mark Groveunder, Senior Vice President of IT and Service for Acer’s Pan-American region, “At Acer, we’ve seen the data and we’ve proven that work from home can work. Now that we’re doing it successfully, the expectation is that, even when we do return to offices, we’ll have a lot more people working from home.”

“Like many other companies, Acer now sees the potential to reduce operating expenses by reducing their office footprint.”

Mark Groveunder

Sr. VP of IT and Service, Acer

Hear Acer IT and contact center leaders open up on their move to the cloud.

“Like many other companies, Acer now sees the potential to reduce operating expenses by reducing their office footprint.”

Mark Groveunder

Sr. VP of IT and Service, Acer

Hear Acer IT and contact center leaders open up on their move to the cloud.

“Like many other companies, Acer now sees the potential to reduce operating expenses by reducing their office footprint.”

Mark Groveunder

Sr. VP of IT and Service, Acer

Hear Acer IT and contact center leaders open up on their move to the cloud.

“Like many other companies, Acer now sees the potential to reduce operating expenses by reducing their office footprint.”

Mark Groveunder

Sr. VP of IT and Service, Acer

Hear Acer IT and contact center leaders open up on their move to the cloud.

Leaders extend their lead.

Collaboration. Cost savings. And the intelligence to know that early investments in a cloud platform were spot on then—and now? What’s not to like? Leaders across every industry are sharing similar stories, even those for whom the playing field really hasn’t changed that much.

“The ability to realize the value [of a cloud platform] over time is a big deal,” says Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Technology Brian Himstedt. “It’s not just the operational value when it comes to the platform—it’s the data insights, and the ability to which you can make those insights readily available across the organization to help us do our job better. The more we can use the data to help us make informed business decisions -- it all comes back to ROI.”

Leaders extend their lead.

Collaboration. Cost savings. And the intelligence to know that early investments in a cloud platform were spot on then—and now? What’s not to like? Leaders across every industry are sharing similar stories, even those for whom the playing field really hasn’t changed that much.

“The ability to realize the value [of a cloud platform] over time is a big deal,” says Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Technology Brian Himstedt. “It’s not just the operational value when it comes to the platform—it’s the data insights, and the ability to which you can make those insights readily available across the organization to help us do our job better. The more we can use the data to help us make informed business decisions -- it all comes back to ROI.”

Leaders extend their lead.

Collaboration. Cost savings. And the intelligence to know that early investments in a cloud platform were spot on then—and now? What’s not to like? Leaders across every industry are sharing similar stories, even those for whom the playing field really hasn’t changed that much.

“The ability to realize the value [of a cloud platform] over time is a big deal,” says Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Technology Brian Himstedt. “It’s not just the operational value when it comes to the platform—it’s the data insights, and the ability to which you can make those insights readily available across the organization to help us do our job better. The more we can use the data to help us make informed business decisions -- it all comes back to ROI.”

Leaders extend their lead.

Collaboration. Cost savings. And the intelligence to know that early investments in a cloud platform were spot on then—and now? What’s not to like? Leaders across every industry are sharing similar stories, even those for whom the playing field really hasn’t changed that much.

“The ability to realize the value [of a cloud platform] over time is a big deal,” says Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Technology Brian Himstedt. “It’s not just the operational value when it comes to the platform—it’s the data insights, and the ability to which you can make those insights readily available across the organization to help us do our job better. The more we can use the data to help us make informed business decisions -- it all comes back to ROI.”

Hear how the Kansas City Royals are winning with a unified communications and contact center platform.

Watch the on-demand webinar

Hear how the Kansas City Royals are winning with a unified communications and contact center platform.

Watch the on-demand webinar

Hear how the Kansas City Royals are winning with a unified communications and contact center platform.

Watch the on-demand webinar

Hear how the Kansas City Royals are winning with a unified communications and contact center platform.

Watch the on-demand webinar

Chapter Seven Review

In-office, on-premises, we aren’t going back that way. So organizations are looking at long-term, comprehensive cloud solutions to support the new operate-from-anywhere workplace. Tech industry leaders like Acer will tell you that a platform approach that connects corporate and contact center communications can provide a competitive and digital transformation advantage. Sports industry leaders like the Kansas City Royals will say the same. So will financial industry leaders like Live Oak Bank. So will retail industry leaders like Halford’s. And so on, and so on.

Helpful Resources

Learn more about 8x8’s All-in-One Communications Platform

Request more information on 8x8 or a demo

Report: The ROI of Uniting Unified Communications and Contact Center

Infographic: The High Cost of Siloed Communications

Report: Reducing Team Communications Silos for Better Worker ROI

Report: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide

Chapter Seven Review

In-office, on-premises, we aren’t going back that way. So organizations are looking at long-term, comprehensive cloud solutions to support the new operate-from-anywhere workplace. Tech industry leaders like Acer will tell you that a platform approach that connects corporate and contact center communications can provide a competitive and digital transformation advantage. Sports industry leaders like the Kansas City Royals will say the same. So will financial industry leaders like Live Oak Bank. So will retail industry leaders like Halford’s. And so on, and so on.

Helpful Resources

Learn more about 8x8’s All-in-One Communications Platform

Request more information on 8x8 or a demo

Report: The ROI of Uniting Unified Communications and Contact Center

Infographic: The High Cost of Siloed Communications

Report: Reducing Team Communications Silos for Better Worker ROI

Report: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide

Chapter Seven Review

In-office, on-premises, we aren’t going back that way. So organizations are looking at long-term, comprehensive cloud solutions to support the new operate-from-anywhere workplace. Tech industry leaders like Acer will tell you that a platform approach that connects corporate and contact center communications can provide a competitive and digital transformation advantage. Sports industry leaders like the Kansas City Royals will say the same. So will financial industry leaders like Live Oak Bank. So will retail industry leaders like Halford’s. And so on, and so on.

Helpful Resources

Learn more about 8x8’s All-in-One Communications Platform

Request more information on 8x8 or a demo

Report: The ROI of Uniting Unified Communications and Contact Center

Infographic: The High Cost of Siloed Communications

Report: Reducing Team Communications Silos for Better Worker ROI

Report: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide

Chapter Seven Review

In-office, on-premises, we aren’t going back that way. So organizations are looking at long-term, comprehensive cloud solutions to support the new operate-from-anywhere workplace. Tech industry leaders like Acer will tell you that a platform approach that connects corporate and contact center communications can provide a competitive and digital transformation advantage. Sports industry leaders like the Kansas City Royals will say the same. So will financial industry leaders like Live Oak Bank. So will retail industry leaders like Halford’s. And so on, and so on.