CaaS Week in Review

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

Communications keep businesses running. Everyone who has a product or a service to offer turns to communications as a means to let others know about those products and services, so that makes communications in general deeply important. New advances arise around communications every day, particularly in the form of communications-as-a-service (CaaS). So with all those developments in mind, and a weekend on hand, it's a great time to step back and consider the wider week's events, which we'll do now with our Week in Review coverage.

First, we had a look about what to think about in terms of moving communications to the cloud. Essentially the basis of CaaS as a whole, there are several points associated with making such a move, like how hosted systems can make business communication a more unified proposition, what to consider on the hardware side of things—especially in terms of business phones—and how to find the resources that will help make decisions easier to make.

Next, ClearOne (News - Alert) stepped in to make some news as it completed an acquisition of Dialcom Networks' Spontania. With Spontania in place, ClearOne could make a complete video collaboration system, and having such a system on hand would make ClearOne the first—and currently only, at last report—company to offer a complete line of software-based video conferencing product that can work on any level, from complete conference room systems to the personal user level.

The Oracle Sales Cloud system made our next bit of news, bringing out a series of new enhancements to the system to make it more powerful and easy to use. The enhancements to the Oracle (News - Alert) Sales Cloud system include a set of dashboards that can be configured in real-time to help improve the likelihood that reps will make sales, and also to help make sales targets more predictably reached. Meanwhile, improvements in ease of use mean less training to get new reps on the system, and that means less time spent on sales maintenance, and more time spent selling.

Then we had a look at a new offering from Lagrange Systems, the SMB Hosted Solution. Geared toward small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the SMB Hosted Solution offers a complete solution to back up e-commerce systems. It offers up hosting and load balancing services, along with caching, security and consulting to keep it all running. Those interested will be able to get in for $1,500, with website hosting included, so those looking to expand an e-commerce position should check it out further.

Finally, we had a look at what CaaS could do directly for a business' bottom line. Oxford Health brought out some information, noting that the NHS Foundation Trust turned to a cloud-based telephony system, in a move that was expected to save the organization $1.68 million over the next five years. The cloud-based telephony system was expected to replace four phone systems, as well as additional lines, and with the cloud-based system, which saves money by replacing legacy systems, improving mobility and adding business continuity as well.

That was the week that was in CaaS, and from new products to bottom-line savings, it was a big week for the platform indeed. Our global online community was constantly on the hunt for fresh information in the field, so be sure to join us back here next week for all the latest, as well as every weekend for our Week in Review!