Pharmaceutical Focus // Technology
Taking mid-market companies to the cloud
The move to the cloud is inevitable for all industries . At Avaya , the company ’ s goal is to ensure that mid-market companies don ’ t get left behind . Danny Drew , Avaya ’ s MD for South Africa explains its relevance .
Let ’ s be honest , being in the middle isn ’ t always seen as a good thing . The ‘ middle of the road ’ isn ’ t an especially fl attering description , while being ‘ piggy in the middle ’ isn ’ t a desirable position . But when it comes to the midmarket , we can fi nd middle ground .
According to the Banking Association South Africa , small and medium-sized enterprises account for about a third of the country ’ s GDP and provide employment to approximately 60 percent of the labour force .
That sort of performance should make the mid-market attractive to IT vendors , with plenty of offerings packaged to the sector ’ s needs . Unfortunately , all too often , we fi nd that mid-market customers are overlooked . Vendors either focus on their larger enterprise customers , or provide consumer-level solutions that don ’ t deliver the scalability mid-market companies need .
A good fit for pharma
Mid-market companies are facing the same challenges digital disruption presents to larger enterprises , while often having made considerable infrastructure investments they don ’ t want to abandon overnight . Smaller companies can take the plunge and leverage new trends such as the cloud ,
yet mid-market companies may not have as much fl exibility and agility to adapt . Still , as cloud adoption continues to grow in South Africa , small and mid-sized companies will have to consider it at some point .
To give an example , pharmaceutical manufacturers globally are increasingly looking at cloud-based solutions , with midsized pharma companies fi nding that the cloud delivers the on-demand scalability and agility they need to compete with bigger , better-funded organisations . For instance , in research and development , cloud technology can help pharma companies process the vast amounts of data needed to develop new drugs , thereby maximising their resources .
Hybrid solutions prove popular
The good news is that moving to the cloud doesn ’ t have to be an overwhelming experience . Cloud migration is not a black and white , in
DID YOU KNOW ? A vast amount of data is involved in the R & D process in pharmaceutical manufacturing . To better manage this data , a blog post by Manufacturing Matters says that a cloud solution can standardise the flow of information and allows for the seamless sharing lab , imagery and statistical analysis information with any number of partners , anywhere in the world . With cloud technology , you have a truly flexible collaboration platform that speeds up the entire product development process .
or out decision ; it can be a continuum .
In the communications and collaboration space , we are seeing strong interest in hybrid deployments with companies looking to maintain their legacy investment while considering moving new applications such as voice , video , and the contact centre into the cloud . For our channel partners , this means there is a clear opportunity if they can deliver the same rich communications experience in whatever way their end-user customers want to deploy them – be that on-premises , hybrid cloud or fully hosted . With Avaya IP Offi ce , we offer a solution that can fi t the needs of 98 percent of all businesses out there , and we can offer it in on-premises , in hybrid cloud , or pure cloud models . This means businesses can move to the cloud at their own pace and path , adding new features and capabilities as they become needed , or while leveraging their existing investments . ·
ABOUT
Danny Drew is an experienced technology solutions professional with expertise in all aspects of communications . His areas of speciality include technology architecture , business analytics , contact centre consultancy and optimisation .
Avaya South Africa – www . avaya . com
44 | MAY 2017 | P C Review