Hosted Cloud, Private Cloud, UCaaS/CCaaS, Oh My! What's the difference?!
On the surface, today’s cloud communication systems may seem basically the same. And, we often hear the terms “Hosted Cloud” and “UCaaS/CCaaS” being used interchangeably. However, there are important distinct differences in their architectures and how they deliver services to your end users. Understanding these differences will help you determine the best fit for your organization’s needs.
Hosted Cloud - Private Cloud
The Hosted Cloud communication system essentially offers on-premises telephone system architecture deployed in a cloud/as a service model. Next generation collaboration tools and applications running on separate platforms are integrated to present a pseudo single user experience – another key differentiator here is whether or not the hosted solution’s collaboration tools are manufactured by the same telephone system provider – i.e. whether or not they “own” the solution stack. In addition, the provider who may service/deploy the hosted solution may not be the manufacturer of the underlying solution (i.e. a hosted cisco platform is not serviced/deployed by Cisco, but by one of their partners).
The Hosted Cloud model is an isolated environment, where a single customer has their own networking capacity, physical infrastructure, hardware, and independent database. By having a unique and specific environment set aside wholly for your organization, you often have more control over upgrade cadence, maintenance windows, and a variety of other processes.
UCaaS / CCaaS - Public Cloud
Unified Communications as a Service, or UCaaS (Or CCaaS – Contact Center as Service), typically offers telephone system functionality and next generation collaboration tools/applications all on the same platform to present a single user experience.
The UCaaS model is a shared environment, where each customer shares common physical infrastructure and networking capacities, allowing for more cost flexibility by leveraging the shared infrastructure and resources. Often times, the upgrade cadence, feature roll outs, and enhanced functionality are deployed at a greater speed vs a hosted model.
Within the UCaaS shared environment there are two distinct architectures: 1) Single Tenant and 2) Multi-Tenant.
Single Tenant is a single instance of the software and supporting structure serving a single customer. With a single tenant, each customer has their own dependent database and instance of the software. Essentially, there is no sharing across tenants. This is rare and is generally reserved for very large enterprise level clients – typically 15,000 users and above.
Multi-Tenant means that a single instance of the software with it’s supporting infrastructure serves multiple customers. Each customer shares the software application and also shares a single database. Each tenant’s data is isolated and remains invisible to other tenants. This is the typical deployment for customers sub 15,000 for a “UCaaS / CCaaS”.
It’s important to understand the nuances of each model and which model best fits into your IT & business strategies. There are many additional factors when considering a UC provider. Let us assist you and your team in the evaluation process. Having a vendor-agnostic partner with proven multi-vendor experience who will look out for your priorities will streamline the evaluation and ensure the proper vendor was chosen.
Today, there are is an overwhelming number of choices of vendors and technologies to choose from and many pitfalls to avoid. Our team can help your organization determine the best fit of technologies to meet your needs and prepare you for the future. Give us a call at (248) 922-1150 or email info@choicetel.com to speak with a consultant.
Headquarters
Choice Telecommunications, Inc
7640 Dixie Highway, Suite 150
Clarkston, MI 48346
Phone: 248-922-1150
Email: info@choicetel.com
U.S. Offices
7000 Central Pkwy.
Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30328
(800) 815-3320