Productivity, customer satisfaction and business success are the three key benefits to cloud communications, according to a new study.

Research from analyst firm IDC, which surveyed 805 mid-sized businesses and enterprises around their communications strategy, found companies who use both unified and contextual cloud communications saw a 47% improvement in speed to market for products and services, 42% improvement in customer satisfaction and loyalty, and a 34% reduction in costs.

As is often the case with research such as this, respondents were put into four buckets depending on their journey. Communications ‘powerbrokers’ are at the top of the tree and sophisticated users. This means they use text and voice messaging to automate delivery of notifications and are much more likely to say their communications are effective as a result. 96% said their frequency and timeless of comms was effective, with 100% saying it for the quality of their customer-facing interactions.

Communications ‘respecters’ have started moving to the cloud and are planning more, while ‘skeptics’ are unsure of its benefits and, at the bottom rung, communications ‘unaware’ have little knowledge about the process. For those in the ‘unaware’ category, only 15% automate text and voice messaging, while even fewer (12%) say their customer-facing communication is effective.

Is this a result of a younger, digitally native workforce aiming to drive through changes? IDC says possibly, but adds a caveat.

“Digital natives may completely disrupt an industry, but companies need to look at this as an opportunity to conduct business and engage customers in new ways,” said Mark Winther, group VP of telecom custom solutions at IDC. “Our data clearly shows that cloud communications enable businesses to quickly adapt and transform and, as a result, not only survive but actually thrive in their respective industries.”

The study was sponsored by Vonage, a cloud communications software provider. You can find an executive summary of the research here.

What is the best strategy for selecting the right offshore company for your business?
In his session at 21st Cloud Expo, Alan Winters, U.S. Head of Business Development at MobiDev, will discuss the things to look for – positive and negative – in evaluating your options. He will also discuss how to maximize productivity with your offshore developers.
Before you start your search, clearly understand your business needs and how that impacts software choices.

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The latest iteration of Kubernetes has launched, with the open source company promising 1.8 will be laser focused on security and sustainability.

The launch – the third of its type this year – offers a variety of new initiatives, from greater support for role based access control (RBAC), to transport layer security (TLS), to promotion for a series of workload APIs.

“Kubernetes 1.8 represents a snapshot of many exciting enhancements and refinements underway,” a company post explained. “In addition to functional improvements, we’re increasing project-wide focus on maturing process, formalising architecture, and strengthening Kubernetes’ governance model.

“The evolution of mature processes clearly signals that sustainability is a driving concern, and helps to ensure that Kubernetes is a viable and thriving project far into the future.”

The note came from four executives; Aparna Sinha, Kubernetes group product manager, Ihor Dvoretskyi, developer advocated for the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Caleb Miles, technical program manager for CoreOS, and Jaice Singer DuMars, Microsoft Kubernetes ambassador.

It’s safe to say that Kubernetes’ profile has been raised by the latter’s additions to CNCF, the San-Francisco based organisation focused on sustaining containers and microservices architectures. Microsoft signed up in July saying it was ‘another natural step’ on its open source journey, while Oracle signed up in September.

Writing for this publication back in January, Rob Greenwood, technical director at Steamhaus, said now was the time for organisations to take the plunge with Kubernetes.

“The layer of abstraction that Kubernetes provides means we now only need to talk to one technology to gain a higher level of control over everything at a lower level,” he wrote. “It also means we can take a cloud infrastructure built in one cloud environment, such as AWS, and move it into another environment, including Azure or Google Cloud.

“This really is the next generation of cloud, with lots of big name organisations already jumping on the bandwagon and embracing Kubernetes,” he added. “However, this move will not be as simple for everyone. Many companies will need to undergo a major cultural shift before this is possible.”

You can read the full blog post announcing 1.8 here.

Read more: Why Kubernetes promises much for those willing to embrace a cultural shift

Virtus Data Centres, a UK-based data centre colocation provider, has announced the launch of two new facilities to create London’s largest data centre campus.

The two buildings, known as VIRTUS LONDON5 AND LONDON6, will total 34,475 metres squared, and will aim to deliver 40 megawatts of IT load with the secured power capacity to increase to 110 MVA.

The move will ‘further strengthen’ Virtus’ claim as the largest hybrid colocation provider in the London metro area, according to the company, with the site being located 16 miles from central London, and 7 miles from Slough on the primary fibre routes.

“As we move with our customers into an increasingly digital future, we help them deliver high performing applications and content,” said Neil Cresswell, CEO of Virtus Data Centres in a statement. “We provide fast, seamless connectivity to networks and public cloud, along with the capacity for vast data storage and compute processing power – all for lower costs.

“This investment in LONDON5 and LONDON6 means we can grow with our customers and help them achieve their ambitions,” Cresswell added.

Even if the site ends up being London’s biggest, it pales in comparison to what is planned as being the largest in the world, in Norway. Last month, Kolos announced the launch of a proposed site, in the Norwegian town of Ballangen, inside the Arctic Circle, that could cover 6.46 million square feet and stretch across four storeys.

The largest data centre in operation today is in Langfang, China, at 6.3 million square feet, while a site in Tahoe Reno, Nevada, is set to be 7.2 million square feet when it becomes fully operational.

Many organizations adopt DevOps to reduce cycle times and deliver software faster; some take on DevOps to drive higher quality and better end-user experience; others look to DevOps for a clearer line-of-sight to customers to drive better business impacts. In truth, these three foundations go together.
In this power panel at @DevOpsSummit 21st Cloud Expo, moderated by DevOps Conference Co-Chair Andi Mann, industry experts will discuss how leading organizations build application success from all three of these foundations of DevOps – speed, quality, and impact.

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SYS-CON Events announced today that Interface Corporation will exhibit at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Pavilion at SYS-CON’s 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Interface Corporation is a company developing, manufacturing and marketing high quality and wide variety of industrial computers and interface modules such as PCIs and PCI express. For more information, visit http://www.interface-amita.com/aboutus/interface_profile.asp.

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SYS-CON Events announced today that Enroute Lab will exhibit at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Pavilion at SYS-CON’s 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Enroute Lab is an industrial design, research and development company of unmanned robotic vehicle system. For more information, please visit http://elab.co.jp/.

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