New Aspect CEO Aims to Tap Into Growing Enterprise CCaaS Market
The global cloud-based contact center industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 26.3 percent between 2018 to 2025. Presently valued at $6.9 billion, valuation is estimated to eventually reach $28.1 billion by 2025.
Newly named president and CEO of Aspect Software, Patrick Dennis, seeks to capitalize on the growth of the Contract Center as a Service (CCaaS) market. He plans to do so by refocusing the company’s focus toward the enterprise market and especially Via, the company’s signature call center software platform, according to a February 2019 article in online tech publication No Jitter.
Dennis had previously served as an operating executive of Vector Capital, which recently acquired Aspect Software. As part of the deal, Vector pledged to invest more than $100 million in capital in Aspect’s products, according to the article.
Emphasis on Via and Enterprise Clientele
Dennis stated the firm’s intention to invest substantial funding into promoting and refining Via, the next-gen CCaaS solution that has been available since 2017. However, under Dennis’ direction, Via call center software will receive a significant portion of that $100 million, which represents far more funding than in previous years.
Dennis has also shifted the emphasis of Aspect’s personnel, overseeing a reduction of approximately 10 percent of its 1,500 employees — with cuts primarily targeting general and administrative staff, marketing and sales. No cuts were made in Aspect’s service and support operations. While cutting sales staff is normally not done even in the most drastic of personnel cutbacks, these reductions are actually in line with the shift in emphasis to enterprise clients, Dennis explains.
Migration From Premise-Based Solutions to the Cloud
Aspect’s focus on enterprise clients is not unique — many players in the CCaaS space have targeted the enterprise market. However, Aspect faces the unique challenge that a majority of its enterprise customers presently utilize premise-based call center solutions. These customers have no immediate plans — or desire — to move to a public cloud.
To encourage these reluctant enterprise customers to make the move, Aspect plans to focus Via call center software as a means to navigate a manageable migration from on-premise-based solutions to the cloud, Michael Harris, CMO of Aspect explains in the No Jitter article.
Specifically, Dennis has designated Aspect’s enterprise customers into clusters categorized by specific call center needs. He plans to develop tools centered on the Via platform as solutions to address the individual issues of each cluster of clients. Dennis views Via as the ideal vehicle to facilitate the move of enterprise customers from premised-based solutions to the cloud, according to the No Jitter article.
Security and Compliance Concerns
Security and compliance represent significant challenges for cloud-based call center software solutions. Specifically, anxiety around potential information loss and privacy concerns drives the reluctance of firms of all sizes to migrate away from in-house information technology (IT) approaches. Related to these concerns are stringent requirements placed on certain industry segments, such as banking and medicine, to adhere to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other security and privacy regulations.
Via-based call center software features TLS/SRTP Encryption Technology that provides secure voice transmission from the cloud and call center to each individual agent’s phone. As a result, dedicated VPNs are not necessary.
Focus on Via — and a Loyal Customer Base
One advantage Aspect has on its side is a loyal and long-standing base of enterprise customers, including Southwest Airlines and many major banks. With his previous product management experience, Dennis not only building Via as a premier CCaaS solution but is also taking a customer-centered approach addressing the specific needs of Aspect’s customers.
This article has been published in accordance with Socialnomics’s disclosure policy.
