Episode 5: Can Cloud Solutions
Be a Real Money-maker?
Can hosting solutions be a real money-maker?
Absolutely! So, what’s the secret to cashing in?
In this episode, Ramon and Jason will dive into the booming cloud trend and check out how it could pay off for small and medium-sized businesses. They’ll spill the beans on what to think about before switching, picking the right PBX, and even give you a price breakdown.
Tune in to the episode here.
Key Discussion Points
#1: Do you have to get into the cloud business?
Cloud business is not necessary for everyone.
[2:34]
For Enterprises/Vertical Users:
Jason: But we still have chances to promote the hardware solution for some other customers, I guess like some vertical users. If you’re a business owner of a hotel, are you gonna choose the cloud solution? I guess maybe some of these business owners, they will prefer the cloud solution, but still in the market, take a look!
Ramon: And you mentioned hotels, then, of course, huge companies, enterprises. And some other organizations, they’re maybe not as big, but their standard for data security is still at that high level, like finances, banking, and some governments.
Ramon: Cloud is not going to be an option for them, it’s not an issue of trust. It’s that all the data are deployed on a cloud server that is not 100% in their control. This simple fact is not acceptable to them.
For SMBs:
Jason: When we talk about cloud solutions, most of our business opportunities come from the SMB market.
Ramon: Yeah, we have numbers. Over 80% of the extensions are installed on SMBs, meaning companies under 20 extensions. It’s an industrial number, not only from yeastar. Of course, the situation is different from region to region.
Ramon: There is one big important logic behind the whole thing. It’s because if you’re looking at the smaller PBX, then most of your margin comes from the phones.
Jason: PBX is not a money maker.
#2: What should you consider if you’re moving to cloud?
[13:03]
Jason: First of all, it’s gonna be the product itself. You’re supposed to choose a particular product. So that’s gonna be the cost, obviously. The cloud solution can be dynamic as well. What kind of cloud solution are you looking for? Single-instance, multi-tenant, hosted by yourself, or hosted by the vendor? There are many choices.
Ramon: It depends on what kind of business are you looking at.
#3: Multi-tenant vs Multi-instance: How should I choose my PBX?
[18:45]
Jason: Considering this point, you just need to think about exactly what kind of resources you have currently. Then you make your decision.
Ramon: Multi-tenant is a way more economical. But it’s more demanding in maintenance and technique ability. If you are familiar with it, and if you are a big company, you have your own data center. You probably should go with it.
Ramon: But if you’re talking about a multi-instance, it’s like you’re renting a house, but the house is for yourself. You have all the resources for yourself. It costs a little bit more but more reliable and easier to maintain.
Jason: And also for both the 2 business models, the hosting is also flexible. You can choose to hosted by yourself or choose the model which is hosted by the manufacturer, by the vendor as well.
#4: How to get phone numbers? 2 options from a carrier.
[29:14]
Plan A: Resell the telephone lines.
Ramon: If I want to resell the numbers, I have to sign a contract with the carriers based on how many numbers or lines I want.
Jason: And also what kind of lines are you looking for? The digital line, or analog, or sip trunk? They got different prices for sure.
Jason: This contract, you have to sign it with them for at least 2 years. And they give you 23 channels (T1) and 100 numbers. Well, the price will be around 1, 000 HK dollars. And they will also charge you some additional fees like labor charges, installation charges, service, and more.
Plan B: Sell cloud PBX as a package.
Jason: You know, the cloud solution is very popular and the service providers also have sip trunks. So the ISP, the service providers, they can make a package, too. They put trunks, telephones, and also the cloud PBX together. And the price will just be $150 per month.
#5: ISPs and service providers — partners or competitors?
[48:43]
Jason: You can take the example as a reference. See, this is how the ISPs do their business. You can do the same thing if you have the capability, you can charge even more expensive.
Ramon: Well, first of all, service providers or carriers have absolutely huge advantage in their channel capability. If they want to do a price war with you, you’re over. But that’s not what they do.
Jason: They also have their own competitors.
Ramon: So if you sign a contract to resell their trunks and numbers, you are actually their distributors.
Jason: You truly have the chance to work together with these guys.
#6: You have multiple choices of servers.
[54:59]
If you get the capability, host it by yourself. This is the best way to control your cost.
If not, try to work together with manufacturers, like yeastar hosting solution.
Rent services from some data centers or ISPs in the market.
UC & C Huddle
Value Your Input!
If you’d like to be our next guest or have any topics in mind for future episodes, please tell us. We’re all ears.
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