By 2028, cloud technology will become a business necessity, according to Gartner. And it’s easy to see why. Cloud technology is, simply put, changing the game for contact centers. It brings agility, scalability, and cohesive data (that’s ready to enable AI), leading to a more seamless customer experience. Cloud migration lets you meet your customers where they are and anticipate their ever-increasing demands for quick, reliable, and personalized service.

As a contact center leader, understanding cloud migration is essential to optimize your return on investment (ROI), boost agent productivity, and skyrocket customer satisfaction. This isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s a critical move for any modern, customer-centric, and revenue-generating support operation.

Is Your Team Ready for Cloud Migration?

Cloud migration isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. To start, you need to decide whether your team and current setup are ready for the shift.

Understand Your Starting Point

Start by evaluating your current system’s performance, and consider these metrics:

• Call handling time. Long call handling times could indicate your outdated systems slow down your agents. Faster call handling post-migration can lead to quicker resolutions and happier customers.
• Downtime. Frequent outages impact productivity and customer trust. Moving to a reliable cloud provider can cut your downtime and boost your center’s resilience.
• Agent utilization. This metric measures how effectively agents are spending their time. Low utilization may suggest inefficiencies that cloud tools could help optimize.

Readiness isn’t just about hitting certain benchmarks, though—it’s about identifying gaps and creating a pathway to close them. If these metrics reveal weaknesses, work with IT to map out the needed updates and timelines.

Define Your Objectives

Setting specific goals for your cloud migration helps you (and your team) know what success looks like. Here are some example objectives:

• Reduced operational costs. Cloud services often let you scale up or down, to improve your call center operations and cut expenses during slower periods.
• Improved flexibility and scalability. These goals might include things like handling peak seasons without hiring additional staff or scaling operations as your team grows.
• Enhanced customer engagement. Better technology can empower agents with tools that boost engagement like AI-driven recommendations.

Outline your contact center’s unique needs and define goals that address the areas where you’ll gain the most value from migration.

Outline Your Change Management Needs

Change management plays a huge role in a successful migration. Your agents and supervisors will need training, not just on new tools but on the mindset shift that comes with cloud solutions. To help, you try:

• Create dedicated training. Consider hands-on training and role-play exercises to simulate real scenarios.
• Find agents to champion the change. Encourage adaptability and problem-solving. This shift is as much about cultural change as it is technology.
• Open the lines of communication. If you don’t already have 1:1s set up with your team, start ‘em. Then, during these regular check-ins, share migration progress and collect feedback from your agents.

A successful transition hinges on your team’s readiness, so invest in the support they need to embrace the change.

Craft Your Cloud Migration Strategy

Documentation is crucial for a smooth cloud migration. Having a well-defined strategy ensures everyone—from IT to customer service—understands the roadmap and objectives.

A phased approach is generally the best strategy. By migrating in stages, you reduce disruptions and allow room for adjustments. Start with smaller, less mission-critical components before moving to high-impact areas.

Involving key stakeholders early on is essential. Consider these folks:

• Your IT team. They’ll provide technical expertise and manage integration.
• Customer service managers, supervisors, and tier 1 agents. They’ll ensure the new system meets agent and customer needs.
• Your agents. These are your end-users. You’ll want their feedback for training and adoption.

Choose the Right Provider

Not all cloud providers are created equal, so take the time to find one that fits your specific needs. Here are the must-have criteria to keep in mind:

• Uptime guarantees. Find a vendor that offers a 99.999% (or higher) uptime SLA and a resilient architecture with geo-redundant failover practices to keep your system running smoothly.
• Data security and compliance. Verify that your vendor meets data protection regulations (like GDPR) and has strong cybersecurity measures.
• Scalability and customizations. Make sure your vendor can grow with you and tailor solutions to your specific workflows.
• Support and training. Change management isn’t easy, so find a vendor that offers training and ongoing support for your team to ease the transition.

Ultimately, look for a provider that’s a true partner, offering resources, support, and a commitment to helping you get the most out of your cloud investment.

How to Prepare Your Team for Cloud Migration

Preparing your team is crucial for a seamless migration. Here are three steps to ensure they’re ready:

1. Invest in training for agents and supervisors. Training is your frontline defense. Make sure every team member knows how to use the new tools and understands the “why” behind the cloud migration.
2. Establish new communication channels. Cloud technology can improve collaboration by adding things like real-time dashboards and analytics, so everyone on the team can see how you’re performing and push towards the same goals.
3. Empower agents with self-service resources. Give agents access to cloud-driven tools, like AI-based suggestions or self-service resources, to help them troubleshoot issues on their own.

When agents have the resources they need, they can better serve customers, even in times of transition.

Keep Your Customer Experience Stable During and After Cloud Migration

Tell your customers what’s going on so you can keep their trust during your cloud migration process.

Start by communicating your timelines. Let them know about any expected downtimes or potential delays. And, if possible, try to schedule downtimes for low-volume times (like in the middle of the night).

Try this script to keep customers in the loop. “We’re making exciting updates to our systems so you can get answers faster than ever. During the transition, however, there may be short delays. Thank you for your patience!”