Unified Office is a service provider that aims to make the kind of UC solutions that were once only available to the largest companies accessible to the small and medium business set. The company, which markets its services under the name Total Connect Now, delivers private cloud-based managed services that address worker mobility and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend.
The company will be exhibiting at the upcoming ITEXPO in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. We recently caught up with Unified Office CEO and founder Ray Pasquale to talk about new technology and how his company is employing it.
How have technology changes over the past 12 months helped businesses grow?
We’ve been able to make extensive use of emerging virtualization technologies like servers, for example, to build a fault tolerant cloud at a fraction of the cost of T1/MPLS lines and tunnels. Broadband speeds and quality have increased along with decreased prices that have allowed companies like ours to combine relatively inexpensive cloud virtualization techniques with broadband to deliver high-value solutions to our customers that help them realize dramatic increases in productivity and hence revenues and profits.
What are your thoughts on containerization technology as an alternative to traditional virtualization?
We use it all the time. It is a great virtualization strategy.
What percentage of your workforce would you consider mobile?
We are all mobile at our company and work wherever we are and wherever we have to. We were founded on that premise.
Are you leveraging big data/analytics to operate more efficiently?
Ray Pasquale
I would refer to it as little data. We have been able to offer our customers business intelligence analytics that essentially discard the big data noise and keeps the relevant little data that matters to our customers. This helps them to take immediate remedies in some cases or to plot trends over time to retool their businesses to operate more effectively.
How can artificial intelligence best be used in business applications?
We’ve been able to leverage our own AI techniques in helping humans to become more effective and productive at what they do and by helping customers to become more loyal and sticky as a result.
How have the growing number of high-visibility security breaches impacted your outlook on security?
Security concerns are going to be with us forever, big or small. We utilize multiple layers of security, and we do not depend on various firewalls and other fencing techniques for our security. We assume those fences will be breached and have created various local methods to adjust.
Is the cloud/MSP model a realistic one for reliable IT security?
MSP is separate from cloud here. Cloud security is definitely a concern. Cloud by itself is not necessarily insecure; rather it is the sheer number of cloud providers that may or may not exercise best practices as it relates to security.
To what extent are you using cloud services in your daily business processes?
We use cloud extensively in conjunction with premises-based small devices to create end-to-end reliability and quality.
Has your use of cloud-based resources increased over the past year? Do you expect to make more use of cloud computing in the coming year?
Our cloud-based virtualization layer increases year over year as our company grows.
Are channel partners keeping up with the latest trends and developments?
They are not. Many are trapped by legacy economics and are hoping that buggy whips will stage a comeback. Many are failing and will fail, and new channels will develop to take advantage of new technologies, particularly as they relate to recurring revenue economics and MSPs.
Edited by
Alicia Young
