IT-Business: Interview with SAVECALL CEO Nikolaus von Johnston

The renowned trade journal IT-Business interviews ICT expert Nikolaus von Johnston, Managing Director of Savecall GmbH, and dedicates an article to his assessments entitled “The renaissance of infrastructure”. The cloud is coming down to earth from its hype status. Companies see cloud solutions as good tools. However, they also know that not all problems can be solved with the cloud. The focus is shifting back to infrastructure and, above all, to the connection to the internet: “The old, bare, simple line – as unattractive as this topic sounds – is as sexy as never before,” says Nikolaus von Johnston. At the same time, the demands on the available bandwidth are growing: “The copper line is largely dead for us who serve business customers. Fiber optics will be exciting. There will be great demand for it.”

Good future for system houses

Johnston sees the secret weapon in the multi-service connection, or MSA for short. Customers get one line and can use it to handle all services. This solution allows companies to react quickly and activate necessary voice channels or services in the backend. “You help customers migrate from a hybrid to a universal infrastructure. And that’s where customers need help,” says Nikolaus von Johnston. “(…) And who can provide this? Someone who can bring all the issues together. Business that used to be done by the PBX manufacturer is now a great opportunity for system houses.” The cloud itself has not been written off, on the contrary. In many cases, companies are relying on cloud offerings and replacing traditional services such as a locally installed Exchange server. A reliable connection is essential for companies to be able to access communication services reliably. This is where offerings such as Direct Access come into play, providing direct access to Microsoft’s cloud. Von Johnston sees the current situation as a great opportunity for companies. The conversion of connections to All-IP makes a switch interesting. Existing contracts can be renegotiated or switched over completely. “If, as a company with six or seven locations across Europe, I only need one provider, operate one telecommunications system and receive one bill for everything, that’s definitely appealing.” You can read the full interview from IT-Business 1.2017 here.