The Little Engine That Could

The Little Engine That Could is an American folktale that became widely known after publication in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work.

In this article I'm going to talk about the journey from a lowly start up responding to tenders in the middle of the night, paying contractors from far reaches of the world by the hour hoping to one day be a multinational contact centre as a service juggernaut with its own hero software products and refined machine-like professional services supporting thousands of contact centre agents around the clock!

11 years ago the name CloudWave seemed to be a cool take on groundbreaking technology at the time fused with the ever rising tide of innovation that seems to wash over the IT industry in “waves”. It was also easy to remember and spell for sales guys doing cold calls when leaving a message. BINGO. The little engine was born.

Many of us have lived through multiple IT booms including #networking vs #mainframe, #internet service providers, #voice over IP, #mobile, #cloud, #AI etc etc What a dream it is to be a part of such a wildly changing landscape and how many “WOW” moments a nerdy guy with big eye brows has been blessed with.

CloudWave really gained momentum when a small team of Aussies got together around 2018 and started helping people migrate their old contact centre into the cloud. Escaping the corporate regime and embracing a different kind of stress – working longer hours than ever before but happy doing it. In the early days a 2am finish was not a rare event. An underground office with a small rectangle of light was the only respite from our glorious tomb. We hung murals of bondi beach on the walls to replace an opulent natural “view”.

Over the next few years we embraced innovation in the cloud via a new world tech powerhouse – Twilio inc . Providing programmable voice , contact centre, secure authentication and messaging services to some of Australia's biggest and most critical #State Government agencies.  

In 2022 we opened our New Zealand presence and as our Kiwi employees will humbly confirm dramatically increased the IQ average across the business. Side note -- I've worked and socialised with plenty of Kiwis in my past but once exposed day to day in a close working sphere they are actually a very serious bunch of people. Driven in all aspects of work (and sport) and take pride in no nonsense communications with a very direct style. I can see why we were so successful in joint ANZAC military operations throughout history. It’s a great combination.

In 2023 we opened our USA office. In my mind this was Apollo Creed or Rocky coming down the aisle shrouded in the stars and stripes to wild applause and fanfare. The undeniable sheer size and scope of potential was evident month 1 --- as we immersed ourselves in lambdas ,  quicksights, athenas,  bedrocks and q alongside the 8000 odd faithful attendees to #AWS RE;Invent Vegas, sprawled over 5 of the largest hotels in the world non stop for 120 hours of action with very little sleep. The positivity, can-do attitude and eternally optimistic nature of our USA colleagues, customers and friends is something I am deeply warmed by and drawn to. With my 6th visit in 12 months coming up shortly.

Later this year we will open CloudWave London – after a surge of sales opportunity, new partners and a strong demand for neonnow. We will take our proven success to old mother England and assist those who love Amazon Connect fast track their deployments, save on upfront costs and enjoy all the benefits of both the untethered highly customisable “build” world with the secure, safe and managed service of the productised “buy” world. I am looking forward to the cultural reflections including similar humour, pursuit of excellence and easy going , no nonsense chats we are already deeply engaged in with our UK compatriots. Our sights are set on other parts of ASIA, AFRICA and EUROPE the biggest most pleasant surprise has been and will continue to be the chance to work closely with the many and varied rich flavours of human spirit and subtle cultural idiosyncrasies that make the world such a deeply joyful and interesting place.  

The Contact Centre as a Service industry is set to grow at a circa 30% YoY into 2028 and beyond as droves of small, medium and large enterprise plus Government bodies alike all embrace how essential a modern digital front door is for success in a modern era.

The majority of contact centres out there are still running on old tin gathering dust and EVERYONE still has a recent horror story about dealing with a contact centre.

We have a lot of work to do and are loving every second of the challenge. We are forging a solution that truly delights both contact centre agents and consumers engaging one of our contact centres. Each day made stronger through the bonds and relationships we build, unifying and drawing on the rich spring of diverse global cultures that are now and forever part of the CloudWave NEONNOW story.

‍