For those who have followed the history of Unified Communications (UC) you are well aware of the recognition by many in the industry that Microsoft Lync, now known as Skype (News - Alert) for Business, has always loomed large as an emerging real-time communications and collaboration capability that always has seemed on the verge of creating a major UC market sea change. In fact, there have been a lot of those Lync licenses out there that for one reason or another have gone un-used or under-used for years. 

What you also know is that Microsoft’s (News - Alert) name change is not merely a rebranding effort.  Indeed, as a result of Microsoft’s acquisition and of Skype, the folks in Redmond have been feverishly working to combine the familiarity of Skype with the enterprise-level security and control of Lync to create a solution that is compelling to the enormous Microsoft user community.

That said, dynamic market realities have made UC adoption by enterprises move from nicety to necessity. As the workplace becomes more virtual the requirement of dispersed workers having the best connectivity and tools to work in real-time with colleagues, ecosystem partners and customers, has become paramount. In fact, properly implemented UC has been demonstrated to save up to 50 percent of the cost of doing business the old way. 

The challenge has been that UC adoption choices and implementation strategies can be overwhelming and confusing, especially when factoring in regulatory and security requirements.  And, this happens to be the case even for migrating from Lync to Skype for Business.

In fact, while almost every vendor of information and technology solutions is now touting, “simplification” has become the order of the day and the reason d’etre for transitioning from legacy solutions to next generation ones, unfortunately migrations can be complex. As migration from Lync to Skype for Business illustrates, there are numerous considerations that must be taken into account. Not the least of these are such things as the technical aspects of such a move involving the network, infrastructure and integrations, and the softer components such as adoption and culture.

However, saying there is a lot to consider does not mean the move from Lync to Skype for Business has to be hard.

If such a migration is already in your future, or you are evaluating whether it should be, you will not wish to miss the webinar, Skype for Business Essentials: Migration Made Easy.  To be held Thursday, July 23, 2015 11:00 AM EDT / 08:00 AM PDT, join me, and industry subject matter experts, David Tipping (News - Alert), Vice President and General Manager, SBC Business, Sonus, John Lamb, Modality Systems and Irwin Lazar, Nemertes Research, as we delve into:

• How to navigate the Microsoft UC landscape
• What the transition to Skype for Business is really all about
• Where to start including key points to consider when planning your deployment
• Why working with the right partner is critical to success

The benefits of migrating from Lync to Skype for Business are demonstrable, but whether the gain is worth the pain, it is obviously something that those looking to make the move must think about. The good news is such a migration actually does not have to be painful; you just need guidance on what to do and what to avoid, in order to minimize the disruption and maximize the opportunity.