Adopting Unified Communications and Collaboration: Determining the Right Entry-Point for Your Company

By TMCnet Special Guest
Martin Schubert, SVP Services for Siemens Enterprise Communications

By now it is generally accepted that the promise of unified communications and collaboration (UCC) is great, and the enterprises adopting it are finding greater agility and market competitiveness. Yet, many are still in the starting blocks waiting for the right integration point to emerge. Should your enterprise start with the voice platform, the desktop or the presence application? In reality, the answer is none of the above because every implementation will be unique and the advantages of an integrated UCC platform can only be reaped through a services-led approach.

The services side of UCC—including integration services, technical services, consulting, hosted services and managed services—is where sales, customers and vendors alike are finally turning their attention. There are three main reasons why this integrated services approach is leading the way:

1. Converged communications expertise across traditionally silo’d telecom and IT management covering multi-vendor best-of-breed solutions is too difficult to rapidly and economically acquire and maintain.

2. UCC integration requires complex and subtle re-engineering of tasks to manage workflows and presence into business processes that involve a complex consultative and design skill set that is not typically available in-house.

3. Management of adopting transformative technologies demands a substantial ongoing investment in talent and resources—and even then there are no guarantees of adequate support, which can lead to an overwhelmed IT staff tasked with handling increased peaks in activity.

Luckily there are a variety of telephony and business software vendors who bring to the market comprehensive, professional and managed services solutions for solving the UCC equation. Customers can take advantage of their equipment and software provisioning, installation and maintenance, and operational capabilities to augment or outsource needed skill sets. This supplier base is ideal for managing a consistent UCC framework and reduces any potential issues that stem from insufficient service experience in deploying complex UCC implementations. Let’s examine in more detail why this approach works.

Building Your Enterprise UCC Vision

UCC is a technology that will transform not only your workplace but also your core business strategies and how you approach, service and manage your customers. It’s critical you establish up front your UCC vision by answering the following questions: what is your business purpose for implementing UCC, what will you achieve and what must you do now. It is important to work cooperatively with a vendor who can provide consultative professional services that will enable you to build and realize that vision, day-by-day, week-by-week and month-by-month.  

Keeping Integration Simple

When it comes time to integrate business applications, redesign workflows, manage separate directories and establish processes—in addition to the pure integration capabilities—enterprises need to account for their end users by preparing them for change so they are able to take advantage of the new functionality. A key advantage to a services approach is tapping into vendors’ technology integration and business process expertise along with their consulting advice.

Layering on top a ‘Day 2’ managed service solution offers a simple, easy to implement deployment, guaranteeing a more competent execution and functional day-to-day operations. Vendors who offer strong consulting and professional services capabilities in conjunction with their managed services are in the best position to help their customers adjust their processes to work efficiently with their managed UC services.

Bridging the IT Transition 

GapUC can be a powerful tool when integrated with business processes such as CRM and ERP. However, this level of integration requires specific expertise and significant contributions from both IT and communications staff—which is where many companies encounter roadblocks. Traditionally, organizations manage their voice and data networks separately and have limited cross-functional experience. This puts a strain on resources and significantly reduces efficiencies when transitioning into a UCC environment. IT staff may become overwhelmed with the increased IT activity along with juggling the demands of replacing or upgrading infrastructure components. A vendor with professional and managed service capabilities can stem the risks and save costs by managing the complete implementation and operations process. 

Managing Multi-Vendor Solutions

There are numerous rewards in adopting a best-of-breed UC architecture. As a consequence, UCC implementations will nearly always require integration between two or more vendors’ UCC component point products. Multi-vendor capability—particularly the ability to ‘bridge’ multiple technology platforms—demands a provider who is adept at understanding voice, data, applications and security issues.

What about in-house UC deployments? After all who knows your applications and business processes better? While it seems like a sensible approach, in reality in-house deployments almost always lead to an overworked IT department and projects that run over-time and budget. 

In contrast, a managed services deployment can provide a comprehensive UC architecture specifically designed to gain a more cost-effective and predictable solution. Take the guesswork, strain and stress out of managing a UC integration in-house by working with a managed services provider who can supply a fully trained and certified staff to handle complex, multi-vendor UC integrations from execution to follow-up and support.

Operating at Full Capacity on “Day 2”

Managed services are a vital link in helping organizations achieve a lower cost of ownership and predictable monthly costs, but they can also help eliminate transition issues by leveraging their operational expertise and accessing the skilled resources required for harnessing the demands of an evolving communications world.  

When looking to maximize your company’s investment in IT and communications infrastructure, a managed services approach is an excellent opportunity to advance capabilities and future-proof existing investments. The UCC entry-point becomes a non-issue once you gain a partner that can reduce inefficiencies, integrate diverse, multi-vendor systems, and migrate technology upgrades across dispersed users. 

In order to prepare your organization for a UCC implementation you should consider some of these advantages of operating your UCC solution under a managed services provider:

Shifting of resources from capital expenditure investment costs to an operational expenditure model

Gaining a competitive advantage and adapting quickly to market changes by allowing businesses to focus on their core competencies

Leveraging managed services partners’ strengths to uncover deficiencies in a company’s IT and communications staff

Reducing extensive training demands, staff turnover and opportunity costs that plague companies that want to bring UCC integration in-house

Controlling spending on infrastructure management and operations

Reducing risk by centralizing architectures and gaining real-time communications applications through proper infrastructure management of a services approach. 

Finding a Reliable PartnerAs you take the journey to implement a UCC platform into your enterprise, the most important predictor of future success will be the technology partner you choose. Since the range of vendors and their service capabilities in the UC space is wide and varied, here are some key areas to consider during the selection and evaluation process. 

Investigate the Playing Field: Choosing from an array of managed UCC players involves understanding the comfort level you have in your organization to take on a full-scale collaborative effort. PBX (News - Alert) vendors, e-mail and collaboration vendors, service providers, and systems integrators all bring a level of service that may or may not work with your needs. Know your expectations and limitations in determining the most suitable partner.

A Knowledgeable Choice: An enterprise-wide UCC program deserves a full-service vendor that can help access and design a specific program that manages an organization’s business, technology and budgetary objectives. Not all vendors come to the table with a sweeping set of services. Be prepared to compare the level of assessment and on-boarding programs to prevent any future disappointments.

Engage An Internal Team: The best way to manage a company-centric adoption of UCC is to create a task force to define the most important process elements that can be altered by a UCC initiative. Involving a cross-section of management would also be beneficial in uncovering all of the needs that may be overlooked if your group only represents select departments. Don’t be afraid to contact a vendor from your selection process; they can help you define and fine-tune a UCC roadmap.

Streamline Features: As you determine needs, focus on a vendor who can deliver the most efficient and direct approach to implementing a UCC environment. Review and trim down any unnecessary and complex features, which will only confuse and frustrate your users. Even though managed services offers a less feature-rich platform than their premises-based cousins it becomes an advantage as it helps drive business results.

About the Author

Martin Schubert is SVP Services for Siemens Enterprise Communications (News - Alert) and is responsible for managed services globally. He has been working in the IT industry for more than 15 years where he was CEO in three different Siemens (News - Alert) IT solutions and services companies. In most recent years, Schubert has held several senior sales and services management positions within Siemens Enterprise Communications.

(source: http://unified-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/unified-communications/articles/100728-adopting-unified-communications-collaboration-determining-right-entry-point.htm)