Unified Communication: Beyond the technology

According to David Cannon, program manager Telecommunications at IDC Australia, confusion around UC is lessening as time goes by and the message that UC is a concept is where the waters are clearing up.

Adoption of UC suite of solutions is definately on the increase and with that in mind organisations looking to develop a strong business case for Unified Communications must look beyond the specifications of a product and more at what that product can do for your organisation, Cannon told CRN.

“Choosing the vendor technology that suits your business is the most important aspect of UC. Most vendors like Avaya and Cisco are changing the way they do business and are moving away from selling products based on a technology model,” he said.

“They realise that people are over particular technical terms for a solution and the technical versions of a phone becomes less important. What is important is the functionality of the product across an ICT infrastructure,” he said.

Business aren't interested in different versions of a phone model, they want to know what those products can do for its business.

Craid Neil, managing director at national IT&T service provider, NSC, said UC is not a simple concept and for most organisations it requires long term strategic planning involving business process re-engineering and, in some cases, a complete change management program.

“While desktop integration may increase organisational efficiency, very little ROI can be achieved until you introduce conferencing and mobility,” said Neil.

According to Neil, the ability to integrate communications capabilities directly with business processes is a milestone in the convergence of IT and communications.

“The key to achieving ROI is the successful integration of desktop applications with back office applications such as ERP and CRM.” ‘Smart Integration’ enables enterprises to transform their business by enabling them to react more quickly to exceptions in processes resulting in the ability to make smarter, faster use of information.

Shortening transaction cycles, streamlining production processes, enhancing customer service and better managing a supply chain are just some of the many benefits which can be derived from the adoption of smart integration, claimed Neil.