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COMMS VISION 10-12 NOVEMBER GLENEAGLES PREVIEW


www.commsvision.com CLEAR VISION FOR CLOUD


The imperative for business end users to get more efficient, flexible and productive is playing directly into the hands of cloud-based UC providers, says Simon Howitt, Channel Business Unit Director at Outsourcery.


I n the current


economic climate, businesses are evaluating the way they work and searching for new, more cost- effective ways to conduct business. Close examination of their business practices will be far reaching and without doubt, the conclusions reached will have implications for their communications strategies on a number of levels, observes Howitt. “The first challenge to address is how to make best use of all available forms of communication,” believes Howitt. “Much has been said about Unified Communications, but in our view people all too often confuse the meaning as the convergence of fixed and mobile services rather than integrating all business communications and IT solutions.


“Outsourcery believes that true unified


communications allows users to combine real time and non real time communications, which has a huge influence on how people work. Just equip them with a laptop, smartphone and connectivity, and they can operate anywhere as though they were in the office. Provide them with the right software, such as Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS), Dynamics CRM or SharePoint, and they can become increasingly productive, see efficiency benefits, as well as becoming more effective in the way they compete.”


The second challenge relates to the deployment of UC. The efficacy of hosting, the growth of hosted opportunities within businesses and the way cloud has matured has opened up tremendous scope for companies of all sizes and types to access sophisticated technologies on a ‘rent don’t buy’ model. “UC was historically mostly afforded by larger, corporate organisations, however, the cloud has opened up opportunities for all and is the main stimulus for significant transformation in the way businesses use communications,” added Howitt.


With Microsoft investing several billion dollars in cloud this year, notes Howitt, and Gartner predicting that 40 per cent of organisations will increase their spending on external IT services, the opportunities for the channel are unquestionable. “The role the cloud can play in enabling this communication revolution is both exciting and potentially rewarding,” he added.


“Growth will be fuelled through the SME sector, and it has been well researched that the majority of SMEs will choose to work with like-minded providers, therefore it is the channel that will sit in pole position as this revolution gathers momentum.”


The intelligent integration of mobile, fixed and IT software lies at the heart


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customers’ businesses,” Howitt said. “The scales of the winners prizes are colossal. They will form closer, deeper relationships with customers and will be rewarded with increased loyalty and truly richer relationships in all senses.


“It is therefore important that partners choose to work with the right hosted provider. They need breadth and depth of knowledge from their provider so that they in turn can support their customers. In this respect, both partner and customer will follow a similar journey, therefore support in all areas from such a hosting provider is critical. Working with a provider who can offer the most complete range of innovative products and services is also important as the partners will value a single relationship.”


Simon Howitt


True UC allows users to combine real time and non real time communications, which has a huge influence on how people work


of a clear UC strategy. Customers are likely to turn to, or be persuaded by, their incumbent mobile, fixed line or IT services provider to evaluate how their business can benefit. “The winning partners won’t necessarily come from a


specific discipline, but are more likely to be those who act as trusted advisors in the eyes of their customers, and who take them on a journey which can lead to the dramatic transformation of the way communications are employed in their


The issue of security will be of paramount importance, observes Howitt. “Partners will need to pass on the reassurance to their customers that their business applications will be hosted in state of the art data centres where the infrastructure is managed and backed up securely,” he commented. “Finally, partners need to work with a provider that can also offer the necessary consultancy services to provide full integration with existing business tools and platforms, so that even the most sophisticated deployment and


customisation can deliver immediate benefit to the customers.”


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