The proliferation of unified communications has introduced a debate among decision-makers: should their company stay with a single supplier to meet their UC needs, or build a multi-vendor (best of breed) strategy?
The entry point into the unified communications discussion is usually tied to a migration to IP telephone, an IP PBX or a next-generation voicemail solution because for many companies legacy PBXs are reaching end-of-life and traditional voicemail solutions are in need of an update to some form of unified messaging.
Deploying IP Telephony can be a complex process and so a complete end-to-end unified communications solution can understandably seem appealing, with the promise of simplified deployment, single accountability, centralised management and lower costs.
But deploying IP telephony and unified communications is a critical business decision and a one-stop-shop approach usually means being locked in with one supplier with an increasingly prohibitive pricing/ structure - unless you opt to undergo an expensive ‘rip and replace’ exercise to switch vendors.
Needless to say the process of migration is lengthy and often results in a number of changes along the way, including a change of core technology switching infrastructure. In this case having a ‘best of breed’ provider is invaluable, offering organisations forward flexibility, a less costly migration path and the ability to change direction with a new supplier much more quickly.
Open solutions are much better suited to help organisations realise the full value from their existing hardware and software deployments, extending the life of existing systems and further driving down the total cost of ownership.
Taking an open standards, multi-vendor approach also gives organisations the flexibility to adopt a wide variety of applications from specialised ‘best-of-breed’ suppliers who can offer strong technological leadership and more advanced solutions.
The Importance of Innovation
Another important issue to consider is not only the current offerings from a particular provider, or the cost of obtaining these solutions, but also the innovation that a provider can offer in the future that will add value over time.
Organisations that pursue a multi-supplier approach are in a competitive position to take advantage of any emerging technologies on offer and can mix and match granular capabilities to create a tailored solution. Choosing applications on this basis means you create a focused system that adds value to your organisation, whilst maximising the potential to save money.
The solution can also be optimised to fit the profile of your organisation and you can influence the future direction of applications so they continue to meet your needs – plus, you maintain the flexibility to source your services from alternative suppliers.
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