Now that you know the ins and outs of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C), how can you make its deployment work best for you and your organization? For starters, you should know that your budget will certainly benefit. The reason: all UC&C solutions, whether hosted or on-premise, improve overall business efficiency and productivity through the integrated solution, thus providing a greater chance of cost reduction. According to data from Wainhouse Research, a fully integrated premise-based UC&C solution can save up to 97% more cost annually compared to similar externally hosted collaboration solutions. Additionally, when considering cost, be sure to think in terms of TOTAL cost of Ownership rather than ROI, as we mentioned in the last post. When considering the TCO of deploying a software premise-based UC&C solution, consider the following additional factors, suggested by Information Week, when justifying your decision and maximizing your TCO.
Key Factors in Determining and Justifying UC&C TCO
- Operational Expenditures
- Capital Expenditures
- Employee Productivity and Job Satisfaction
- Training
- Feature Adoption Timeline
- Increased Sales Due To Increased Collaboration
- Market-Share Increase
If cost isn’t enough to help build your case for UC&C implementation, then perhaps improved business efficiency and performance will. According to an Information Week survey, some of the specific drivers identified by enterprise customers who have deployed or are planning to deploy UC&C solutions are:
- Improved Employee Collaboration
- Improved Employee Efficiency
- Legacy PBX Retirement or Upgrade Technology to meet Business Needs and Stay on Par with Peers
- Create a More Mobile Workforce
- Improve Communications with Customers
How will you determine the right UC&C approach for your organization?
Based on your organization’s specific needs and budget there are many solutions to choose from and methods to deploy them. The growing trend of deploying fully integrated software-based premise solutions provides you with the greatest control and choice, as well as substantially lowering your TCO. This annual savings can be substantial when compared to a hosted solution. Although there are many factors to consider when determining an accurate and representative TCO, clearly developing a strategy and defining a deployment road map with the right vendor gives you the best opportunity for successfully realizing the benefits UC&C can offer your organization.
