Choosing between Premises-Based and Hosted Communications Solutions. a look at the pros and cons

Transcription

1 Choosing between Premises-Based and Hosted Communications Solutions a look at the pros and cons

2 Contents Introduction...3 Mobility...4 Virtualisation... 4 Reducing complexity yet increasing choice...4 Three main deployment models (and their pros and cons)... 4 Cloud based telephony...4 On-site equipment (Customer Premises Equipment or CPE)... 4 A hybrid solution mixing hosted cloud and CPE...5 SIP...5 Two concerns people raise about cloud communications... 6 Is my network secure?... 6 Is the call quality as good?... 6 We have VMWare... 6 Which solution is right for you?... 6 About Mitel... 8

3 Introduction With the growing trend towards software based communication solutions, businesses can now choose between technology that situated on-premises or located in a data center or cloud environment. With the exception of endpoints, routers and switches, the location for the components that form a communication infrastructure is now far less relevant. This guide discuss some of the key factors IT and telecoms decision makers should consider when choosing between a hosted versus a premises-based communications solution. When it comes to evolving business telecoms there are no universally correct answers. Every organisation has different needs based on their IT and technological environment and their issues, pains and drivers and this means that your business objectives are the most important factor when choosing communication solutions. PRIVATE CLOUD Your own network HYBRID SOLUTION A mixture of both as you evolve the cloud PUBLIC CLOUD Secure break out over the internet 3 Mitel

4 Communication behaviour is also changing. Today s users are moving from formal meetings, booking resources and geographic limitations towards real-time collaboration, using diverse communication methods and devices, and regardless of location. It is increasingly the case that issues such as business intelligence, risk management, team collaboration, mobility, self-service, application harmonisation and business process management are high priorities for CIOs and IT leaders. In this environment the deployment of communication solutions that can provide cloud and SIP connectivity and Unified Communications applications is a natural evolution. Key business trends today include: Mobility Many organisations have a reduced workforce but the same workload Environmental issues and travel costs are key drivers Distributed workforces are common Context-aware mobility is important Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is increasingly expected by employees Virtualisation The rise of SIP is driving virtualisation Distributed people requires virtualisation or access to central hubs for communication Disaster recovery is increasingly essential including for applications and mobility Reducing complexity... Unified Communications technology is important for collaboration The One Number concept is simplifying contact Easier management of communications is important Three main deployment models (and their pros and cons) There are three main models of deployment for the communications infrastructure within a business. 1. CLOUD BASED TELEPHONY In this model customers place their communications infrastructure off-site in a data centre. Nearly 70% of B2B interactions are still voice based yet few organizations have virtualized their voice communications. Pros Greater flexibility and scalability Opex (utility pricing) Lease or rent options Enable staff to focus on core skills and creating business value Business Continuity and Redundancy Demand based Protect voice calls Reduce technology obsolescence Less maintenance Service Level Agreements Cons You relinquish some control Lifetime value can be hard to pin down Risks with leasing models Reliance on 3rd party skills Data bursting Capacity brown-out Can t physically inspect links, switches and ports etc. Need to be sure of your security 2. ON-SITE EQUIPMENT (CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT OR CPE) Customers can also retain and maintain their equipment on their own site....yet increasing choice Multiple models of delivery are available for communications Premises, cloud, private/public, hybrid... It s important to keep in mind that the aim of communications technology is to enable customers to access tools, applications and content across the devices they want to use and wherever they are located. Pros Complete asset control Fully controlled Self-managed Life cycle in years Good total ownership costs Cons Capex model Built for peak demand Need in-house skills to selfmanage Depreciation of value Down-time for updates Mitel 4

5 3. A HYBRID SOLUTION MIXING HOSTED CLOUD AND CPE Many organisations today are using a hybrid approach using a mixture of CPE and hosted technologies in order to get the best of both worlds. Today many companies still have separate voice, data and video networks but with increasing usage of IP networks many companies are now shifting towards converged communications. In the coming years many organizations will move into phase three in which communications and collaboration will be integrated together as well as with critical business processes such as workflow management and contact centres. Application focus UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS AND COLLABORATION IP focus CONVERGED NETWORKS IP everywhere Communication-enabled business processes Multimodal user collaboration Integrated applications Hardware focus TRADITIONAL Separate voice, video and data networks Distributed communications Source: European Videoconferencing Endpoints Market. Frost & Sullivan. SIP Modern phone platforms are server based and use the data infrastructure (Voice over IP) meaning that end points are often IP (Proprietary) or Session Initiation Protocol (Open). First generation phones used an IP protocol (H.323) but with proprietary coding. These phones were tied to the phone system from the same manufacturer. The convergence of the voice and data infrastructure has led to the development of phones based on Open Standards which uses open SIP rather than proprietary coding. SIP has become a leading signalling protocol for establishing real-time communications and is important to accelerating Unified Communications deployments in an organization. SIP offers benefits including greater flexibility, futureproofing, easy-to-use personal call management and reduced costs (especially when adding SIP trunks). The end points (phones, PC-based soft phone clients, cordless handsets) should support SIP as standard which means they are ideal for cloud networks 5 Mitel

6 Two concerns people raise about cloud communications IS MY NETWORK SECURE? Some people raise questions arise about the security of the company s data and other communications when using a hosted service. Many organizations believe they can offer better security themselves by keeping communications solutions on-premises versus using a hosted provider. However, the better service providers are subscribing to security and compliance standards such as ISO 27001, SAS 70, and FIPS Top tip Customers adopting a hybrid approach should consider investment in Session Border Controllers to control the integration between different technologies in-house and to strengthen security protocols. IS THE CALL QUALITY AS GOOD? Some hosted communications providers rely on Internet best effort. This is the model many consumer voice services (for example such as Skype ) use. These services may be fine if the business has a Tier 1 network provider. Businesses will generally be happier with the overall quality of the communications if the service provider is either providing the network or can suggest approved partners who can provide a network with QoS. However, this is a question that s true of both cloud and on-premises solutions because in both cases the network must be robust. We have VMWare A private cloud architecture can be ideal for organizations seeking to develop a robust virtualization strategy (especially those who already have VMWare environments) encompassing 24/7 uptime as well as robust upgrade and rollback options. In a VMware environment the phone platforms can be run as virtual machines to deliver real time communications as a service. This provides hardware consolidation and enhanced resiliency options such as High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance (FT). WHICH SOLUTION IS RIGHT FOR YOU? Your organization is unique so think about your needs and objectives. For example is reducing your power usage or server footprint important? Is business continuity and virtualization important? Do you need to future proof your end points? Is flexibility and scalability an essential factor? One of the interesting trends in the market is the increase in technology providers who can provide both onpremises based solutions or cloud communications. For example Mitel offers on-premises solutions with its MiVoice range as well as cloud through the MiCloud range of solutions (which include public and private cloud options). The key point to remember is that your organization is unique. This paper has given you some core criteria and pointers to help you to consider and judge which solution is right for you. Mitel 6

7 10 key questions Here are 10 key questions to ask your cloud communications provider. 1 Can you demonstrate successful cloud deployments? 6 Can we customize the solution to meet our needs? 2 Do you have Service Level Agreements? 7 Do you offer integration? Do you offer multi-tenancy? What s the Disaster Recovery plan? How secure is the cloud network? 8 9 How many business applications does the cloud provider offer? Can users get anytime, anywhere access from any device? 10 Where is our data kept? 7 Mitel

8 About Mitel Mitel (NASDAQ: MITL) is a global provider of business communications and collaboration software and services. Mitel s Freedom architecture provides the flexibility and simplicity organizations need to support today s dynamic work environment. Through a single cloudready software stream, Mitel delivers a powerful suite of advanced communications and collaboration capabilities that provides freedom from walled garden architectures and enables organisations to implement best-ofbreed solutions on any network; extends the in-office experience anywhere, on any device; and offers choice of commercial options to fit business needs. For more information, visit: mitel.com Copyright 2015, Mitel Networks Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Mitel word and logo are trademarks of Mitel Networks Corporation. Any reference to third party trademarks are for reference only and Mitel makes no representation of ownership of these marks R1502-EN