white paper How SHoreTel Unified CommUniCaTionS CompareS To avaya

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER How ShoreTel Unified Communications Compares to Avaya

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Platform comparison Deployment comparison Management and administration comparison Redundancy and remote site comparison Scalability comparison Upgrade comparison Unified Communication comparison Total cost of ownership comparison Customer satisfaction comparison Summary...9

3 1. Introduction Organizations of all sizes are implementing unified communications (UC) solutions to increase worker productivity, facilitate improved mobility, and reduce the costs of business communications. But selecting the right solution can determine whether companies realize these benefits, or needlessly add cost and complexity to their communications infrastructure. ShoreTel provides customers with a comprehensive, integrated UC solution that is easy to deploy, easy to use, simple to manage and cost effective to operate. Compared with Avaya products, ShoreTel offers numerous advantages, including streamlined deployment and management, easier scalability, and a significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO). 2. Platform comparison An effective UC solution should be truly unified not a loose collection of distinct products, but a single platform with integrated capabilities. It should offer an integrated user interface that allows workers to move seamlessly among multiple modes of communication and provide a straightforward architecture with an easy-to-use management console to streamline administration. A UC solution should also be easy to scale, so organizations can expand the solution as business grows without having to rip and replace existing systems. Avaya offers multiple UC platforms: Avaya IP Office Basic Edition, Avaya IP Office Standard Mode, Avaya IP Office Server Edition, Avaya IP Office Select, Avaya Aura for Midsize Enterprise, Avaya Aura Communication Manager, and the Avaya Communication Server platform. Each platform offers different levels of scalability and features, and customers that outgrow one Avaya UC solution will be forced into a costly, time-consuming migration process. An effective UC solution should be truly unified not a loose collection of distinct products, but a single platform with integrated capabilities Avaya platforms were adapted from legacy technology and assembled piecemeal. For example, the flagship Avaya Aura solution is a series of disparate telephony, messaging and collaboration products that were evolved from legacy digital and analog systems. This architecture is costly to deploy and manage. In contrast, ShoreTel solutions were designed from the ground-up for IP-based communications, and provide customers an all-in-one platform that integrates a full range of communications and collaboration capabilities including voice, video, and instant messaging, as well as advanced tools for mobility, presence detection, and collaboration. ShoreTel s UC solution is a single platform that can scale easily from 10 to 20,000 users to accommodate employee growth, the addition of new sites and expansion to new geographic regions, all within the same environment. It provides a seamless, integrated environment for users and a unified, easy-to-manage solution for IT administrators. Page 3

4 3. Deployment comparison A UC solution should be designed for rapid implementation so organizations can reduce deployment costs and accelerate the time to value. Administrators should be able to install and configure the solution without months of planning, in-depth technical expertise, or excessive training. Avaya products require more time and a higher skill level to deploy than ShoreTel solutions. Administrators must conduct extensive hardware installation including installation of multiple servers and PC clients, which are unnecessary with ShoreTel. A typical Avaya Aura deployment can require the installation of up to 15 servers, including: Avaya Aura Communication Manager Server A UC solution should be designed for rapid implementation so organizations can reduce deployment costs and accelerate the time to value Avaya Aura Session Manager Server Avaya one-x Mobile Server Avaya one-x Portal Server Avaya Presence Server Avaya Aura Application Enablement Services (AES) Server Avaya Web Portal Server Avaya Client Registration Server (CRS) Server Avaya Web Conferencing (AWC) Server Avaya Meeting Exchange (MX) Server Web Client Services Server Avaya Messaging Application Servers (MAS) Avaya Message Storage Server (MSS) Avaya Agile Communication Environment (ACE) Server Avaya ACE Integration Engine (AIE) Server Furthermore, a multisite Avaya environment requires administrators to install and independently configure gateways or survivable systems at each site. ShoreTel solutions can be deployed more quickly and efficiently. ShoreTel requires only a single headquarters server and can be deployed through a simple, browser-based console. Furthermore, drop-in switches at any site are easy to configure from the headquarters location. Page 4

5 4. Management and administration comparison Solution complexity can easily offset the cost and productivity benefits of UC. If an organization needs to assign high-level IT staff to UC management, hire additional staff with in-depth technical expertise, or provide extensive training to existing personnel, the added management expenses will mitigate any benefit from UC investments. Avaya solutions can be significantly more complex to manage and maintain than the ShoreTel solutions. Once an Avaya solution is up and running, administrators must navigate through several interfaces to provision and manage all the distinct applications. In many cases, administrators will need to take multiple expensive training courses to fully understand how to operate and manage the solution. ShoreTel s UC solutions use a single-image architecture that encompasses all functions. As a result, organizations have fewer servers to buy and maintain and administrators can take advantage of seamlessly integrated management functions. Administrators can use the browser-based ShoreTel Director to manage multiple sites within a single interface. Since ShoreTel Director runs on the headquarters server, no additional management systems are required. To help administrators make the most of the ShoreTel platform, ShoreTel offers simple, inexpensive training courses. 5. Redundancy and remote site survivability comparison A UC solution should deliver high availability to support mission-critical business communications. Downtime can significantly damage a company s reputation and have a direct impact on revenue. The loss of a dial tone can mean a missed opportunity or the loss of a customer. ShoreTel has eliminated many of the components notorious for causing system and communications failures ShoreTel has eliminated many of the components notorious for causing system and communications failures. Unlike Avaya servers, ShoreTel voice appliances have no disc drives, data connectors, or multiple boards that can turn into points of failure. With its single-image system, ShoreTel s distributed architecture is less vulnerable to the kind of glitches that sometimes occur in centralized architectures such as Avaya s the kind that cause costly outages like lack of access to voic , or lost messages. In contrast, ShoreTel s features add up to five-nines reliability, or percent uptime, which is less than a few minutes of unplanned outage in a year. In addition, Avaya products often struggle to provide the availability many organizations require. With Avaya IP Office, for example, the failure of a control unit can render phones inoperable at a remote site. Meanwhile, Avaya Aura s centralized architecture relies heavily on the WAN, which typically delivers only three-nines (99.9 percent) availability. As a result, a connectivity failure could easily result in outages. Additionally, implementing Avaya redundancy and remote site survivability options are costly and add to architectural complexity. Page 5

6 ShoreTel offers cost-effective, n+1 redundancy with only one additional switch needed to provide redundancy for the entire system. If a switch fails, its load is automatically distributed to the other switches, protecting the system from an outage. In the event of a network outage, the phone system can continue to place and receive calls on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The system s distributed architecture and applications, and its n+1 redundancy, help deliver missioncritical business communications with five-nines availability. A UC solution should provide the scalability to accommodate growth resulting from the addition of new employees, opening of new office locations, expansion into new geographic territories and acquisition of other businesses. 6. Scalability comparison A UC solution should provide the scalability to accommodate growth resulting from the addition of new employees, opening of new office locations, expansion into new geographic territories and acquisition of other businesses. Rapid and cost-effective scaling can help an organization stay agile while controlling costs. With Avaya products, organizations are often forced to upgrade to a new hardware platform when they reach the capacity limit of their existing system. For example, if a single Avaya IP Office Server Edition deployment exceeds 2,000 users, administrators must either upgrade to Avaya Aura Communication Manager or deploy a completely separate instance of IP Office. By comparison, ShoreTel provides scalability for up to 20,000 users and 500 sites, all within the same, single image. ShoreTel s modular architecture enables organizations to simply add switches where needed. 7. Upgrade comparison A UC solution should help streamline component upgrades so organizations can take advantage of new capabilities and lengthen the solution s lifespan, without having to invest excessive time and effort in administration. When UC solutions have multiple upgrade cycles and processes for different solution elements, administrators must manage upgrades almost continuously. With Avaya products, upgrading is time consuming and costly. Each server and gateway must be upgraded, and there is a different process for each product. For some systems, upgrades can require new hardware due to compatibility issues. Additionally, on site technician support is needed to upgrade the platform, which can add significant costs in a multi-site environment. ShoreTel upgrades are faster, simpler, and less expensive. Because ShoreTel leverages a single, scalable UC platform, there is only one process for upgrades. Administrators upgrade the headquarters server and reboot gateways and phones. The ShoreTel support program automatically applies upgrades throughout the entire system at no cost to the end user. Page 6

7 8. Unified communications comparison To maximize the benefits of unified communications, a UC solution must make it easy for employees to adopt UC applications. Employees should be able to learn how to use applications quickly and have access to capabilities without juggling numerous interfaces. New applications should offer integration with existing communications solutions to reduce the learning curve. Avaya IP Office has multiple, distinct, end user clients, which adds complexity and difficulties for both users and administrators. For example, IP Office clients include the one-x Portal (which offers browserbased access without complete access to all users), Flare Communicator (only available to Windows users), Avaya Video Softphone, and the receptionist client. In contrast, ShoreTel provides users with a single user interface ShoreTel Communicator, which delivers simple access to voice, video, and instant messaging. Employees can learn the interface quickly and avoid having to shuttle between interfaces for different tasks. Additionally, with ShoreTel you can change the client type on the fly without reloading the new client on the desktop. Management of UC applications is also much easier with ShoreTel. The browser-based ShoreTel Director not only manages the phone system, but manages UC applications as well. That means that IT personnel can fine-tune and adjust performance remotely, whenever necessary. System administrators who need immediate information or control to troubleshoot Avaya systems must first obtain access to a PC already running Avaya IP Office management applications, which could mean additional downtime and lost productivity during an outage. 9. Total cost of ownership comparison UC solutions have tremendous potential for reducing the cost of business communications. But maximizing savings requires a solution designed to address all aspects of total cost of ownership (TCO). Organizations must consider not only upfront capital costs but also the costs of deployment, management, upgrades, support, and energy consumption. New applications should offer integration with existing communications solutions to reduce the learning curve The complexity of the Avaya platforms adds to the TCO of these solutions. First, as explained above, they are more difficult and more costly to deploy. Because these platforms require the use of more hardware than ShoreTel, they also incur significantly higher operating expenses, including the costs of powering, cooling, and managing multiple servers and applications. Furthermore, all Avaya UC products require extensive, costly training. ShoreTel has the industry s lowest TCO. In addition to significantly reducing communication costs, ShoreTel UC keeps hardware acquisition, software licensing, and management costs low. Compared with the multiple-server requirements of Avaya Aura platforms, ShoreTel requires only one headquarters Page 7

8 server and one SA-100 unified communications appliance so organizations have fewer servers to buy and operate. Streamlined management also means that administrators can spend less time and money deploying the solution and keeping it running. Taking into account the full range of costs associated with unified communications solutions from capital costs and implementation to training costs and electricity the ShoreTel solution can deliver a TCO that is up to 60 percent lower than the Avaya Aura solution. ShoreTel guarantees that its solution will provide a lower TCO than any other solution. ShoreTel provides businesses seeking a UC solution an easy-to-use online TCO tool so organizations can gain a clear and accurate understanding of costs before making an investment. ShoreTel guarantees that its solution will provide a lower TCO than any other solution. If the ShoreTel TCO tool or independent data determines that the ShoreTel TCO is higher than a competing solution, ShoreTel will lower its price to beat the competition. Below are the results of an example 10-year TCO analysis for a 500 user, three-site deployment Total cost of ownership (TCO) comparison 500 users, 2 sites (10-year pre-tax cash outlay) 3.48 $M Avaya ACM Avaya IPO ShoreTel Vendor/Technology Long distance charges Support services Network costs Electricity consumption System management, MACs, downtime Implementation and training Capital costs for network upgrade Capital costs for telephony system Source data: Ferris Research, Inc., Wainhouse Research, Nemertes Research, Alinean Research, The Tolly Group Page 8

9 10. Customer satisfaction comparison Given the ease of use, simple management, and low TCO of the comprehensive ShoreTel solution, it is not surprising that customers have consistently rated ShoreTel highly. ShoreTel uses the Net Promoter Score metric to measure customer satisfaction. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is determined by asking users a simple question: Would you recommend ShoreTel to a friend or colleague? with respondents rating their conviction on a scale of These ratings are divided into three categories based on the number. A rating of 9 or 10 is considered a promoter, 7 or 8 is considered a passive, and any response six or lower is considered a detractor. After all the ratings are tallied, the percentage of detractors is subtracted from the percentage of promoters to come up with an NPS. So for example, if everyone gives a rating of 6 or lower, the NPS would be If everyone gives a rating of 9 or 10, the NPS is 100. A more common example is if 50% are promoters, 30% are passives, and 20% are detractors, then the NPS would be 30 (i.e., 50-20). Companies like Apple, Google, and Harley Davidson have received Net Promoter Scores of 50 and higher and are considered world class according to the creator of the NPS system, Fred Reichheld, author of The Ultimate Question. ShoreTel has consistently received scores in the 50 s and 60 s from its end customers. Avaya, on the other hand, doesn t publicly publish customer satisfaction metrics. 11. Summary To realize the full benefits of UC, organizations must select complete, integrated solutions that are simple to use, easy to manage, and deliver a low TCO. ShoreTel meets those requirements, delivering a comprehensive solution with numerous advantages over Avaya UC products. By selecting ShoreTel, businesses can capitalize on the benefits of UC without adding costs or complexity. Visit shoretel.com to learn more about ShoreTel UC, find a local sales contact or request a product demo. ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems and unified communications solutions powering today s always-on workforce. Its flexible communications solutions for on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments eliminate complexity, reduce costs and improve productivity. World Headquarters 960 Stewart Drive Sunnyvale, CA USA shoretel.com +1 (800) Toll Free +1 (408) Tel +1 (408) Fax EMEA Inspired Easthampstead Road Bracknell, RG12 1YQ +44 (0) Tel APAC 8 Temasek Boulevard#41-03 Suntec Tower 3 Singapore Tel Copyright 2015 ShoreTel. All rights reserved. The ShoreTel logo and ShoreTel are registered trademarks of ShoreTel, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other copyrights and trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners. Specifications are subject to change without notice.