Unified Communications & Collaboration. Connecting people and information

Unified Communications & Collaboration Connecting people and information

Unified Communications & Collaboration Contents Introduction IP Communications Visual Collaboration Corporate Mail Corporate Collaboration Embrace, Enrich, Empower

4 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION Increase productivity in the workplace with Unified Communications and Collaboration Enabling organisations to be more productive, drive growth and bring products faster to market by connecting people and information in disparate locations. It s ubiquitous. It s empowering. It's growing. Communication impacts every interaction, every process, every decision in every organisation and workplace. Thanks to technological advances, communication and collaboration have broken free from physical and geographical boundaries to become perpetual and pervasive. We read emails while waiting at a restaurant; participate in web conferences when working from home; share information via team workspaces from the train; and participate in video conferences with colleagues while on holiday abroad. In five years, we expect the user environment to be substantially different for mainstream business users. UCC will essentially change the way users work on a routine basis. Gartner 1 With the choice and flexibility of user touch points on the increase, workplace communication and collaboration can quickly spiral out of control to become a complex and costly activity that encumbers rather than empowers. By taking a unified approach to communications and collaboration, organisations will not only be able to reduce the associated capital and operational spend but also improve the end user experience. Cohesive and cost-effective The concept of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) has been on the corporate radar for a number of years, but only now is it becoming a technical reality and a business priority. UCC brings together traditional and emerging technologies to provide a cost-effective and cohesive framework for today s contemporary workplace. With these foundations in place, organisations will be able to find smarter, faster and more economical ways of working. To realise these benefits, organisations need to implement the right platforms and processes and ensure they complement rather than constrain the adoption of the full UCC portfolio. Whether your journey starts with IP telephony, email, visual or corporate collaboration, a joined-up approach based on Computacenter: a proven and pragmatic partner We take a user centric consultative approach to UCC to ensure human end user outcomes are realised via the introduction of a technology based UCC solution We have more than 30 years experience of implementing and managing workplace and networking technologies Computacenter will define the best-fit, best-value solutions for leveraging the benefits of integrated communications and collaboration Our team has a number of vendor and industry certifications and brings together a wealth of expertise across voice, video, messaging and data Computacenter is vendor and platform agnostic and offers flexible commercials Our unique Customer Experience Centre enables organisations to prototype and prove best-ofbreed UCC solutions from the likes of Cisco, Microsoft, Avaya and Polycom, before they make a purchasing decision

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION 5 the needs of the business and its users will be paramount to success. Without such integration, organisations will soon find they are duplicating effort, technologies and costs. A seamless user experience As an experienced UCC provider, Computacenter will help right-size your investment and solution to deliver the best business outcomes. We will help you consolidate existing technologies, integrate multi-vendor offerings and plan a UCC roadmap that results in a seamless experience for end users. Enterprises should pursue a broad UCC convergence strategy but should resist pressure to depend entirely on a single vendor, which can lead to reduced functionality and lack of innovation. Gartner 1 Thanks to our extensive infrastructure and services expertise, we can provide support and advice at every stage of the UCC lifecycle from readiness assessments and proof of concept to implementation, user education and support and management. As sourcing and provisioning options for UCC technologies and services evolve, we will help you make an informed choice between on-premise, off-premise and hybrid models so you can deliver maximum value for minimum cost. Unified Communications (UC) Desk-to-desk Video Digital Signage & Media Video Conferencing Video Web Conferencing Messaging UCC Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) Email Unified Messaging Presence Instant Messaging (IM) Voice Collaboration Audio Conferencing Portals IP Telephony VoIP File Sharing Social Networking Content Management

6 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION IP Communications Laying the foundations for a collaborative future An IP-based communications infrastructure is the first step towards transforming how employees, customers, and partners interact in today s contemporary workplace. Without these robust and flexible foundations, UCC initiatives will fall at the first hurdle. To seamlessly support voice, video and data, organisations need a network and communications infrastructure that works all the time, every time. Although many organisations have already embraced an IP-based approach through IP telephony and VoIP, these implementations are often in silos or on first generation technologies. According to a survey by Ovum 2, fewer than one in five large companies have near-ubiquitous use of IP telephony. To realise the full financial and productivity benefits of UCC, IP communications have to be omnipresent and fit-forpurpose for today s connected and highly collaborative workplace. Whether this means expanding your existing IP telephony deployment, upgrading to newer IP communications solutions or migrating from a legacy PBX infrastructure, Computacenter can help. Making communication predictable and affordable We have end-to-end IP communications capabilities, and can assist with readiness assessments, design, technology supply, implementation and support. Computacenter will help you evaluate internal processes, applications, infrastructures and communication costs to develop a realistic IP communications roadmap and business case. Thanks to our vendor independence and extensive experience, you will be able to select the technologies that best fit your business needs, user communities and budget. To minimise capital expenditure, Computacenter will identify opportunities to leverage existing networking and communications assets. We also help organisations to cost effectively leverage exciting collaboration software solutions, such as Microsoft Lync, that has been acquired via a wider licensing agreement. Computacenter not only makes IP communications more affordable but also reliable. Our consultants are equipped with a unique blend of both telephony and networking skill sets, ensuring network performance and readiness elements are scrutinised and modified where required. Accelerate change and decision-making By combining our expertise and industrialised services with best-of-breed technologies, your organisation will be able to establish an IP-based infrastructure that will encourage the adoption of other UCC solutions, which will not only transform the workplace but also reduce operational costs. For example, users will be able to take advantage of presence solutions, such as Cisco Unified Presence and MSN Messenger, which display the availability of colleagues regardless of their location, device or timezone. Such visibility can accelerate decision-making and problem resolution as senior executives or subject matter experts can be located and contacted without delay. Presence is just one of the many UCC applications that can be deployed once a solid and scalable IP-based communications infrastructure has been established. IP Communications: why it matters Reduces telecommunication bills and the need to invest in dedicated telephony lines Simplifies change in line with business growth, office consolidation and team restructuring Enables the adoption of rich collaboration tools that drive greater innovation, agility and productivity Facilitates flexible and remote working thereby reducing the need for dedicated office space for every employee

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION 7 Case Study: Harvey Nichols enhances the customer experience and will make savings of 1 million with unified communications Challenge Harvey Nichols is synonymous with quality. To ensure an exceptional retail experience, the company's 2,500 employees need to be able to deal with customers' requests quickly. This often involves contacting other stores, the head office or warehouse a process that was hampered by Harvey Nichols' disparate telephony systems. This decentralised approach was also adding unnecessary cost and complexity to day-to-day business operations. HARVEY NICHOLS Solution Harvey Nichols partnered with Computacenter to implement a new unified communications infrastructure incorporating IP telephony and wireless connectivity. Based on Cisco technologies, the new solution has simplified collaboration across the company's 11 sites as well as IT support. Computacenter also provided the underlying IPT foundations, which involved the implementation of structured cabling solutions at each location and upgrading the local area network to Power over Ethernet Cisco Catalyst switches, and is responsible for supporting the solution under a five-year contract. Results As well as significantly reducing Harvey Nichols' telephone bills, the new infrastructure is more cost-effective to support, which will result in savings of 1 million over 10 years. Employees can devote more time to customers and answer queries in a shorter timeframe, which helps improve the retail experience and maintain Harvey Nichols' reputation. IP Communications: how Computacenter can help We have a dedicated networking and communications practice with end-to-end IP communications capabilities Computacenter has relationships with all the key IP communications vendors and holds Gold partnership certifications with Cisco, Polycom and Microsoft We were Cisco s UK Enterprise Partner of the Year in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 Our IP communications services are closely integrated with our workplace offerings to ensure a seamless user experience Thanks to our multi-vendor status, we can fulfill all your IP communications technology requirements from peripherals and end points to soft clients and underlying infrastructure components

8 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION Visual Collaboration Enabling instant and effortless interaction From video conferences and digital signage to web meetings and telepresence, visual collaboration is adding a new dimension to workplace interactions. Customer meetings, internal briefings, staff training and corporate announcements no longer require hours of travel or a long lead time. Instead they can be scheduled and completed immediately without anyone having to change their location. The versatility and velocity of visual collaboration is attracting growing interest at both employer and employee level. Video conferencing in particular is expected to experience massive growth, with industry watchers predicting that video content will constitute 91 per cent of global network traffic by 2014 3. To be ready for this explosion in visual collaboration, organisations need to ensure employees have access to high-quality content and intuitive end points. Incompatible hardware, poor performance and complex set-up processes can quickly derail the adoption of new collaboration technologies resulting in a low Return On Investment (ROI). Rapid adoption and ROI By partnering with Computacenter, you will be able to fast-track implementation, adoption and benefits realisation across the visual collaboration landscape. We have extensive experience of sourcing and deploying all the major technologies, and will assess the readiness of your IT infrastructure and user groups. We will identify which solutions are best suited to different employee roles - for example video conferencing could be offered desk-to-desk via a standard definition solution, such as Microsoft Lync, or via a dedicated room and high definition solution, such as Cisco TelePresence. As well as getting the client interface right, Computacenter helps organisations assess the impact of visual collaboration on their back-end IT infrastructure, particularly in terms of increased network traffic and storage capacity. To minimise the need for additional investment, we will help you leverage existing assets and identify untapped resources. For example, Microsoft Enterprise Agreements often include a Lync license, which combines instant messaging with presence, IP telephony, audio-conferencing and video-conferencing features. Boost revenue generation with digital signage and media As well as empowering employees, visual collaboration can provide a valuable and highly effective platform for customer and partner engagement through the use of digital media and signage. From e-posters and information points to ondemand video content, digital signage and media can boost sales and enhance the customer experience. By working with Computacenter, you will be able to tap into these benefits with minimum effort and expense. For example, we helped O2 equip 400 stores with a digital signage solution for sharing promotional material and hosting handset tutorials. As a result, the company was able to attract and retain more customers. Whether your visual collaboration journey starts with deskto-desk video, digital signage or immersive telepresence rooms, Computacenter will help future-proof your investment and ensure a seamless integration with existing investments and new solutions. As visual collaboration solutions become more pervasive, we can also assist with management and maintenance to ensure maximum uptime and an excellent user experience. Visual Collaboration: why it matters Reduces the need for business travel and associated expenses and carbon emissions Supports flexible working practices and facilitates faster decision-making Engages customers and staff and helps drive innovation, growth and revenue generation Minimises the risk of business disruption due to adverse weather conditions or emergencies

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION 9 Case Study: Hospitals in East Kent improve medical training and patient care with integrated video conferencing solution Challenge East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust serves a wide geographical area. With its main hospital sites some miles apart, the trust's clinicians frequently had to travel to attend meetings and conduct training sessions. The trust recognised travelling was not an efficient use of clinicians' time. In addition to the impact on productivity, the trust was also keen to reduce travel expenditure and its impact on the environment. Solution The trust partnered with Computacenter to design, implement and support a sophisticated video conferencing solution. The solution installed at the trust's three acute hospitals includes high-definition displays to enable clinicians to share images from the hospital's Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) such as x-rays and scans. Results By enabling its healthcare professionals to hold virtual meetings and share medical information, East Kent University NHS Foundation Trust has reduced travel costs and its impact on the environment. More importantly, the solution enables faster diagnosis and treatment of patients, and improves mentoring and training for medical staff. These factors all contribute to improving the standard of patient care delivered to the population of East Kent. Visual Collaboration: how Computacenter can help Computacenter has strategic relationships with all the major vendors, including Cisco, Polycom, Microsoft, NEC, LifeSize, Panasonic and Samsung Our end-to-end expertise means we can address infrastructure, integration and content management issues as part of any implementation Computacenter has been awarded a range of vendor accreditations, for example we are a Cisco Gold Partner and hold the Cisco TelePresence Video Master ATP Partner status Our user acceptance testing, training and support services will encourage rapid adoption and enable a faster return on investment We offer 24x7 monitoring services from our Video Network Operations Centre to safeguard availability of both visual collaboration applications and the underlying infrastructure components With an extensive product catalogue and configuration and logistics operation, we can fulfill all your sourcing needs for visual collaboration hardware from tablets and smartphones to LCD displays and plasma screens Working in partnership with our asset disposal subsidiary, RDC, we will ensure that redundant equipment is recycled or redeployed to minimise waste

10 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION Corporate mail Embracing the next generation of messaging Corporate mail is changing and fast. Cloud computing, integrated workflows and mobile devices are just some of the factors influencing the structure and delivery of today s greatest communication commodity. The ability to exploit next-generation email services will depend not only on an organisation s applications and infrastructure but also how they provision messaging to employees. The ongoing criticality of email as a communication channel means services must be affordable, predictable and accessible and not just from the desktop. By 2016, at least 50 per cent of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or mobile client instead of a desktop client. 4 To respond to employee demand and the evolving email landscape, IT departments need to replace legacy platforms and processes with a more scalable infrastructure and agile approach. To avoid the capital expense and disruption associated with such upgrades, many organisations will be drawn towards a private or public cloud delivery model. As well as optimising costs, cloud computing can accelerate the adoption of self-service features, increased inbox capacity and integrated instant messaging all of which contribute to greater staff productivity and satisfaction. Selecting the right sourcing model With corporate mail no longer restricted to on-premise delivery models, organisations need pragmatic advice to help them establish and execute the right approach for their business. Computacenter has extensive experience of migrating, upgrading and managing enterprise email infrastructures, and will enable you to achieve an optimal balance between performance, risk, cost and agility. We understand the different corporate mail delivery models on-premise, off-premise, private, public and hybrid and will help assess the needs of your organisation, user groups and IT operation so you can make an informed decision. To help organisations realise the financial and agility benefits of cloud-based messaging services, Computacenter has developed C 3 Mail. Billed on a fixed price per month per mailbox, the solution offers the flexibility of a dedicated or shared infrastructure with Computacenter implementing and managing the email infrastructure within your premises or at one of our high-availability datacenters. We also provide a services wrap for public cloud offerings, such as Microsoft Office 365, which ensures corporate mail and collaboration tools come with the enterprise level support demanded of such critical applications. Removing cost and complexity Although the volume of corporate mailboxes and messages is expected to continue to grow, the increased adoption of more interactive and real-time UCC technologies will decrease email s dominance in the workplace. As a result, organisations need to be ready to offer a seamless user experience to prevent both spiralling support costs and increased complexity in the workplace. For example, rather than providing multiple touch points for different communication and collaboration tools, the email inbox can also be used to aggregate voicemails and instant messages. Whether you need to upgrade your existing messaging infrastructure, enable integration with other UCC solutions or adopt a new delivery model, Computacenter can provide trusted advice and end-to-end support. Corporate Mail: why it matters Optimised infrastructure improves availability resulting in greater productivity and a better user experience Mobile access, integration and cloud-based delivery options increase business and employee agility Automated workflows and self-service options speed up core business processes and minimise manual effort Upgrading legacy technologies mitigates risk and removes cost and complexity New sourcing models based on utility billing reduce capital investment and make operational costs more predictable

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION 11 Case Study: Morrisons keeps supermarket shelves fully stocked with Computacenter partnership Challenge Morrisons is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK with 456 stores and 131,000 employees. To ensure it gets the right products on the right shelves at the right time, Morrisons operates a number of manufacturing and logistics facilities, including around 20 factories, 16 warehouses and 15 distribution sites. To safeguard the timely delivery of 250 lorry-loads of goods to each warehouse every day, the retailer must ensure it has continuously available IT systems. Solution Morrisons has partnered with Computacenter to deploy and manage new technologies as part of a major IT transformation known as Evolve. One of the first Evolve projects was the upgrade of Morrisons' email systems to Microsoft Exchange. This involved not only migrating a large amount of data from 8,600 users' inboxes but also implementing a new backend infrastructure to provide better disaster recovery. Computacenter has helped the retailer migrate to Microsoft Exchange, deployed a new warehouse picking system and is responsible for lifecycle management for 10,000 desktop devices. Results The email upgrade has improved staff productivity and satisfaction through enhanced communication, and by working with Computacenter, Morrisons has been able to maximise the benefits of its IT transformation. As well as safeguarding the supply chain and increasing staff productivity, the new IT services and systems have helped reduced costs. This will contribute to the 100 million annual cost savings expected from the Evolve programme. Corporate Mail: how Computacenter can help We have developed a portfolio of industrialised email services to simplify migration, licensing, backup and archiving, infrastructure support and management We migrate around 200,000 Microsoft Exchange mailboxes per year and have more than 300 accredited Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers Computacenter can assist with integrating corporate mail with presence, instant messaging, web conferencing, and soft phone technology to provide a richer experience for employees As one of Microsoft s top three large account resellers in the UK, we can help with licensing for Exchange and Office 365 as well as broader Enterprise Agreements We host more than 35,000 mailboxes on behalf of our customers Our C 3 Mail offering delivers an enterprise email service with a guaranteed availability and data sovereignty for a fixed price per month per mailbox

12 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION Corporate Collaboration Uniting teams for greater productivity Today s workplace is a chameleon. Its location and structure is constantly shifting as globalisation, mobile technologies and flexible working practices result in more agile and decentralised business models. As people and information become increasingly dispersed, organisations need to be able to unite colleagues, teams and decision-makers across multiple sites, countries and timezones. A corporate intranet is just the first phase of the corporate collaboration curve. To complete tasks and projects effectively and economically, staff also need access to virtual workspaces, real-time document sharing and knowledgebased communities. To facilitate such a holistic approach, organisations will need to embrace a range of collaboration technologies and social networking concepts from extranets and employee profile pages to websites and wikis. Taking a flexible and integrated approach to corporate collaboration will be essential as knowledge-based networks replace hierarchies in the workplace. Enabling an integrated approach Although most organisations have already adopted some elements of corporate collaboration, many have yet to establish a standardised and integrated approach. This disparate approach can not only increase operational costs but also limit employee flexibility. Computacenter will help you amalgamate collaboration tools, content and portals to provide employees with a unique and unified experience. Thanks to our extensive vendor relationships, you will be able to evaluate established and emerging solutions, such as Microsoft SharePoint and Cisco Quad. As a result, you will be able to create a best-of-breed corporate collaboration platform that is scalable, cost-effective and easy to support. Working in partnership with ICS Solutions, we will ensure you derive maximum value from any existing investments in collaboration tools, and optimise the underlying IT infrastructure to prevent any problems with capacity or availability. Collaborating via the cloud To help organisations minimise the need for capital investment and accelerate adoption of new technologies, we can assist with cloud-based implementations of corporate collaboration solutions. For example, our C 3 Collaboration service enables a utilitybased implementation of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 in a private cloud at one of our high availability datacenters. With pre-defined templates, user training and adoption modules, C 3 Collaboration delivers rapid results and transparent commercials. We can also assist with a public cloud approach. Computacenter offers an extensive Microsoft Office 365 services portfolio from readiness to deployment. Office 365 includes not only corporate collaboration tools but also email, conferencing and presence functionality. Computacenter offers an extensive Office 365 wrap from readiness assessments and pilots to migration, infrastructure management and end user support. Whether you source your corporate collaboration capabilities via the cloud, an on-site roll-out or a hybrid model, Computacenter can help maximise adoption, integration and performance, so staff can work faster and smarter. Corporate Collaboration: why it matters Improves knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer networking Enables faster and smarter decision-making Unites distributed teams resulting in greater productivity Accelerates time-to-market for new business initiatives and product launches Minimises travel requirements, costs and environmental impact Reduces costs as the need for telephony decreases Increases staff satisfaction and retention

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION 13 Case Study: ICS Solutions and Harrods Empowering a diverse workforce with SharePoint Challenge Harrods has a blended workforce consisting of over 8,000 full-time and parttime employees, and associates hired by the various brands it hosts. It also has contractors recruited during peak periods such as Christmas. Harrods needed its Intranet to overcome the challenge of integrating this mixed workforce. It should improve corporate communications and employee engagement, by surfacing and centralising all news and information. Moreover, the Intranet allows Harrods to be compliant with new UK legislation, which determine that all staff should have access to the same benefits and information. Solution ICS Solutions developed a bespoke layout for Harrods that reflects the brand s identity and functionality needs, including: custom site map, breadcrumbs, RSS aggregator and web parts. Among the web parts built within the SharePoint Intranet is a telephone directory, with the contact information from all 8,000 employees. This directory uses Business Connectivity Services to allow users to update their own details. The 'auto complete' functionality makes access to this real-time information easy. Results To develop a solution that could address the complex needs of such a varied workforce, Harrods chose to implement an Extranet on a separate farm and synchronise the two sites. Moreover, PCI regulations, Forms Based Authentication (FBA) and Active Directory were implemented. To provide a comprehensive search experience, Search Server 2010 Express was configured to work together seamlessly for both sites. Corporate Collaboration: how Computacenter can help We take an assessment-led approach that enables you to prioritise your investment and adoption roadmap based on business needs Our corporate collaboration service is closely integrated with our networking practice to ensure infrastructure readiness and ongoing performance We bring together the best solutions from vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Polycom, Avaya and Citrix and can assist with the procurement of software licences and hardware components C3Collaboration delivers 99.9 per cent availability for Microsoft SharePoint for a per user and per gigabyte charge Computacenter and ICS have more than 35 years of combined experience of Microsoft solutions and are both certified Gold Partners We offer hosting, support and management of your hardware infrastructure in our secure and UK-based datacenters

14 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION Embrace, enrich, empower The corporate workplace knows no boundaries in terms of time or location. To deliver maximum value and achieve maximum flexibility in this evolving landscape, both employee and employer need to embrace new ways of sharing information and interacting. UCC provides the foundations for today s IT-enabled business and tomorrow s devolved workplace, and strips away the constraints that can prevent innovation and business growth. By combining IP communications with email, visual and corporate collaboration, UCC connects people and information to create a joined-up enterprise regardless of their disparate locations. Visit our UCC Experience Centre Hatfield, UK Helping you to make an informed decision - hands-on demonstrations and multi-vendor technology trials. See integrated, multi-vendor demos across voice, video, messaging and collaboration Plan the right adoption road-map Trial the right communications and collaboration services for you To book a visit, please contact your Account Manager. Working with a proven partner will enable your organisation to maximise the benefits of taking an integrated approach to communication and collaboration and future-proof your investment. According to Gartner 1, We are at the start of a 10-year cycle of UCC change and evolution. The maturity of these solutions today varies and, as a result, they have different characteristics in the market and in enterprises. Computacenter is the ideal partner to ensure your organisation avoids the hazards of UCC transformation and instead unlocks the previously unimagined benefits through new ways of communication and collaboration. More information To find out how Computacenter can help your organisation exploit UCC to maximum effect, please contact your Computacenter Account Manager or call 0800 014 7420. Alternatively, email: enquiries@computacenter.com or visit: www.computacenter.com/ucc Sources 1 Gartner Symposium: Unified Communications and Collaboration Scenario Is Leveraging Hybrid Solutions the Key?, Bern Elliot, Matt Cain, October 2011 2 Large Enterprise Survey: IP Telephony and Unified Communications, October 2011, Ovum 3 Cisco Visual Networking Index 4 Gartner Press Release: Gartner Reveals Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2012 and Beyond, December 2011

Computacenter (UK) Ltd Hatfield Avenue Hatfield Hertfordshire AL10 9TW United Kingdom T: +44 (0)1707 631000 F: +44 (0)1707 639966 www.computacenter.com Computacenter is a leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services and solutions. From desktop to datacenter, we help our customers minimise the cost and maximise the value of IT to their businesses. We can advise organisations on IT strategy, implement the most appropriate technology, optimise its performance, and manage elements of our customers infrastructures on their behalf. Computacenter operates in the UK, Germany, France and the Benelux countries, as well as providing transnational services across the globe. Computacenter 2012