What is all the fuss about?

There is little doubt that the technology landscape, and communication in particular has changed dramatically over the last five years. "There has been a tremendous push for technology to enable faster and richer engagements. But as more and more mechanisms are introduced to bring people together: instant messaging, email, visual communications and so on, the diversity also creates a more complex and confusing environment than ever before. In some cases all this 'choice' can actually be counter-productive," says Bunch.

"UC&C has emerged as a means of effectively harnessing the potential of communications and channelling it more appropriately towards achieving critical business objectives, such as productivity, agility and competitiveness."

How does it work?

UC&C in simple terms is an evolving set of technologies that automates and unifies communications between people and devices to create a common context and experience. It enables an individual to send a message on one medium and receive the same communication on another medium. This may sound very straight forward, but the impact is significant. Take this scenario: You need a colleague's input on some figures you require for an urgent proposal, you call his landline and he is not there. You call his cellphone and leave a voicemail. In desperation you send an email, repeating yet again your urgent need for assistance. And then you wait. And fire off a series of frustrated SMSs in the process. How much time have you wasted? And how will your colleague contact you when his meeting is concluded? Will he follow the same circuitous route as you just have, wasting more time and energy to respond to a relatively simple request?

Now what happens when 50, 100, or 500 people are doing this same thing, over and over again? UC&C optimises business processes and enhances human communications by reducing latency, managing flows, and eliminating device and media dependencies.

When operating in a UC environment, presence can determine your contact's current status and the most effective means of contact. Your initial call is routed directly to your colleague's mobile phone, where the voicemail message you have left can be accessed via e-mail or cellphone, where an SMS could alert him to your need even if in a meeting. It will use your presence information to facilitate a faster response - perhaps immediately through text chat or video call if you are immediately available. Or, if you have had to dash off to that next meeting, a non real-time message that can be accessed through a variety of media as soon as you are able.

Great value adds to any business

UC&C tools have the potential to add considerable value to SMEs and their employees starting first of all with some really impressive business functionality. "Communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of any business, and the flow of information and ideas is what keeps the engine running. Excellent presence, rich engagements across multiple channels and meaningful contact lists that allow deep referencing into existing databases for context are all things that add to enhanced collaboration and productivity. Better productivity equates to better and faster return on all invested resources," explains Bunch.

From a people aspect, UC&C is helping organisations to create an attractive and desirable working environment, including the ability to migrate this work space to a completely remote location with little loss of functionality. In the South African context where imminent toll levies on main arterial routes, rocketing fuel costs and rising pressure on business to lower carbon footprints is a reality, enabling a workforce that can work from home is becoming very attractive.

"There is also a lot more emphasis on the importance of work-life balance and the quality of the working experience, UC&C and its 'how ever, where ever availability offers employees the means to appropriately leverage the tools at their disposal to enhance their quality of life, spend less time away from home and generally be more constructive with their time," says Bunch. "Not only will people be more productive and less fatigued, but it puts the company in the position where it can attract and retain the best quality skills based on the appeal of its working environments. This is something that a smaller business may use effectively as a draw card for talent.

From a cost benefit perspective, savings may seem negligible at first, but given the opportunity, UC&C tools will offer significant compound savings in terms of travel expenses, unnecessary or missed communications such as cellphone calls, as well as operational costs associated with running facilities for 100% of your staff complement 100% of the time. On top of this is also the cost savings associated with improved productivity, as every extra billable hour created will eventually add up," say Bunch.

Helping SMEs capitalise on global trends

For the small to medium-size enterprise, who are inherently more agile and more flexible in its processes, UC&C can be a great business enabler as it aids organisations in embracing many of the key trends driving IT, and business today.

Bunch uses mobility as a prime example. "The modern workforce is no longer just a hive of office-bound workers. A proliferation of mobile devices and huge advancement in connectivity has created a workforce that is fully functional where ever they happen to be. In a smaller business where multi-skilling is the name of the game and people tend to wear multiple 'hats' the need to be on point 24/7 and make every minute count becomes that much more crucial."

Consumerisation of IT is another huge trend hitting business. "People want to bring their own preferred devices to the workplace and are more than willing to contribute financially to acquire the technology that they want to work with. Tablets and smartphones are both excellent examples," says Bunch. "UC&C provides a valuable platform for integration, and since it is device agnostic, renders the end point irrelevant. Control meets convenience and everyone wins. This is a big plus for the small business as it means that in many cases, a portion of IT spend can be transferred to HR as part of the cost to employ."

So, how do I apply this to my smaller business?

There is a perception that UC&C is a big price tag technology reserved for big business, but this is definitely no longer the case. "Microsoft has always made a point of working towards commoditising technology sets to make them more accessible and affordable. This is exactly the case with Microsoft Lync Server, Microsoft's dedicated UC server which brings high-end functionality like video and instant messaging within reach of the mid-size business," explains Bunch. "It's also been designed for easy integration into popular, pre-existing Microsoft infrastructures, so it's the ideal fit for those with an existing investment in the Microsoft Stack," he adds.

"What's more, UC&C is a technology that lends itself to a cloud-based delivery. Many of its management elements, which the smaller business may feel reluctant to take on because of a lack of skills or fear of the complexity involved can be outsources and deployed as a fully managed service. The smaller organisation gains the same positive impact, cost-effectively, with very little administrative headache.

"Let's face it, South Africa has an entrepreneurial culture and today's SME has the potential to be tomorrow's business giant. For integrators such as ourselves, we are eager to assist this segment adopt any kind of technology that will enable them to achieve these ambitions for their organisation. UC&C, and Lync in particular is just the right kind of power tool that will help our smaller businesses think big," concludes Bunch.

About Dimension Data

Founded in 1983, Dimension Data plc is an ICT services and solutions provider that uses its technology expertise, global service delivery capability, and entrepreneurial spirit to accelerate the business ambitions of its clients. Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Group. www.dimensiondata.com

About Dimension Data | Microsoft Solutions

As a result of its powerful competencies in this space, Dimension Data Microsoft Solutions is currently Microsoft UC&C Partner of the Year. With more than a decade's worth of compound experience on a global scale in guiding customers through what has been an extremely dynamic landscape, the team is openly acknowledged as one of the premier business integrators and enablers in the world.

Locally, Dimension Data Microsoft Solutions have invested significantly in its Microsoft-based skills set with no less than three Microsoft Masters in the current team. With all this experience at hand, Dimension Data is perfectly positioned to assist clients 'lync' into what is promising to be a 'can't-live-without' technology.

Article first published in the TechSmart SME Guide, August 2011.