By Neal Shact

Unified Communications (UC) seems destined to be “The Next Big Thing” in the communications world. It’s the ultimate outcome of the path that started with Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), VoIP, Convergence and now wireless. What started as the promise of delivering the benefits of desktop integration of integrating voice and data now can extend functionality out to wireless devices. That’s the plan anyway.

The first step to deploying UC is to come up with defining what you are trying to accomplish. To many, it is another way of saying how they want to deploy Presence and have it integrated to the other major communications mediums voice, voice mail and email. Others want to accomplish this goal but also add the desire to extend this functionality out to wireless devices. Lastly, some organizations are looking at this deployment not as an end, but as a means to stepping into SOA and embedding all of these mediums within their key enterprise applications such as ERP systems.

As my colleague, Blair Pleasant from COMMfusion says, “UC is a vision or philosophy that leads to solutions – it is not a product”. The Journey is about understanding what you have, and whether that product (or its derivative on its roadmap) is one that you want to move forward with. Of at least equal importance is your confidence in the organizations to deliver the future products you want. Unlike stand alone products in the past, whose software was mostly self-contained, emerging software-driven products require a greater degree of skill to deploy since they are going into more complex environments and interoperate with more diverse sets of software and networks. In this increasingly complex environment, good working relationships, knowing your environment and working with your users are key determinants for success. How you migrate forward is paramount. Having users receiving improved productivity benefits, not less is the key to satisfying your user community.

Without a core vision of the goal for business process improvement, you may end up with a vendor driven solution. Much of what is heard in the marketplace is based on single vendor or single vendor dominated solutions. The latter is a euphemism for an industry heavily dominated by an 800 pound gorilla (despite the arrival of a new gorilla on the block). If your organization is not concerned about any legacy equipment, using best-of breed software (some of which you may already own), network readiness, or the ability of your users to handle radical change, no problem. For the rest of us though, deploying UC while using as much of what you already have can be devilishly difficult.

Those that rush into deploying UC are headed for disaster. The technology is young. Hidden traps abound and include operating systems that cannot handle the applications required, scaling issues, networks that are not robust enough and most importantly, applications that contain all the new bells and whistles but cannot handle the traditional features that users are used to. Case in point, some new generation voice mail applications cannot even handle automated attendant functionality.

Some organizations are holding off deploying UC, UM or VoIP products because they believe rather than improving productivity, they will actually lower it. There are numerous cases throughout the industry. Most companies are too embarrassed to talk about their disasters and quietly live with their problems. Occasionally a well publicized case appears in print, like Merrill Lynch’s announcement a couple of years ago when they pulled out their Cisco Call Manager.

These cases are probably more common than anyone realizes. The fact is that the road to deploying these solutions can be enormously complex and the variables that can have an adverse effect are usually outside the control of any single party that is providing a solution. An essential item for success is the cooperation of a number of vendors, all committed to the success of the project and their willingness to accept their role in the grand scheme. This means that all participants must respect and cooperate with each other. Individuals in charge of technology for the enterprise must insist on this level of cooperation and select vendors that not only have demonstrated expertise in their given area but demonstrated ability to function as a member of a team.

The ultimate success in deploying technology is measured by the degree to which it is accepted by the user community and actually delivers benefits to the enterprise. This journey needs a leader and this leader has to be that person answering directly to the user community and not a sales manager. This is your journey, not your vendors.