Best of Breed / Best of Suite

Jonathan BartholomewPrincipal Consultant, Converged Communications

Dimension Data Americaswww.dimensiondata.com

Dimension Data

• IT Services and Solutions Provider that helps clients plan, build, support and manage their IT infrastructures

• Global organization• Lines of Business

– Converged Communications – Network Infrastructure & Wireless– Advanced Security– Data Center & Storage Solutions– Microsoft Solutions– Customer Interactive Solutions

Current UC Trends

• The economic climate has catapulted Unified Communications technology and services as a means of cost savings:Examples:– Cost Reduction: SIP trunking and consolidation,

Telecom Expense Management (TEM)– Cost Avoidance: Centralization of core components,

integration of communications media types (IM, email, voice, messaging, video)

– Cost Control: Support Team Consolidation, SoP’s

Current UC Trends cont’d

• Centralization of communications technology– Provide services from central core components with

survivability at the edge– Centralize support model and staff

• Higher demand for business socialization using commercialized systems/endpoints– Facebook, Twitter, MySpace– PDA’s, Smartphones, iPhones– Visual Communications – Multi-channel Contact Center

Arguments for Best of Suite• BoB typically excel in one or few areas of

communications – Integrations between or among vendor systems may produce

implementation issues – even with standard interfaces– Suite systems typically follow a similar development and

release path making upgrades more cohesive• Capital investment is typically lower than BoB• Single “throat to choke”• Similar hardware, OS, databases, interfaces*• May be stronger fit for enterprise or global organizations

with modest feature/service needs

Arguments for Best of Breed• Typically excel in one or few areas of communications

– May provide advanced functionality over suite-based systems

– Many standard interfaces will allow for cross-vendor leverage

• Competitive landscape offers power in vendor relationships

• Industry specific applications and services typically fall within BoB (healthcare, financial, etc.)

• Vendor R&D spend is more focused

BoB/BoS Business Considerations• Business Requirements Met?• User Adoption Success Rate

– Single vs. multiple end user interface types– Training sustainability for multiple vendor systems– End user functionality requirements vs. actual

• Scalability and Upgradeability– Will upgrades to one system or application require upgrades to

integrated systems/applications?• Operational Support Model – how will the solution be

managed?– Staffing requirements (skill sets, resource location)– Standardized procedures

BoB/BoS Technical Considerations• Technical Requirements Met (platform/network security,

redundancy/uptime, performance)• Management Interfaces (Support Processes)• Service Availability

– For BoB, are the integrations/interfaces between systems test/market-proven and stable?

• Scalability and Upgradeability• Operational Support Model – how will the solution be

managed?– Similar versus disparate databases, operating systems, interfaces,

terminology– Availability of single management interface

BoB/BoS Financial Considerations• Capital Spend Planned versus Actual

– Integrations between or among vendor systems may produce implementation issues – even with “standard interfaces”

• Negotiating Capabilities Compromised?– A Best of Suite approach usually requires lower investment at

time of purchase, however may diffuse ability to gain preferential pricing, services, or support as competition soon becomes a forklift away

• Operational Budgets– Will multiple tools be required to interface to multiple systems?– Will additional staff resources be required to support multiple

systems (?

BoB vs. BoS• Who do you put your money on?

Functionality Desired

Operational Support

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Application Interfaces

End User Experience & Training

BoB/BoS Recommendation• Define Requirements– Business– Technical– Financial

• Score Best of Suite against requirements– Does each BoS product, service or application meet the

requirements?– Is a BoB product, service or application needed to meet the

requirements?• Start with Best of Suite, Best of Breed only if

functionality dictates

Thank You