Function Points for Estimation - Getting Developers on Board
Att uc newsletter issue 4
1. AT&T Newsletter
Issue 4
AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012
Facing the Challenge of
Change-Resistant Users
Focus on the Human Factor to Ease UC Adoption
Featuring research from
For technology
users, and
human beings
in general,
consistency
equals comfort.
People will hang
on to the “old
ways” of doing things, even
when the “new ways” could
make their work easier, faster
or even more enjoyable.
In this edition of the AT&T
Unified Communications
Newsletter, we’ll discuss how
involving stakeholders in your
UC implementations – from
pre-deployment strategy
sessions to post-deployment
support – can ease adoption
and change.
In fact, the complimentary
Gartner Report within
this newsletter, “User
Experiences Reveal Best
Practices for Deploying
Unified Communications,”
identifies stakeholder
engagement across your
organization as a critical
success factor for UC.
Our goal is to help you
encourage stakeholders and
users alike to embrace, not
resist, the positive changes UC
can bring to their workday and
your organization.
David Mingo, VP, AT&T Consulting
User Experiences Reveal
Best Practices for
Deploying UC
“Through Gartner
engagements with clients
during the UC solution
implementation process,
we’ve noticed a direct
correlation between the
level of involvement with
various stakeholders across
the organization and the
overall success of the UC
implementation.”1
1
(Source: Gartner, “User Experiences
Reveal Best Practices for Deploying
Unified Communications,” Jay
Lassman, June 2011.)
See the complimentary Gartner
Report within this newsletter.
2. AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012
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Today, users aren’t just resistant
to change, they are weary
of it. In a work environment
largely ruled by the economic
downturn, they’ve been
subjected all too often to the
downside of changes that are
completely outside their sphere
of control. They’ve grown tired
of the organizational upheavals
and staff cutbacks that have
only served to make their
workdays more difficult and
draining.
When it comes to adopting a
new solution, users are often
expected to force fit it into the
work they perform every day,
and with little or no training
until the new app appears on
their desktop.
Even when users receive training
on how to use a new solution,
there’s no clear reason why
they should. This often occurs
because organizations neglect
to gather and understand user
requirements upfront. Instead,
they approach UC horizontally:
Everyone gets the new app
whether it meets their needs
or not.
The Challenge: Earning Trust, Winning Acceptance
There are certainly benefits that
can be garnered from that type
of deployment. But for maximum
adoption and utilization, a new
solution really needs to be tightly
linked to a specific business
process. If the UC solution
expedites a specific function
performed by a user on a daily
basis, they will more readily
accept and leverage the new
solution as part of their workday.
To gain their attention, trust and
acceptance, organizations must
also convince both stakeholders
and users that change doesn’t
have to be daunting – it can be
empowering when those changes
are focused on their needs, rather
than forced upon them.
Source: AT&T
3. AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012 3
To successfully implement a
new UC solution, the answer
is to roll out the red carpet to
change-resistant users, involving
them before, during and after
implementation:
Assemble a cross-functional
team of stakeholders. Since
stakeholder engagement across
the organization is key to
successful UC implementations,
kickoff your deployment by
forming a cross-functional
working team of people. Make
sure representatives from all of
the key IT areas responsible for
UC are part of the team – from
messaging, telecom and video
collaboration to other relevant
apps. It should also include
line of business managers and
stakeholders who may use the
new solution, such as people
from finance or marketing.
The goal is to avoid deploying
UC in a vacuum, to get everyone
talking upfront, so they can feel
a part of the ultimate solution.
Keep in mind that this is no place
for naysayers. If possible, try to
infuse the team with people who
are naturally open and supportive
of change. Their positive outlook
will be key to solving issues as
they arise.
Gather user requirements.
You can’t expect users to believe
a new solution will meet their
needs if they don’t believe you
understand their needs from
the start. To build credibility and
encourage acceptance, identify
knowledge workers and the
jobs they perform. Involve them
in interactive working sessions
and interviews to determine
their functional and technical
requirements before choosing
a solution.
The Solution: Involve Stakeholders Early and Often
Use the time to develop
tangible use cases with them;
specific situations where UC
capabilities could provide direct
benefits by improving a specific
business process or solving a
specific business problem. It will
help you identify critical needs
and the UC solutions to address
them.
Develop a roadmap based
on user needs. While getting
a good fix on user needs is key
to building their enthusiasm
and confidence, that
enthusiasm will soon wane if
the selected UC solutions fail to
ease or improve their core daily
activities. AT&T consultants can
help you carefully roll the user
requirements you gathered
into your technology roadmap
to help ensure the solutions
you choose closely align with
user needs.
Leverage current solutions
to lessen the impact of
change. Familiarity can breed
acceptance: Users will be more
open to change if it is tempered
with a bit of consistency.
So, rather than focusing on
migrating to one completely
new UC solution, consider taking
a hybrid solution approach:
Focus on Users
“A critical success factor for
implementing UC is dependent
upon the IT organization
developing a UC road map
holistically focused on user
requirements.”
1
(Source: Gartner, “User Experiences
Reveal Best Practices for Deploying
Unified Communications,” Jay
Lassman, June 2011.)
Combine new best-of-breed apps
with some of the existing legacy
technology, UC and custom apps
you have in place today to make
the transition easier for users.
AT&T UC solutions can help you
integrate your multi-vendor UC
environment.
As you select solutions,
remember that simplicity is also
key to adoption. For example,
rather than requiring users to log
into one desktop app for e-mail,
another for IM and still another
for conferencing, there are ways
to integrate these applications
behind the scenes
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with a common, enterprise-wide
directory and “single sign-on”
capabilities.
Create a communications plan.
Users are far more apt to accept
change when they are prepared
for it, so don’t keep them in the
dark. Let people know what’s
going to happen ahead of time.
For example, you can create an
internal UC adoption web site or
community where people can
share information, ask questions
and get the latest updates on
rollout plans.
Close the training Gap. When
people master a new skill, it
makes it much easier for them
embrace it as part of their
workday. But, all too often,
training is an after thought.
The solution is pushed out to
users and, even if they use it,
they don’t know how to take
advantage of its fullest potential.
You can close that training gap
by incorporating training into
your overall implementation
plan. Use a variety of methods,
from formal group sessions to
targeted demonstrations focused
on proving the value of a given
solution to a specific department
or set of users. Use leave-behind
cards for a quick reference
guide on how to perform the
most common UC functions.
Conduct web-based “how to”
workshops using the latest video
collaboration technologies.
Create a self-service portal for
users. Include a list of frequently
asked questions for answers to
the most popular questions and
provide online instructions on
performing tasks – like setting
up Single Number Reach. All
this can help users master new
UC capabilities to make them
their own, while reducing ticket
volumes at the IT help desk.
Develop and train the “power
users” in each department,
people who are more technically
inclined than the average user.
You’ll find them more than happy
to serve as the expert resource
for their peers, the star of their
own YouTube style “how to”
videos and an evangelist for your
UC implementation.
Build a unified UC service
management capability. Beyond
initial implementation, you’ll need
to make sure the UC services you
provide to the organization today
can continue to meet user needs
in the future. AT&T consultants
can help you take a structured
approach to UC and overall IT
Service Management. Our lifecycle
services can help improve demand
management and capacity
planning to help you meet
required service levels over the
long term for sustained benefits
and user satisfaction.
Source: AT&T
The fact is, you can’t expect users to willingly adopt a new solution without winning their acceptance
upfront. By focusing on the human factor, not just technical functionality, you can lay out the welcome
mat for users – encouraging them to be both a participant and a partner in change.
Find out more about AT&T UC solutions and AT&T UC Consulting Services.
Source: AT&T
Partners in Change
5. AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012 5
AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012 5
Complimentary Analysis from Gartner
User Experiences Reveal Best Practices for
Deploying Unified Communications
A UC environment requires an
enterprisewide infrastructure
with capacity to support voice,
data, video and multimedia
communications and applications.
Implementation is accomplished
through the convergence
of physical communication
channels, networks, devices
and systems, as well as through
the consolidation of controls
over them. With the shift in
communications architecture
expected during the next three
to four years, coupled with an
emphasis on open standards, it is
important that organizations not
become tied too closely to any
vendor’s proprietary UC and IPT
technology, application or system.
Project Phases for a UC
Implementation
It is useful to consider the major
phases of a UC project when
learning from the experiences of
organizations that have adopted
and deployed UC:
• Phase 0 – Justifying a UC
implementation
• Phase 1 – Developing a project
plan
• Phase 2 – Developing a design
• Phase 3 – Selecting a vendor
or vendors
We highlight the key areas and
issues that organizations had to
consider while carrying out the
phases of their UC initiatives.
Phase 0 – Justifying UC
Define Enterprise
Communications
Requirements
Ascertain the business goals of
senior management, including the
organization’s business drivers and
critical needs, both current
Enterprises can benefit from
Gartner clients whose experiences
deploying unified communications
have yielded valuable best
practices, cost justifications and
critical success factors.
Overview
This research provides a
summary of some of the
lessons organizations such
as McDonald’s, Indiana
University, the University of
Kentucky and others have
learned about implementing
unified communications (UC).
Their experiences will help
other enterprises develop
strategies and processes for
integrating voice over IP (VoIP),
Internet Protocol telephony
(IPT) and UC with established
communications infrastructures,
business processes and
applications.
Key Findings
• A critical success factor
for implementing UC
is dependent on the IT
organization developing a UC
road map holistically focused
on user requirements.
• Organizations can provision UC
features in standard bundles
that mirror users’ equipment
and software configurations.
• Departments and individuals
will adopt technologies at
different speeds, such as
the use of IM, presence and
videoconferencing, in pace with
their needs and job functions.
• UC requires multiple products
from different vendors,
which increases integration
complexity. Properly structured
RFPs help organizations
satisfy business and technical
requirements, optimize cost,
and ease comparisons of
alternative solutions and
vendors.
Recommendations
• Develop a strategy suited
to the communications
requirements of individual
users, as well as the business
processes of the organization.
• Obtain support of senior
management, and acquire
a deep level of telephony
platform and software vendor
commitment to ensure success.
• Assemble a project team
that includes support groups,
marketing, IT security,
knowledgebase workers,
training, business process
analysts and technology
partners. All team members
must exhibit a spirit of
cooperation, especially when
inevitable technical and
administrative challenges arise.
• Use real-world
demonstrations to generate
enthusiasm and show specific
business value. Pilot programs
with the IT organization and
senior management to get
their support; develop a
business case based on value
and cost savings.
Analysis
What Is UC?
Gartner defines UC as products
that enhance enterprise
productivity by enabling and
facilitating a user’s management
of enterprise communication
systems, and the integration of
these systems with business
processes. UC brings a new set of
desktop capabilities – such as IM,
presence and notification services
– that extend to the desktop, as
well as mobile devices.
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in-house personnel, compared
with the cost of time division
multiplexing (TDM) deployments.
Consolidating communications
platforms can lower
communications costs by
reducing the number of voice
service platforms that require
maintenance and upgrades. Use
of this model has been growing
among large, multisite global
organizations. Furthermore, the
aggregation of user licenses can
yield lower costs per license.
VoIP technology offers additional
benefits by enabling the use of
converged networks that reduce
the need for separate voice and
data transport, as well as for
help desk facilities. It extends
the enterprise communications
reach to mobile personnel and
key resources, and facilitates
collaboration and problem
resolution.
and planned. Typically, individuals
use UC products to facilitate
personal communications, and
enterprises use the products
to support workgroup and
collaborative communications. In
some cases, the communications
are integrated with collaboration
applications and business
applications. Some UC products
may extend communication
boundaries outside the company
to expand and enhance business
interactions among large
public communities or among
individuals. As a result, look for
opportunities that, in addition to
voice, can leverage the use of IM,
presence and videoconferencing.
Identify Benefits of UC
Typically, benefits include that UC:
• Uses collaboration to
accelerate product
development and reduce time
to market.
• Improves customer service
and satisfaction.
• Reduces travel expenses.
• Extends enterprise
communications to mobile
personnel and key suppliers.
• Enhances fixed and mobile
remote access to enterprise
network cost-effectively.
• Supports wireless and
wireline handset options
for the same user.
• Enables single-number
reach for users.
• Leverages current and
emerging multimedia
applications, and leverages
lower costs of Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks.
• Enables the user to see if
someone is available, thus
accelerating collaboration and
problem resolution.
• Enables the secure
transferring and sharing of
documents without affecting
email storage capacity.
Anticipating possibilities for
UC is important, since many
benefits will result from how
UC transforms how people
communicate within and outside
their communities of interest.
Develop a Business Case
for Deploying IP Technology
and UC
As organizations gain
experience with their
deployments, users are
discovering hard cost savings
and business value justifications
for IP technology and UC.
Hard Cost Savings
IP technology provides tools
that enable technicians
to do remote monitoring
and troubleshooting that
often obviates the need to
deploy personnel for break/
fix requirements, leading to
reduced costs for operations
and maintenance, moves,
adds and changes (MAC), and
improved uptime of resources.
The technology also enables the
deployment of new endpoints,
devices and sites with lower
third-party costs, while reducing
travel time and expenses for
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Although acquisition costs
are often similar,
overall, Gartner clients
conservatively report
total cost of ownership
(TCO) reductions for
hardware and software
maintenance, upgrades
and operations during
a three-to-five-year
period of 20% to 30%,
compared with TDM.
Gartner clients with
1,000 users report this
amounts to a savings
for operations costs of
more than $40,000 per
year, and more than
a $12,000 reduction
per year for MAC expenses.
Organizations with more users
can expect even better cost
savings, based on economies
of scale.
Business Value
Enterprises are often tempted
to measure ROI of the capital
costs of communications
technology investments for end
users, without considering the
improvements and efficiencies
the investments will yield.
IT managers and CIOs can
be instrumental in helping
CEOs and other stakeholders
understand the broad picture,
and in demonstrating how
these investments can provide
flexibility and speed within and
among departments. The best
way to justify communications
technology investments is to
show how various projects,
programs and areas integrate
and work more efficiently after
deployment, rather than using
the projected ROI of capital costs
as the only evaluation measure.
For example, you can show how
effective use of communications
technology improves
collaboration, enhances customer
Phase 1 – Project Planning
Identify Project Stakeholders
Form a team of stakeholders who
will be involved with the initiative.
Ensure that the group is balanced
– i.e., represents various job
types, regions and business units
(such as voice, data, software
applications, server groups and
end users); and that it is receptive
to innovation and change. Include
the CEO and other C-level
executives at the inception of
the deployment plan, before
procuring the technologies.
The IT organization’s holistic
focus on user requirements is
needed to develop a road map
that will lead to a successful
UC implementation. Teamwork
between server and telephony
engineering groups, and support
of senior management are critical
for project success. Through
Gartner engagements with
clients during the UC solution
implementation process, we’ve
noticed a direct correlation
between the level of involvement
with various stakeholders
across the organization and
the overall success of the UC
implementation.
experiences and satisfaction,
reduces order processing and
shipping intervals, introduces
new disaster recovery and
business continuity solutions,
and generates cost savings
by consolidating suppliers.
Although many organizations
have expected to reduce staff
size, they are discovering that
personnel with IPT expertise
are difficult to find and more
expensive to hire than traditional
telecom engineers.
Cost Benefits of SIP Trunks
Recently, an increasing number of
Gartner clients have been using
SIP trunks for UC deployments.
They report that savings of
more than 40% can be realized
by replacing the Primary Rate
Interface (PRI)/T1 and other TDM
transports with SIP trunks. This
typically amounts to a savings
of more than $4,500 annually
for every PRI/T1 replaced with
equivalent SIP trunks throughput,
based on generally available
commercial rates in North
America, and more savings in
other regions. Furthermore,
enabling trunk aggregation at
the centralized site can achieve
economies of scale and improve
utilization efficiency.
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Figure 1 illustrates how
technological change affects
organizational change.
Phase 2 – Design
Considerations
Leverage Continued
Investments in Voice
Platforms
With large investments in older
PBX platforms, such as those
from Avaya, Nortel and Siemens,
and long-term support and
financial commitments with
other vendors, where feasible,
it’s logical for organizations to
continue appropriating funds for
hardware and software releases.
Upgrading telephony platforms
often:
• Improves resiliency and
reliability
• Enables in-house technical
staff to gain hands-on
experience with IP technology
• Reuses desktop telephones,
and enables them to test
and keep pace with SIP
developments
Figure 1. The Effects of Technology
Source: Gartner (June 2011)
AT&T Newsletter - Issue 4, 2012
For example, the HR department
at McDonald’s Europe wanted
to initiate a program that
would help personnel achieve
a healthy work-life balance by
minimizing business travel since,
as a global company, most
employees often travel to meet
and share best practices. At the
outset of the initiative, the HR
and IT departments engaged
stakeholders with business
functions that needed UC and
videoconferencing tools the
most, and made user training and
help aids available to encourage
acceptance of these UC and
collaboration components among
personnel. In another example,
we look at Indiana University. With
major campuses in Indianapolis
and Bloomington, Indiana to
support, the IT organization had
the same issues and the same
desire as McDonald’s: Achieve
a healthy work-life balance.
Indiana University created a team
that included stakeholders from
the business school and then
expanded to others
within the university as the UC
project evolved.
Organize for UC
Companies must initiate
organizational changes that
leverage planned technology
adoptions. With the growth of
IPT and the adoption of VoIP,
the trend has been to combine
telecom and IT personnel
in the same departmental
management structure. This
improves an organization’s
efficiency and facilitates direct
sharing of the resources
required to support voice and
data networking, as well as the
systems used to support IP voice
and data applications, such as
Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol/Domain Name System
(DHCP/DNS) services.
Users at Indiana University
report that a single directory,
such as Active Directory,
is essential for efficiently
integrating the university’s
real-time collaboration system
and enabling users to look up
anyone within an organization
to launch IM conversations,
audio calls, video calls or Web
conferences. UC also enables
efficient sharing of applications
or desktops.
Voice
Data
Data
Voice
Network
Org.
Data
Voice
Network
Org.
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2008
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Maturity
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1980s
1970s
Maturity
Availability
2015
2005
Maturity
Availability
2020
2010
Maturity
Availability
• Separate data/
voice networks
• Dedicated
voice devices
• Unification of
voice and data
• Mainly a replacement
with limited feature/
function enhancements
• Business application
and process integration
• Significant process
improvements
anticipated
• Primarily focused
on amalgamating
traditional means
of communication
(e.g., conferencing,
messaging, wireless)
Wireless
Network
Org. including
Wireless
and Data
Voice and
Comm. part
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Including a well-written RFP in
a final contract can mitigate
risk and expense for buyers and
sellers, while facilitating dispute
resolution.
The RFP should cover the
following topics:
• Statement of work
• Project specifications
• Organization and vendor
responsibilities
• Vendor performance levels
• Precutover test procedures
• Postcutover acceptance plans
Plan to partner with specific
vendors on implementations
such UC client, video and
conferencing applications. Early
in the project, obtain written
SLAs from vendors specifying
how “integrated” technologies
will be supported (escalation
path, incident ownership, etc.).
This will avoid escalating issues
across vendor technology
boundaries. Obtain timelines
from vendors to prevent
unnecessary delays, enable on-
time integration of technologies
and advance the project to the
next level of execution.
Phase 3 – Vendor Selection
Identify Providers That Best
Meet UC Requirements
UC is not a single solution that
can be supplied by a single
vendor and deployed all at
once. Rather, enterprises will
likely require multiple partners
to support a complete UC
solution, such as Cisco for
telephony, Microsoft or IBM
for email, and/or Polycom or
Tandberg for video. Enterprises
will implement these as
continuous improvements in
capabilities and integrations,
using a range of components
that need to work together. In
general, enterprise planners
will typically need to look for
alternative suppliers to support
IM, presence, unified messaging
and videoconferencing
functionalities.
After developing a strategic
plan, as well as the short-
and long-term goals for the
environment, you can use this
format to create RFPs that
enable potential suppliers to
propose solutions for satisfying
appropriate UC requirements
whenever these needs arise.
Modest expenditures for
hardware and software upgrades
can extend useful platform
life by two to three years. For
example, the University of
Kentucky had Cisco Unified
Communications Manager
(UCM) servicing the medical
center, and an Alcatel-Lucent
5ESS servicing the campus.
Consequently, the University
of Kentucky IT department
piloted interoperability with
each platform to ensure both
would perform satisfactorily with
Microsoft Office Communications
Server (OCS). However, when
platforms are close to or
have reached the end of their
useful lives, it no longer makes
economic and strategic sense
for users or solution providers
to support them, which qualify
the platforms for complete
replacements. In addition, with
regard to the need for network
infrastructure upgrades, it’s
important to perform a network
assessment, consider power over
Ethernet (PoE) and cabling, and
gauge expected power
and cooling requirements, as
well as prevailing trends, in
solution architectures.
Most enterprises have significant
investments in communications
infrastructures, typically with
specific technology partners.
These investments often need
to be preserved. Therefore, the
recommended approach is to
develop convergence road maps
to migrate platforms, especially
via standards, toward increasing
levels of interoperability. The
road map guides decisions for
new purchases and upgrades.
During the next three to five
years, Gartner expects that
the total number of strategic
communication partners used
by a company will be reduced,
as an increasing number of
vendors offer portfolios with
comprehensive UC suites.
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• Use department-specific, real-
world demonstrations to prove
business value and generate
enthusiasm among users.
• Consider developing an
intranet website or newsletter
that provides a convenient and
user-friendly means to train
users, and communicate with
them about the various UC
configuration options.
• Expand UC adoption by
incrementally deploying
applications that build credible
user references.
• Expect technical challenges,
such as the need to possibly
modify the original PBX dial
plan for resolving internal
and external domestic and
international routing errors.
Bottom Line
A successful UC deployment
necessitates defining the goals of
the project, building a justification
based on cost savings and
business value, focusing on user-
specific requirements, selecting
and partnering with vendors
best qualified to satisfy these
requirements, and then having
a realistic implementation and
adoption plan that considers
technical and human factors.
Source: Gartner RAS Core Research Note
G00213443, Jay Lassman, 21 June 2011
Technical
Challenges
Here are some
specific technical
challenges that users
have encountered. McDonald’s
had to recognize that workers
who used IBM Lotus Notes as
their primary email application
could not schedule a meeting
with the Microsoft OCS, but
could participate in Microsoft
Live Meeting conferences.
Indiana University had to modify
the original dial plan for its CS
2100 to fix internal and external
domestic and international
routing errors. In addition, it was
necessary to resolve formatting
differences between room-based
and desktop videoconferencing
applications. Other challenges
that can arise during UC
deployments include:
• Creating a unified dial plan
to support multiple sites in
multiple area codes
• Minimizing latency that
is causing problems with
simultaneous ringing, call
forwarding and the ability to
access voice mail
• Training PBX technicians on
SIP servers
• Developing a best practice
to avoid Domain Name
System and certificate-
related conflicts associated
with users being present in
multiple domains
Summary of Critical Success
Factors
• Emphasize teamwork
between server and
telephony engineering
groups, and support of
senior management. This is
an important key to project
success.
• Develop a business case
based on business value and
cost savings.
• Involve support groups,
marketing, IT security,
knowledgebase workers and
the training group on the
project team.
• Partner with vendors on
specific implementations,
such as applications from
different solution providers.
• Pilot functionality with the IT
organization and with senior
IT management to get their
buy-in.
• Implement technical and user
training, as well as internal
communications. These
activities make users aware of
upcoming changes and help
“sell” them on the benefits of
improved business processes
that are essential.
• Obtain written SLAs early
in the project from vendors,
specifying how integrated
technologies will be
supported (escalation path,
incident ownership, etc.). This
will avoid escalating issues
across vendor technology
boundaries once the project
is under way.
• Obtain timelines from vendors
to prevent unnecessary
delays, enable on-time
integration of technologies
and advance the project to
the next level of execution.
