In part 1 of this blog post, I introduced the concept of UC management. In this post, we dive into more detail about the value that a UC management can bring to your organisation.
UC management – a single point of integration
You should expect your UC management tool to be able to fully integrate your UC platform into other IT functions, while carrying out a core role in provisioning the UC applications themselves. With a single point of integration, your company can achieve much higher rates of automation, and IT staff have a framework to optimise their business communications and improve end user adoption.
This adaptable framework will allow flexibility to fit into any unique enterprise environment without expensive customisation. This allows the UC management platform to function as a single point of integration, which comprises:
- Zero touch provisioning - Synchronisation between the Active Directory (AD) and the UC management platform can be extended to support flow-through, zero-touch provisioning from HR and AD systems, into automated work-flows that configure subscriber services
- Business integrations - The UC management platform synchronises UC subscriber data with other enterprise IT systems providing near real-time updates on UC subscriber services, simplifying internal billing and cost allocation
- Service request systems - REST-APIs offer two-way integration with Service Request Systems such as ServiceNow, allowing service tickets to be actioned and the results fed back
- Notification systems - Workflows can be readily extended to send emails and provide event updates
- Identity management - Integration with other administration portals, giving single sign-on capabilities to administrators, allowing integrated access to all management systems from a single log-in
- Inventory tracking - Enterprise can track all UC assets, serial numbers, and devices, to streamline expenditure and optimise resources
- UC analytics - Analytics pulls data from multiple applications, devices and infrastructure, into a single dashboard, giving a big picture view of resource utilisation
Demand an agile framework
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Mike Frayne[/caption]
Until recently, UC management has tended towards standardisation as this is a way to introduce automation. The rationale being - by standardising on certain business processes, automation can be introduced. However, standardisation does not promote agility or flexibility …or mobility. And, there are a number of factors that contribute towards a trend for enterprise organisations to desire agile and flexible UC.
Digital transformation is looming. Traditional communications are nothing like the collaborative environment that we operate in today. UC must adapt to suit the evolving requirements of your staff. In order to weather the storm of digital transformation, we must provide a consistent and reliable communications framework during and after intense times of change.
The increasingly diverse UC infrastructure, and the ever-changing parameters to support remote working, hot-desking, flexible employment contracts, and fixed mobile convergence is complex. Basic or homegrown UC management tools just are not up to the job of catering for the demand that is being put on them. UC management tools need to be flexible enough to change, agile enough to respond quickly, and resilient.
Enterprises want best in class, and therefore need to successfully mesh an array of multi-vendor technologies into a seamless collaboration experience. This requires a highly intelligent management solution that allows technologies from disparate vendors to coexist and cooperate.
Embrace workflow automation
Extensive UC management capabilities that are underpinned by a workflow automation framework ensure that you can achieve unprecedented levels of automation of your UC environment, in an agile and highly dynamic way.
At the heart of a UC management platform you should expect to see a workflow automation framework that includes the following three major benefits:
