Unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) can help large businesses and government agencies streamline business processes, accelerate decision-making, enhance the customer experience and improve the bottom line. Still, for many organizations, the challenge of migrating to an enterprise-wide UC&C approach can be daunting.

Most initial reservations about the UC&C migration can be overcome by addressing the cultural and technical shifts involved when developing the deployment strategy. Experts advise organizations to address a range of issues including evaluating and measuring how UC&C will benefit their organizations; determining whether adequate in-house technical resources, personnel and network capacity are available; and integrating UC&C into everyday business processes and aligning its deployment with critical business initiatives.

Enterprises should select a global strategic provider that offers the right mix of professional consulting services expertise, broad Internet protocol (IP) capabilities and comprehensive business tools. The best providers demonstrate a proven ability to understand complex business issues and processes to help organizations identify what needs to be changed to realize the full potential of UC&C and guide them along their UC&C path.

Verizon Business has a series of tips for organizations on what to consider when making the move to unified communications:

Invest in advanced IP networks. UC&C starts with a capabilities-rich IP infrastructure. Flexible and expansive IP networks serve as the foundation of a successful UC&C deployment. Networks should be equipped to accommodate increased traffic loads and support a high-quality, consistent end-user experience.

Inventory technology and personnel resources. Understand the scope of current technology deployments as it relates to UC&C to help identify potential network, equipment and application gaps. Perform skills-based assessments of technical staff to identify possible new hires needed and individuals requiring additional training.

Align technology with business objectives. Make purchasing decisions with a focus on meeting specific business goals. Verify that vendor platforms meet identified technical and financial requirements. Carefully evaluate network, hardware and software options to validate ability to meet current and future enterprise objectives. Partner with a service provider that can integrate multiple technology platforms for best success.

Establish a benchmark for success. Know the ultimate objectives for a UC&C deployment. Survey corporate end users to understand their needs and willingness to embrace change. How is business conducted today and how can UC&C help empower employees and streamline business processes? Understand end-user requirements and develop profiles covering key functional areas. Determine current and future requirements and plan accordingly.

Create a comprehensive roadmap. Planning is critical to the success of a UC&C deployment. Develop a roadmap that’s far reaching and covers areas such as technology and finances, as well as detailed deployment and implementation plans. Develop a multi-phased plan, focusing on a single key critical-business process or function that will benefit from UC&C. A measured approach helps minimize disruptions and provides the opportunity to apply lessons learned on future initiatives.

Maximize impact of UC&C on business processes. The integration of presence and automation capabilities inherent in UC&C offers a powerful opportunity to enhance enterprise-wide business processes to help improve employee productivity and accelerate decision making. In addition, UC&C can serve as the catalyst to enhance and streamline a wide range of activities, including the delivery of customer service, product development and human resources.

Tackle security at the onset. The design of a UC&C platform should integrate seamlessly with a business’ current network and leverage existing technology investments. A network should offer quality-of-service capabilities and sound security measures. Proper design and testing of a UC&C deployment helps ensure a smooth transition.

Determine capabilities for ongoing management. The decision to self-manage versus out-task is critical. Understand the complexities involved in day-to-day management of UC&C platforms. Determine whether in-house staff has the skills and time required to effectively manage and troubleshoot performance issues. Select a managed services provider with the people, tools and processes to help provide consistent performance of UC&C applications.

Develop support systems and processes. Due to the real-time nature of UC&C applications, corporate help desk staff must be prepared to address end-user performance issues and questions. Development of automated processes to support password resets and other day-to-day maintenance activities can help reduce demands on help desk personnel and improve response times and end user satisfaction.

Train and educate end users. This is not a case of “deploy it and they will come.” Corporate end-users should be educated about new UC&C tools and capabilities. Develop online training modules to help users adopt and embrace these new tools so they can work more efficiently and productively.

Measure and modify. Build success milestones into the UC&C plan. Employ a combination of industry best practices and internal benchmarking to identify realistic performance-measurement objectives. Go beyond reliability and availability measurements to assess the impact of UC&C from a financial, customer service, business process and end user satisfaction perspective.