Convergence takes another step forward as cellphone, e-mail and voice mail converge to become what is known as unified communications. Given that it is here to stay thanks to the proliferation - and soon to be ubiquity - of IP, the only thing to do is to decide how to tackle it with regards to your network.
Gartner, in a report entitled: Determining Which UCC Approach Best Fits Your Planning Cycle, states: "There are several fundamentally different approaches to unified communications and collaboration (UCC) in the market. Each is at a different level of maturity and focuses on different sets of issues. Enterprise planners must understand the distinctions between these approaches to effectively select the approach that best matches their needs."
Five approaches
Each approach to UCC is optimal at addressing different requirements.
The five approaches
According to the report: "Each approach to UCC is optimal at addressing different requirements and originates from a different technology base. The five approaches to UCC are: 1) the telephony-centric approach, which is rooted in IP-PBX and unified messaging (UM) technology; 2) the tightly bundled UCC approach, which focuses on a pre-integrated set of functions; 3) the e-mail and collaboration-centric approach; 4) the best-of-breed portfolio approach; and 5) the integrated on-premises-service approach.
"Many enterprises will find that they must use a combination of the five approaches to develop a complete road map," the report states. "Telephony-centric approaches are the most mature and often enable existing telephony investments to be leveraged," Gartner says.
"This approach extends IP-PBX and unified messaging functionality with one-number mobile phones and softphones, and flexible UM access. Examples include Avaya, Cisco, AVST and most IP-PBX vendors. However, planners should expect this approach to migrate to a best-of-breed approach over time.
"The e-mail and collaboration-centric approach arose from the desktop e-mail communications environment and was extended with instant messaging (IM) and Web collaboration (Web conferencing) functions. For example, Microsoft Exchange and Live Communications Server, IBM Notes and Sametime. The tightly bundled UCC suite approach integrates multiple UCC functions into a single, tightly integrated environment. It lacks e-mail and some PBX functionality, however. For example, Nortel 5100, Siemens OpenScape and Interactive Intelligence CIC.
"The best-of-breed approach enables the best components of different functions to be used, but requires a multi-vendor environment to offer a full set of UCC functionality, based on strong lead products and partners for other areas. For example, Microsoft OCS, IBM UC2 and Cisco UC.
"The integrated on-premises-service approach allows integration of on-premises-based UCC functionality with hosted or service-provider-based functionality. This approach is just emerging, but may gain traction as it becomes more mature. For example, AT&T-Interwise, BT Converged," the report notes.
Choose one
The UCC solutions on the market today are based on fundamentally different architectures and technologies. Each approach is optimal for solving different challenges, and each has unique strengths and weaknesses. The research house recommends that enterprise planners "determine which of the five approaches best meets your objectives and current environment, because this will assist in defining a suitable road map".
* Source: Gartner, Determining Which UCC Approach Best Fits Your Planning Cycle, Bern Elliot, 26 November 2007.
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