Top Concern for UC Professionals in Skype for Business Deployments - Managing Performance in a Multi-Vendor Environment

IR Survey Shows Skype for Business Deployments Will Require Real-Time Performance Management to Eliminate Downtime and Quality Issues

SYDNEY--()--IR, the leading global provider of proactive performance management software for critical IT infrastructure, payments and communications, today announced the results of its global survey on the top concerns about deploying Skype for Business (formerly Lync). In a survey of unified communications (UC) professionals from 204 companies, 38 percent said that managing performance in a multi-vendor environment is their biggest concern when deploying Skype for Business, followed closely by delivering excellent end user experience at 36 percent.

According to Gartner, Skype for Business will continue its rapid adoption, making Microsoft a top-three global telephony provider by 2016. Originally seen as an internal collaboration tool, Skype for Business is now being considered for enterprise voice and video, making it a catalyst for organizations to rethink their UC and collaboration strategy.

Because Skype for Business is frequently used in a multi-vendor environment that includes Cisco, Avaya, Acme Packet, Sonus, AudioCodes and/or other vendors the ability to manage the complete user experience, end-to-end across all technologies and vendors is a top concern for IT Operations. Companies that do not prioritize this will experience lengthy downtime and quality issues, whilst the operations department tries to find the root cause of an issue. This can significantly slow adoption, lead to lost or disgruntled customers, and impact the initial deployment ROI.

In addition, as a real-time communications tool, Skype for Business requires real-time performance management. Organizations need to undertake pre-production testing and be prepared to manage the ongoing user experience in order to be able to provide the best service possible.

Additional concerns for UC professionals include:

  • Meeting cost savings--9 percent
  • Best effort support with little funding--9 percent
  • User adoption exceeding expectations--7 percent

“Users have become comfortable with Lync, but if they are to embrace Skype for Business as their primary voice, video and collaboration solution, it needs to be reliable and the voice and video quality crystal clear,” said Darc Rasmussen, CEO, IR. “Therefore, organizations need to proactively manage complex environments to ensure Skype for Business users are not impacted. IR Prognosis with its VoiceQuality360 capability is the only multi-vendor solution on the market today that provides the full picture of a company’s UC infrastructure in a single web-based and customizable dashboard and is able to track calls and interactions across all network layers, routers, session border controllers and applications in real time.”

If you are interested in learning more about the survey and what your UC department must be prepared for when deploying Skype for Business, you can download the survey infographic and the Skype for Business Deployment Checklist or watch the webinar “Skype for Business – Are You Ready?” at ir.com.

About IR

IR is the corporate brand name of Integrated Research Limited (ASX:IRI), the leading global provider of proactive performance management software for critical IT infrastructure, payments and communications ecosystems. More than 1000 organizations in over 60 countries—including some of the world’s largest banks, airlines and telecommunication companies rely on IR Prognosis to provide business critical insights and ensure continuity-critical systems deliver high availability and performance for millions of their customers across the globe. For further information on IR, visit www.ir.com.

Contacts

IR
Kevin Ryder, +61 2 9966 1066
media@ir.com

Release Summary

Top Concern for UC Professionals in Skype for Business Deployments - Managing Performance in a Multi-Vendor Environment

Contacts

IR
Kevin Ryder, +61 2 9966 1066
media@ir.com