Unified Communications and Managed Service Providers
Analysts like Frost & Sullivan have forecast 50 million fully integrated UC users by 2015 compared with today’s two million users (source: Frost & Sullivan March 2010).
Migrating to UC presents challenges and managed service providers (MSPs) are exploring how they could help their clients and add value to how UC is deployed and managed. But some commentators have questioned whether MSPs will be brave enough to take responsibility for ensuring dial tone services.
Certainly there are challenges but we believe MSPs are well placed to assist in migration to UC if they take the right steps. Indeed several are already providing solutions as they find businesses do not want to manage IP telephony themselves.
UC models
There are two MSP UC models. In the first, UC equipment is installed in the customer’s premises and remotely managed by the MSP. The other involves the MSP hosting the entire UC solution. The former has been more common but the latter has the potential to deliver the greatest benefits to both the client and the MSP.
From the client’s perspective, more of the risk and technical burden is assumed by the MSP, while the MSP benefits from the economies of scale of managing UC services centrally. Many MSPs are acting as system integrators on UC projects and getting the slimmest of margins on kit sales. So any opportunity to turn a client relationship into a longer term service contract has a strong appeal.
In many ways hosted UC is a return to an old concept called Centrex that was popular elsewhere in Europe though less so in the UK. Now it seems UK businesses could be happier about their phone system being hosted entirely off-site.
Key to MSPs offering hosted UC solutions will be availability of multi-tenanted UC equipment that can scale to support many different customers. And vendors like Microsoft and Cisco are beginning to respond with products that look fit for purpose.
