统一通信产品的关键功能(英文版)

CriticalCapabilitiesforUnifiedCommunications18August2015ID:G00269472Analyst(s):SteveBlood,BernElliotVIEWSUMMARYChangesinthewayspeopleworktogetherareredefininghowITleadersshouldassesstheproductcapabilitiesofunifiedcommunicationsproviders.Thisisplacinganincreasedfocusonsingle-vendorplatformstomeetthemajorityofcoreUCfunctionalrequirements.OverviewKeyFindingsLeadingunifiedcommunicationsvendors'suitecapabilitiesarematuring,suchthatmanywillsatisfyITleaders'requirementstodeploysingle-vendorsolutionsspanningon-premisesandcloudinfrastructures.ClientapplicationsforPCsandmobiledevices(suchastabletsandsmartphones)willstillberequired,becauseWebreal-timecommunicationsisinitsinfancy.DesktopandmobilevideoconferencingarebecomingincreasinglykeycomponentsofUCsolutions,asistheintegrationofdesktopsolutionswithgroupvideosystems.End-of-supportnoticesforlegacyPBXplatforms,aswellasthedesirenottoinvestinnewIP-PBXplatforms,aredrivinginterestinUCsuitesolutions.RecommendationsDeterminewhetheryourusergroupswouldbenefitmorefromatelephony-centricoracollaboration-centricapproachwhenselectingasingleUCplatform.AssesstraditionalcommunicationspracticestodeterminewhetherthetelephonyandconferencingcapabilitiesofferedbyyourproposedUCvendoraregoodenoughtodriveasingle-platformapproach.Evaluatehybridsolutionsofblendedon-premisesandcloudcapabilitieswhenthereisgreaterdemandforcollaborationwithexternalparties,orwhenWANcapacitylimitsthebroaderadoptionofinternalmultipartysessions.WhatYouNeedtoKnowThisyear'sfocusforCriticalCapabilitiesinUnifiedCommunicationsincludesareassessmentofallcapabilityratingsagainstreviseddefinitions.Therefore,it'sinappropriatetocomparethisyear'sperformancewithlastyear'sratingstodefineprogress.Inouranalysis,allofthevendorslistedintheMagicQuadranthaveallofthecoreunifiedcommunications(UC)capabilities:TelephonyConferencingInstantmessagingandpresenceClientsHowever,notallofthesehavebeentightlyintegratedasasinglesuite.Insomecases,vendorsusepartnerstocompleteatotalsolutionor,inothercases,theyusestandardstointegratetheirseparateproductstogether.Althoughbothofthesehavebeenusefulstrategiesforaddingcapabilitiestoestablishedplatformsinplaceofarip-and-replaceapproach,weareincreasinglyseeinganeedfororganizationstofocusthevendorselectionprocessonproviderswithmoretightlyintegratedsuitecapabilities,toenableamoreintuitiveuserexperience,whileaddressingthechallengesofreducingthetotalcostofownership(TCO)formaintainingseparateproductplatforms.Inthisyear'sCriticalCapabilitiesresearch,thefocusforratingfavorsallthecoreUCcapabilitiesasasingleunifiedsuite.Althoughthefourusecasesfromlastyearremain,wehaveaddeda10thcriticalcapability:continuousunifiedcommunicationsandcollaboration(UCC).Thisaddscontext-enabled,synchronousflowsorprojects.WedonotyetregardthiscapabilityasoneofthecorerequirementsofaUCsuite;however,weareseeingincreasedinterestinsomeofthesecapabilities.Theneedtoblendon-premisescapabilitieswiththecloudcontinuestobeimportant.Weseethisofferingofhybridenvironmentsassatisfyingorganizations'requirementsformore-managedservice,aswellastheneedtofillinthegapsinnetworkingcapacityandtheshortfallsininteroperabilityforexternalcollaboration(seeHypeCycleforUnifiedCommunicationsandCollaboration,2015).Thisisdifferentfromtherequirementsofawhollycloud-basedcapability,inwhichtheentiresolutionissatisfiedbyanexternallyhostedinfrastructure(seeMagicQuadrantforUnifiedCommunicationsasaService,NorthAmericaWithAdditionalRegionalPresence).OrganizationsshouldcontinuetoselectananchorvendorfortheirUCenvironments,becausethiswillofferamoreconsistentuserexperience,withalowerTCOthanmaintainingintegrationwithcompetingsuppliers.However,takingintoaccounthowuserrequirementsaredifferent,itisequallyimportanttoconsiderintegrationandinteroperability,whereamultivendorenvironmentisstillrequired.UCis,inmostcases,aMode1initiativewithinabimodalITstrategy(seeLeverageBimodalITMethodstoAdvanceUCC).UCplatformsaresourced,managedandsupportedasacoreITresponsibility.Althoughthisisaformulathatbothsuppliersandcustomersarecomfortablewith,theopportunitytoaddressMode2bimodalITinitiativeswillbeincreasinglyimportantinaddressinguserrequirementsandgroupcollaborationrequirements.AnalysisThisresearchisintendedtohelporganizationsdefinetheirrequirementsandselectspecificproductsthatmatchtheirneedsasalignedwithoneoftheusecases.ThisresearchprovidesanoverviewoftheUCproductsofthevendorsincludedintheMagicQuadrantforUnifiedCommunications.Itevaluatestheireffectivenessinaddressingusers'needsinfourusecases:AfullUCCenvironmentwithstrongrequirementsfortelephonyAfullUCCenvironmentwithstrongrequirementsforcollaborationAnanchorvendorwiththeabilitytointegratewithcomplementaryorcompetingvendorsAhybridimplementationtotakeadvantageofon-premisesandcloudcapabilities,integratedasacommonusecaseThisresearchdiffersfromtheMagicQuadrantforUnifiedCommunications,inthatthefocusisonproductcapability,ratherthanonthebroadersetofevaluationcriteriaforvisionandexecutioninaMagicQuadrant.Thisresearchisintendedtohelporganizationsassessproductc