Business communications applications, systems and
services, Avaya has published a white paper advising companies on
the benefits of managed IT and communication services.
Entitled 'Multiple Choices for Managed Communication Services:
What is the Right Choice for Your Business?’, the paper was written
and researched by industry analyst firm IDC. It takes an in-depth
look at the various options open to procure and support
communication systems, including managed and hosted services.
Avaya asserts that businesses should evaluate the best way to
underpin their communication and highlights three choices which a
company should consider to achieve a service that benefits them the
most and provides the best competitive advantage. These choices
include: the speed of technology adoption by the company;
technology payment method – does the business wish to make an
outright purchase of the communication technology or is flexibility
of payment required; and support -what level is needed by the
business?
The company strongly believes that businesses are in danger of
not taking account of hidden costs associated with the management
and maintenance of their communication systems, especially when the
majority or all of the management is undertaken in-house. Avaya
argues that people such as facilities managers act as ‘hybrid
communication managers’, who may assume roles in IT support with
limited understanding of system management and therefore not
realise all its costs. Avaya estimates that over 20% of annual
staff and operational costs can be saved by addressing these hidden
costs.
Comments Chris Barnard, research director for European
Telecommunications and Networking at IDC: "Managed and hosted
solutions represent an opportunity to manage voice and data
communications via a specialised supplier and eliminate costly
premise-based equipment. They simplify the logistics of introducing
and maintaining technologies in hundreds of enterprise sites and,
in addition, bundle this into one predictable monthly price with
consolidated billing. The strategic and long-term nature of managed
and hosted solutions makes the selection of a partner a critical
business decision."