Outsourcery : A Word from the Top - Piers Linney, March 2016

A Word from the Top - Piers Linney, March 2016

From the March 2016 edition of Cloud Talk. Piers Linney looks at some of the key issues impacting on the cloud in the early part of 2016.

In this edition I want to highlight some of the growing momentum we have seen around Skype for Business and the vital importance of an effective migration strategy for organisations large and small as they venture to the cloud.

WORK ANYWHERE, ACHIEVE MORE

The last few months has seen further acceleration of the market's enthusiasm for Skype for Business with our own deployments via both direct customers and strategic partners now heading for 100,000 seats.

We are increasingly finding that the market is beginning to fully understand the benefits of greater communication and collaboration that Skype for Business offers. In many respects it is a game-changer and is set to redefine how we communicate and collaborate. Vodafone's recent survey shows just how mainstream remote working is becoming, with 75% of businesses now implementing flexible working policies. I am a huge advocate of flexible working and have seen first-hand how it can improve productivity and collaboration. Our new advertising campaign focuses on this, highlighting that with Skype for Business you really can 'Work Anywhere, Achieve More'.

The range of services and capabilities that Outsourcery offers, leads us to regularly hear from our clients that we offer the best unified communications solutions in the UK. The added-value that our clients appreciate includes:

• The Most Complete Product Offering that combines Skype for Business functionality with full PSTN capability (including European telephony and global in-country conferencing), call recording, and contact centres
• Service guaranteed through financially backed SLA's with up to 99.99% availability and dual site redundancy
• Ease of engagement with an Ofcom-regulated telco that offers unified billing for calls and systems plus number porting and set-up
• UK Data Sovereignty through a UK business operating UK data centres with 24/7 UK support
• Making the complex simple through cloud migration consultancy supported by trials and proof of concepts
• Confidence of working with an award winning Microsoft Gold Partner
• Efficiently delivered hybrid solutions with the ability to integrate with Office 365 and on premise technology for a smooth migration to a totally cloud environment

Please watch out for some further exciting developments as we deploy our product road map throughout the year.

GETTING MIGRATION RIGHT

Part of our ethos as an organisation is about making the potentially complex, simple. We know that one of the key challenges for ICTmanagers today is how to move ageing infrastructure to the cloud. Often, clarity is needed around which cloud services to choose, which workloads to move, when to schedule down-time and how to safely migrate data. That's why we offer a comprehensive cloud migration service which enables organisations to benefit from simple processes and tailored step-by-step support.

For me the greatest testament to our success in delivering on that promise is when people like Birger Schaathun, IT Manager at ecosurety says things like; 'For us, the most impressive aspect of the project was the migration process - it was so seamless and trouble-free that most of our staff wouldn't have realised we were changing our hosting environment had we not told them beforehand'. We have done the same for FTSE 100 end-customers. Find out more about our Cloud Migration Services and also the detail of our work with partner SoVision to deliver a successful ecosurety case study.

STRUGGLING WITH SKYPE FOR BUSINESS?

If you're thinking about implementing Skype for Business and want some advice then join us for one of our free Skype for Business 'How To' half day workshops. These workshops are run by our experienced product and pre-sales teams and offer insight into building a solid business case, smooth implementation and effective ongoing support process.

Sign up for a workshop in London or Manchester here.

DELIVERING BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES MORE EFFICIENTLY

As the Chancellor's next Budget approaches on the 16 March, all the signs are that the 'sunny uplands' he seemed to be predicting at the time of his autumn statement may now have receded; to be replaced by a renewed tightening of spending across key Government departments and agencies. This is in the context of public sector leaders already facing substantial budget cuts, the rising cost of caring for an ageing population and changing public expectations about how their services should be delivered. Skype for Business can play a significant role in transforming the way organisations work to meet these challenges.

Lord Carter's recent review of NHS efficiency estimated that a 1% improvement in staff productivity will save the NHS £280 million a year, which equates to every member of staff better utilising five minutes on an eight hour shift. Skype for Business enables staff to use presence to see if the colleague they need to consult with is available, send an instant message and get an instant reply, then share relevant documents or video call to achieve rapid resolution to an issue. Saving five minutes in an eight hour shift is easily achievable. Head to the public sector page on our website to find out more about how we can best support the delivery of better public services more efficiently help across the NHS and Local Government. You can take a look at our latest Modern Connected Health Service white paper to find out more about this subject.

The pace of cloud adoption will hasten further in 2016, as will the value it delivers to organisations both in the public sector and the key market sectors that drive our economy. The complexity, value and rapidly evolving feature set of unified communications and collaboration solutions such as Skype for Business is particularly suited to the cloud. I am sure that we at Outsourcery will continue to play a significant role in driving this change.

If you'd like any more, feel free to contact us at [e-mail] and a member of the team will be happy to speak to you. I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Cloud Talk.

Enquiries:

For more information, contact [e-mail].