On Demand IP Communications at IBM

IBM Global ServicesOctober 2004
On demand IP Communications at IBMOn demand IP Communications at IBM On demand IP Communications at IBMPage 2 Page 3
IntroductionContents Imagine that one night, your organization suffers a fire at a major office location and by the next day, you could bring up phone service for every 2 Introduction3 The IBM transformation to affected employee. Or your support center is able to locate and determine the On Demand Business availability of any employee with a particular skill companywide, and transfer 4 Voice as an on demand calls to them without even dialing a phone number. Imagine that employees application from any of your locations worldwide can dynamically form a team, easily 5 Developing a strategy for on demand knowing each other's status and availability, and seamlessly engage in voice, voice e-mail or instant messaging (IM) conversations, without needing to look up 6 Delivering on demand voice using phone numbers. Or that a traveling employee's phone number and services IBM's existing PBX systems could follow him or her anywhere. Or that you could rapidly and flexibly scale 8 Delivering on demand voice using a location's voice system up or down to meet changing requirements, with a hybrid PBX systems variable costing structure allowing you to only pay for what you need.10 Delivering on demand voice using IP Communications systems Imagine a voice system that can be this responsive and flexible, capable 13 Executing upon the IBM IPC of rapidly delivering productivity tools and services across the entire organiza-on demand voice strategy 1tion, all while expecting to save 25 percent a year on your voice system costs. 16 Phases of deployment 25 Remote and mobile employee support IBM is on the path toward realizing just such a system as part of an internal on 26 Systems management demand integration effort for Internet Protocol Communications (IPC). In the 30 How IBM clients can benefit process, IBM is reducing more than 900 private branch exchanges (PBXs) to IP 31 Conclusion systems that are consolidated into 11 planned locations, while providing a high level of flexibility and responsiveness, along with a whole suite of new produc-tivity tools that position IBM as a leading on demand company.
This white paper provides a high-level overview of IBM's internal strategy for the on demand integration of one of the most fundamental of business tools-efficient and effective communication among IBM's employees and with IBM's clients, specifically through voice communications. Voice communications is but one avenue for interpersonal communication in most organizations, along with e-mail and IM as other examples; however, voice has historically been an isolated application where proprietary legacy delivery systems are approaching the limits for cost reduction and provide little of the flexibility and responsive-ness required of an on demand environment.
The strategies and alternatives selected and implemented by IBM can provide valuable insight for almost any company, large or small. IBM's experiences can be leveraged to assist other organizations to integrate voice as an IP Communications application helping to meet the requirements of the on demand world.On demand IP Communications at IBM On demand IP Communications at IBMPage 2 Page 3
The IBM transformation to On Demand BusinessOver the past couple of years, IBM has become known as a champion of On Demand Business. It has become a unifying strategy for IBM's efforts to help companies transform themselves to flourish in an environment where competi-tive pressures and the dynamics of change have never been greater. As such, On Demand Business is not just about enabling products, but also about under-standing what the characteristics and requirements of an on demand business are, and about providing business-supporting solutions for organizations to enter the on demand world.
IBM defines an On Demand Business as an enterprise, the business processes of which are integrated end-to-end across the company and with key partners, suppliers and customers, enabling them to respond with flexibility and speed to virtually any customer demand, market opportunity or external threat.
There is little doubt that the information technology industry itself is highly competitive, with significant pressures to manage costs while being highly responsive to the solutions and services that clien... [download for more]