Shell is deploying an enterprise-wide unified communications service to support Shell’s 150,000 users in more than 90 countries. The UC service will be provided by AT&T. Shell will invest $90 million over three years, and the initiative is part of a $1.6 billion global multiyear strategic plan the two companies signed in 2008 for AT&T to manage a significant part of Shell’s IT infrastructure and telecommunications services.
Shell is deploying an enterprise-wide unified communications service to support Shell’s 150,000 users in more than 90 countries. The UC service will be provided by AT&T. Shell will invest $90 million over three years, and the initiative is part of a $1.6 billion global multiyear strategic plan the two companies signed in 2008 for AT&T to manage a significant part of Shell’s IT infrastructure and telecommunications services.
The AT&T solution is the largest UC technology deployment to date by AT&T for a single business customer, and the initial rollout to users started earlier this month. AT&T’s service for the initiative will use the company’s global hosted and managed UC solution based upon Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 R2. AT&T is already managing Shell’s global services using Microsoft’s previous software version.
The service is designed to provide Shell users with a suite of services to better enable inter-company and external collaboration, productivity and communications and includes a unified set of data, voice and video capabilities and services to implement Shell’s “Digital Workplace” vision.
The UC service is provided to Shell employees, contractors and partners. Features include secure instant messaging; enhanced “presence” information; calling features such as click to call, forward, transfer, single number reach; and integration with the company’s desktop applications.
AT&T will manage the full life cycle for the service — from design and implementation, to ongoing monitoring, management, and support. Deployment support is provided from AT&T Internet Data Centers in the Netherlands, United States and Singapore, and includes an integrated disaster-recovery solution along with “follow-the-sun” customer support.
Commenting on the deployment in a statement, Jay Crotts, Shell’s vice president of IT Services, said, “Our Unified Communication solution provided by AT&T provides a step change in the way individuals working at Shell use technology. The ability to improve productivity of individuals and teams at a lower cost is a key priority for our innovation roadmap.”
