* Q&A with a VoIP expert
This week, we’re finishing up our Q&As with the presenters of the upcoming Network World IT Roadmap. The seminar tour begins in Boston on March 20, and will travel to Chicago, Dallas and the Bay Area (see below for more details).
The conference, which is free to qualified attendees, features talks by six analysts and case studies from four user organizations. Each of analysts will lead tracks that delve into their areas of expertise, with the help of case studies and vendor presentations. The conference is a great opportunity to educate yourself on the IT issues that will be explored in the six tracks: application and content security; wireless LANs and enterprise mobility; network and application acceleration; storage and data compliance; VoIP and collaboration; and network management.
In the hot seat today is Johna Till Johnson, president of Nemertes Research, and Network World “Eye on the Carriers” columnist. Johna is veteran of Network World seminars and has clocked several thousand miles traveling across the country moderating other Network World events, many of them on the subject of VoIP. At the IT Roadmap conference, Johna heads up the VoIP and collaboration track. I tracked her down and quizzed her about what net managers should know about VoIP and why we should attend her conference track.
Q: What will you discuss in your keynote?
A: We’ll be sharing the findings of Nemertes Research’s hot-off-the-presses third annual Convergence benchmark, with best practices, guidelines, and tried-and-true techniques for making the most out of converged rollouts. This benchmark is unique, comprising 90 interviews with IT executives at over 75 organizations, who share their detailed insights, findings, and peer recommendations.
Early findings indicate that VoIP has arrived: 80% of benchmark participants were in some stage of implementing voice-over IP (prototype, limited deployment, growing rollout, or full-scale deployment). And unlike in previous years, the primary motivation was to “future-proof” networks – a business driver that was ranked higher than “reduce costs” or even “enable employee productivity.”
Moreover, convergence covers more than just VoIP. Benchmark participants are overwhelmingly moving to adopt video over IP, with 64% saying they’ve either deployed it or plan to within the next 3 years. And 70% of participants plan to deploy VoIP-over-wireless.
Finally, though only a few organizations are using them today, over half (52%) of benchmark participants are planning to deploy, “real-time communications dashboards” – applications that combine conferencing (Web, audio, and video) with unified messaging and presence. In sum, convergence and collaboration represent a fundamental paradigm shift that changes virtually everything about a company’s communications architecture, organization, and processes. Because it’s such a fundamental shift, regardless of where in the “convergence and collaboration lifecycle” an organization is, there are lessons to be learned from the early adopters.
Q: Of the companies that have rolled out some form of VoIP, what kind of feedback are you hearing from them – are they seeing the promised benefits and what are they looking to do now?
A: The vast majority of companies are highly pleased with their VoIP deployments. Whether or not they have been able to obtain the “promised benefits” depends on what was promised, and by whom: For example, the idea that VoIP provides significant cost savings in (domestic) long-distance voice services is pretty much dead, so benchmark participants were unlikely to see cost-savings in domestic voice.
However, benchmark participants who rolled out VoIP in the expectation of decreasing the costs of moves-add-changes, increasing employee productivity, and providing a framework for new converged application are finding that VoIP met or exceeded their expectations.
Companies that have currently rolled out VoIP are now looking to enable converged applications, including real-time communications dashboards, which we’re discussing in the sessions.
Q: Did any of these companies experience unexpected delays/problems/issues?
A: Some did, some didn’t. A lot came down to how effectively the companies planned for the initiative, including how thoroughly they researched the vendors, how much up-front investment they made in enhancing management and security, and how effectively they revised their internal organizational structure and operations.
Q: What are some of the functions of the next-generation convergence network and what steps should companies take to prepare for this network?
A: Come to the session and find out!
Q:: How vulnerable is VoIP to security risks and how can companies safeguard themselves?
A: The single biggest thing that companies can do is to make sure their overall enterprise security architectures are up to snuff. In recent benchmarks, Nemertes has found the vast majority of companies significantly under-spend for security overall: The median spend on security is about 4% of the IT budget, but we believe it should be closer to 8%, given the known vulnerabilities of existing servers, routers, and applications as well as the increased focus on compliance.
VoIP security isn’t something you can handle in a vacuum: You can’t even begin to address it until your overall security architecture is firmly in place. To find out more about how to make that happen, you should plan on attending the Application and Content Security track at the IT Roadmap!
Q: How are converged nets managed differently to traditional data networks and what existing technologies can customers use and what new technologies should they consider acquiring?
A: Again, come to the VoIP track – this is an area I’ll be covering in depth. One key point, though: Virtually every company fails to plan and budget adequately for the management of converged networks. About 12 to 18 months into most VoIP deployments, there comes the dawning realization that the rollout is missing a key component: the ability to monitor and manage performance end-to-end. When that happens, unless you’ve budgeted for management up front, you’ll end up increasing the total cost of the project (and possibly delaying your payback).
Q: What are your thoughts on video-over-IP and voice-over-Wi-Fi? Nice to have or do they have the potential to really add value to an organization’s infrastructure?
A: See above: 64% of companies who’ve rolled out VoIP plan for video over IP, and 70% of companies who’ve rolled out VoIP are planning for VoIP over wireless. VoIP, video, and wireless are synergistic: Each one just makes the others more effective. We’ve been able to document real-world productivity enhancements by enabling VoIP over wireless and video over IP, and we’re just at the beginning.
Q: Why should attendees attend the VoIP and collaboration track in particular?
A: For most organizations at this point, it’s not about whether to deploy VoIP, it’s about when – so every company should have an interest in attending. Regardless of the stage of your convergence rollout, you’ll learn how to protect against pitfalls, enhance your solution’s effectiveness, and better measure the positive results of your initiative.
Q: What will be the key take-aways for attendees to your track?
A: Attendees to this session will uncover organizational and operational best practices; learn about cutting-edge technologies that ease the pain of architecting, deploying, and managing next-generation communication architectures; and learn how to build effective ROI models that demonstrate the value of moving to a converged infrastructure.
* Network World IT Roadmap begins in Boston on March 20, more details can be found here. The conference will also travel to Chicago in June, Dallas in September and the Bay Area in November. You can pre-register here and be notified of the actual date when those details are available.
