subject: 4 Things To Consider In Asian Communications Solution Design [print this page] Communication has moved further in the past 20 years than it did for all of the previous two hundred years. The one thing that internet connection has done better than almost anything else, is allow people to get in touch with each other. We now have amazing levels of choice in which communications types will best benefit our organization, as well as the vendors that will supply those Asian communications solutions.
Integrating the offerings of multiple vendors while maintaining data security, and good network performance management within the information technology infrastructure can be a tricky process. Today we look at 4 key considerations organizations should make before designing or deploying a unified communications solution.
Collaboration technology types
In this discussion, we'll be thinking about the following Asian communications solutions that are commonly used in a corporate environment:
- Fixed and mobile telephony
- Email
- Instant messaging
- Desktop applications
- Collaboration servers
- Corporate directories
- Presence
- Web, video and audio conferencing
Consider: Managing the change
Not all employees will view the change in the same light that management do. Some may see changes that improve the information security of Asian computer systems as being unnecessarily restrictive; some may see new IT infrastructure as wasteful progress, others still will feel that the benefits espoused by management are the watchful eye of Big Brother.
It is essential that a well-defined change management process exists in the organization, and the process can be assisted by rolling out the technology to those who will be most receptive and are the most likely to benefit first, and the rest of the organization at a later stage.
Consider: Environmental preparations
In talking about rolling out new Asian communications solutions, the organization's computing environment needs to be prepared, although certainly the planet's environment is not unimportant! Here are the elements that will need to be reviewed by information technology consultants and network performance managers:
- The directory
- The PBX
- The desktops
- The identity of individual users
Consider: The architecture
The choice between a centralized and distributed architecture for the change depends on several factors. Do you have the staffing and systems to support a distributed architecture? What are the needs determined by your security policy> Do you have the bandwidth to support your choice? If you aren't sure how to answer these questions, consulting with an Asian network operations and Asian network infrastructure expert will be valuable.
Consider: Security
Perhaps the most involved and most important consideration in deploying unified communications will be data security. You'll need to plan with the following concepts in mind:
- Archiving - Will communications sessions be archived? What are the storage implications of doing so, and what are the legal implications?
- Federation - If you plan to integrate your own IM system with a public one or another company's, you'll need to plan certificates, server names and internet DNS entries carefully.
- System security - When a multitude of different Asian communications solutions are exposed to one another, security risks develop that don't necessarily exist when the systems are isolated.
Unifying communications is certainly a worthwhile process, when the proper planning has been carried out.
