Case Study: Lessons Learned In Sourcing A Global Unified Communications Service

Sourcing and vendor management (SVM) organizations in firms with distributed operations struggle to define a standard approach for procuring advanced communications services. In Forrester's Forrsights Networks And Telecommunications Survey, Q1 2011, 56% of respondents at large multinational enterprises identified unified communications (UC) as a big priority for their firm this year. In the same survey, 63% of respondents in this demographic agreed that their firms want to standardize a single technology or service vendor. One organization's recent experience underscores the importance of having a centralized strategy for sourcing a global UC service and serves as a warning to distributed firms regarding the immaturity of managed global UC offers today. It also provides best practice guidance for firms that would like to move ahead soon to implement a global UC solution.