The Benefits of On-Premise Collaboration Technologies for Enhancing Workplace Productivity
Poster: SySAdmin
Posted on October 30, 2014 at 5:28:01 AM
The Benefits of On-Premise Collaboration Technologies for Enhancing Workplace Productivity
WARRINGTON, England, October 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
RHUB's CEO Larry Dorie highlights the advantages of on-premise collaboration solutions
including improved security, branding and integration (with LDAP
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/intergration.htm ], etc.).
Enterprises are often faced with the challenge of increased demand on productivity,
while operating under limited resources and tight budgets. But, with so many dynamics
impacting workplace productivity, like managing connectivity across decentralized work
teams, or, facilitating project coordination and communications among thousands of
employees, more companies are now starting to deploy on-premise collaboration solutions to
ensure optimal performance and consistent workflow, and all at a reasonable cost.
But some companies are starting to realize that not all collaboration solutions are
made the same. That's why it's important to factor in some key considerations when
selecting a comprehensive collaboration solution that can be used by all major departments
within an enterprise.
When considering a solution, start by collecting data from the user community to
determine the various ways in which they need to collaborate and communicate internally or
even externally with customers. What you will probably find is a collection of the
following types of tool requirements:
- Interactive meeting tools for screen sharing, video conferencing and audio
conferencing
- Webinar tools for making presentations to groups and training sessions
- Remote support tools for accessing user computers to provide technical support
- Remote access for accessing unattended computers. This mode can be used across
an organization by IT reps for accessing servers and other enterprise computing
resources, or, by individual employees for accessing a work computer or a home
computer from home or while on the road.
These requirements can be met by a collection of hosted solutions or by on-premise
solutions. On-premise has the advantage of providing all technology features within one
framework and keeping the user environment consistent making it easier to support.
On-premise also has the advantage of security, branding and integration. Security
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/rhubsecuritysolutions.htm ] is enhanced
because the system can sit behind the enterprise firewall and control access more
stringently than hosted systems that use public servers. Branding, using the company's
unique imaging and logo, can be rather extensive making the user feel as if they are using
the organization's system. Integration can be a powerful function that makes these
collaboration tools much easier for the user to find and access. By integrating with LDAP
or AD, the IT user authentication load is greatly reduced and the user has a consistent
mechanism for accessing the system. Other environments may also enhance accessibility via
integration such as: an internal home page, key applications such as softphone clients and
CRM systems. In all cases the goal is to make it a one-click step for the user to initiate
a session when they want to.
Once you decide that on-premise is an advantage to your organization, the next
decision is whether to go with a software solution or a dedicated appliance/server
solution. The software solution does carry with it the added IT support of insuring
compatibility every time a major component of the software stack is changed. If you plan
to move to a newer OS or database, you need to insure that the collaboration software is
compatible with the new OS or DB. If you change key applications on the shared server or
upgrade the collaboration solution, you need to test that everything works well together.
If, on the other hand, you select the dedicated appliance/server mechanism, there is
virtually no IT workload beyond installation. All updates of the OS/DB and applications
are managed by the vendor. In addition, this delivery approach can work very nicely with a
private cloud implementation as just one of the components in the application stack.
Another thing to consider with a collaboration solution is its ability to deliver
multi-media and interactive features. Modern multi-media collaboration tools provide a
host of collaboration mechanisms, but when implementing these types of solutions, you will
need a game plan for rolling out a consistent workflow approach in order to gain the most
advantage. For example, a webcam video feature is a powerful tool for building
relationships among team-members in disparate locations. Associating a name to a face is a
part of our culture and helps us to better connect with team members. However, webcam
video is a bandwidth consumer and can actually impact the overall performance of the
system for other functions. A workflow practice that has been found to be effective is to
start your meetings with a roundtable introduction by each team-member with their webcam
active. After introductions, everyone turns off their webcam. If there is a main presenter
in the group, it is helpful to have that person keep the webcam active during the formal
part of the presentation and then turn it off for the more interactive part.
Since the multi-media feature of screen sharing is typically controlled by the meeting
organizer, and can be passed from one person to the next as needed, it dictates a workflow
that precludes ad hoc data sharing; and, therefore, it is less likely to consume a lot of
bandwidth. The audio conference component uses very little bandwidth as well, and is
usually controlled by the meeting host allowing the host to mute each individual attendee
to keep the meeting flowing. For example, if a person on a speaker phone takes a cell
phone call during the meeting and either puts the speaker phone on hold (with associated
hold music) or just talks over it while on their cell, the host can keep this from
interrupting the whole meeting by just muting the individual.
Interesting, even with all of the features and benefits
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/rhubcomparison.htm ] of collaboration
technologies, the collaboration solutions marketplace has only achieved about a 30 percent
penetration of knowledge workers that would benefit from such tools. The analysts have
identified two key inhibitors for deeper adoption: cost and ease of use.
Cost is a problem with hosted solutions because they are typically provided with a
"named user" license. This means that the enterprise needs to procure a license for each
user of the tool set, thus driving up costs and forcing someone to make a decision as to
who can most benefit from such tools. On-premise software solutions also typically have a
user license model and again drive up costs as the tools get allocated to more users. An
approach that resolves this issue is to use a floating license/concurrent use approach.
With this approach, the enterprise can provide tools to virtually everyone in an
organization. The host licenses float among the entire user community and gets assigned in
real-time on a concurrent use basis. If someone needs to host a meeting, they grab a
meeting license, invite attendees by grabbing attendee licenses and this continues until
all licenses are in concurrent use. The next person who wants to host a meeting has to
wait until one of the active meetings is terminated. Once terminated that license becomes
available to the next host etc. This approach makes maximum use of the tool in that seldom
are all potential users actively holding sessions at the same time. With the "named user"
approach, the license is only available to the specific user whether or not it's being
used.
In summary, the use of a floating license approach fully addresses the issue of
lowering the cost to drive productivity tools deeper into the organization. In addition,
the integration to corporate employee databases such as LDAP and Active Directory make
implementing and managing the user community very easy. This entire process represents a
no cost approach to improving productivity throughout the entire enterprise.
If you would like to learn more about RHUB products and solutions, simply call us at
+44 (0)1925 659 523 or email us at rhub@collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Distributed by: Collaboration Technologies Ltd (UK)
Collaboration Technologies Ltd [http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk ] is a
Northern European Master Distributor, for RHUB's Range of Web Conferencing and Remote
Support solutions.
Website: http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Telephone: +44(0)1925-65-95-23
Questions, Comments, and Feedback are always appreciated:
ct@collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Collaboration Technologies Limited
WARRINGTON, England, October 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
RHUB's CEO Larry Dorie highlights the advantages of on-premise collaboration solutions
including improved security, branding and integration (with LDAP
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/intergration.htm ], etc.).
Enterprises are often faced with the challenge of increased demand on productivity,
while operating under limited resources and tight budgets. But, with so many dynamics
impacting workplace productivity, like managing connectivity across decentralized work
teams, or, facilitating project coordination and communications among thousands of
employees, more companies are now starting to deploy on-premise collaboration solutions to
ensure optimal performance and consistent workflow, and all at a reasonable cost.
But some companies are starting to realize that not all collaboration solutions are
made the same. That's why it's important to factor in some key considerations when
selecting a comprehensive collaboration solution that can be used by all major departments
within an enterprise.
When considering a solution, start by collecting data from the user community to
determine the various ways in which they need to collaborate and communicate internally or
even externally with customers. What you will probably find is a collection of the
following types of tool requirements:
- Interactive meeting tools for screen sharing, video conferencing and audio
conferencing
- Webinar tools for making presentations to groups and training sessions
- Remote support tools for accessing user computers to provide technical support
- Remote access for accessing unattended computers. This mode can be used across
an organization by IT reps for accessing servers and other enterprise computing
resources, or, by individual employees for accessing a work computer or a home
computer from home or while on the road.
These requirements can be met by a collection of hosted solutions or by on-premise
solutions. On-premise has the advantage of providing all technology features within one
framework and keeping the user environment consistent making it easier to support.
On-premise also has the advantage of security, branding and integration. Security
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/rhubsecuritysolutions.htm ] is enhanced
because the system can sit behind the enterprise firewall and control access more
stringently than hosted systems that use public servers. Branding, using the company's
unique imaging and logo, can be rather extensive making the user feel as if they are using
the organization's system. Integration can be a powerful function that makes these
collaboration tools much easier for the user to find and access. By integrating with LDAP
or AD, the IT user authentication load is greatly reduced and the user has a consistent
mechanism for accessing the system. Other environments may also enhance accessibility via
integration such as: an internal home page, key applications such as softphone clients and
CRM systems. In all cases the goal is to make it a one-click step for the user to initiate
a session when they want to.
Once you decide that on-premise is an advantage to your organization, the next
decision is whether to go with a software solution or a dedicated appliance/server
solution. The software solution does carry with it the added IT support of insuring
compatibility every time a major component of the software stack is changed. If you plan
to move to a newer OS or database, you need to insure that the collaboration software is
compatible with the new OS or DB. If you change key applications on the shared server or
upgrade the collaboration solution, you need to test that everything works well together.
If, on the other hand, you select the dedicated appliance/server mechanism, there is
virtually no IT workload beyond installation. All updates of the OS/DB and applications
are managed by the vendor. In addition, this delivery approach can work very nicely with a
private cloud implementation as just one of the components in the application stack.
Another thing to consider with a collaboration solution is its ability to deliver
multi-media and interactive features. Modern multi-media collaboration tools provide a
host of collaboration mechanisms, but when implementing these types of solutions, you will
need a game plan for rolling out a consistent workflow approach in order to gain the most
advantage. For example, a webcam video feature is a powerful tool for building
relationships among team-members in disparate locations. Associating a name to a face is a
part of our culture and helps us to better connect with team members. However, webcam
video is a bandwidth consumer and can actually impact the overall performance of the
system for other functions. A workflow practice that has been found to be effective is to
start your meetings with a roundtable introduction by each team-member with their webcam
active. After introductions, everyone turns off their webcam. If there is a main presenter
in the group, it is helpful to have that person keep the webcam active during the formal
part of the presentation and then turn it off for the more interactive part.
Since the multi-media feature of screen sharing is typically controlled by the meeting
organizer, and can be passed from one person to the next as needed, it dictates a workflow
that precludes ad hoc data sharing; and, therefore, it is less likely to consume a lot of
bandwidth. The audio conference component uses very little bandwidth as well, and is
usually controlled by the meeting host allowing the host to mute each individual attendee
to keep the meeting flowing. For example, if a person on a speaker phone takes a cell
phone call during the meeting and either puts the speaker phone on hold (with associated
hold music) or just talks over it while on their cell, the host can keep this from
interrupting the whole meeting by just muting the individual.
Interesting, even with all of the features and benefits
[http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk/rhubcomparison.htm ] of collaboration
technologies, the collaboration solutions marketplace has only achieved about a 30 percent
penetration of knowledge workers that would benefit from such tools. The analysts have
identified two key inhibitors for deeper adoption: cost and ease of use.
Cost is a problem with hosted solutions because they are typically provided with a
"named user" license. This means that the enterprise needs to procure a license for each
user of the tool set, thus driving up costs and forcing someone to make a decision as to
who can most benefit from such tools. On-premise software solutions also typically have a
user license model and again drive up costs as the tools get allocated to more users. An
approach that resolves this issue is to use a floating license/concurrent use approach.
With this approach, the enterprise can provide tools to virtually everyone in an
organization. The host licenses float among the entire user community and gets assigned in
real-time on a concurrent use basis. If someone needs to host a meeting, they grab a
meeting license, invite attendees by grabbing attendee licenses and this continues until
all licenses are in concurrent use. The next person who wants to host a meeting has to
wait until one of the active meetings is terminated. Once terminated that license becomes
available to the next host etc. This approach makes maximum use of the tool in that seldom
are all potential users actively holding sessions at the same time. With the "named user"
approach, the license is only available to the specific user whether or not it's being
used.
In summary, the use of a floating license approach fully addresses the issue of
lowering the cost to drive productivity tools deeper into the organization. In addition,
the integration to corporate employee databases such as LDAP and Active Directory make
implementing and managing the user community very easy. This entire process represents a
no cost approach to improving productivity throughout the entire enterprise.
If you would like to learn more about RHUB products and solutions, simply call us at
+44 (0)1925 659 523 or email us at rhub@collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Distributed by: Collaboration Technologies Ltd (UK)
Collaboration Technologies Ltd [http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk ] is a
Northern European Master Distributor, for RHUB's Range of Web Conferencing and Remote
Support solutions.
Website: http://www.collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Telephone: +44(0)1925-65-95-23
Questions, Comments, and Feedback are always appreciated:
ct@collaboration-technologies.co.uk
Collaboration Technologies Limited