The more UC events I go to, the more surprised I get when I hear just how long companies suggest a Lync Enterprise Voice implementation should take. Now, I am no angel at these events, and my hearing, when applied fully to a task, can be pretty effective. I like to listen in to what other organisations say about an LEV deployment.
Some organisations are of course competing directly against Lync, and you would expect to hear conversation making LEV sound far more complicated than it is. By leading the conversation around the complexities of Active Directory and Exchange and Lync and all the dark arts, it is easy to see why putting the opposition down is a well-used tool.
Some organisations feel that LEV is still an unknown entity and sadly this is often used to their advantage. Combine this with the market having a lack of skilled and experienced professionals and you get a permit to write your own cheques.
I have heard some fantastical numbers being quoted over the last few weeks in particular, and this leads me to think that either ‘Client A’ has the most wonderfully complicated systems internally or someone is taking advantage. 12 weeks to deploy Lync because it is integrated in to a telephony platform? Or 12 weeks because we aren’t really certain about how to do it, but we’ll have a go. Many Lync engineers and consultants try to learn telephony and fail but hey, ‘live’ practice makes perfect!
Provided you understand voice and not just the Microsoft suite of products you can deploy Lync with full Enterprise Voice in a fraction of that time. No need to rush it and no need to cut corners.
It is frustrating as this is a great product but bids are being lost to other telephony platforms due to over inflated pricing. If you don’t know how to implement LEV either partner or learn it properly. I am all for making money out of this, but not at the cost of overcharging clients to daft levels just because you can.
Next time I am at a conference, seminar or presentation and I hear a client being given a silly estimate, I am going over to stop the conversation and quiz the culprit to find out why they think it will take so long. So if it is you doing it, just stop it ok.
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