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Facilitating creation of virtual teams
The best example of how UC can contribute to an organization’s efficiencies, can be seen in the case of Wipro Technologies. Wipro is India’s number three IT software services firm in terms of revenues. Being an IT services company with geographically dispersed teams, Wipro uses UC tools to collaborate on projects. Today, such dispersed teams can conduct web-based meetings, share desktops, and collaborate for presentations. These meetings are possible due to an infrastructure which ensures that users have the latest online presence information on all team members and partners. The scale of usage is immense, with an average of 30,000 users who daily log on to the IM. Traditionally, these users would have sent e-mails or used voice-based calls to collaborate.
Taking this concept further, Wipro is now creating a ‘People Supply Chain’ model that allows the creation of virtual teams. Typically, IT professionals travel from one city to another based on the location of the project. What if these professionals could work together in a collaborative way in the form of a virtual team? Laxman Badiga, CIO, Wipro Technologies, believes that this concept will change the cost dynamics and efficiencies of outsourcing. With a virtual team concept enabled by a UC system, professionals do not need to relocate and the organization saves a significant amount of costs incurred in travel and relocation expenses. “The objective is to have the capability to tap the expertise and skills of people, wherever they are located—in small towns or in established cities—and connect them with a platform that facilitates creation of virtual teams. The impact on the industry will be huge since it will allow talent to be tapped at will, and without any geographical hindrances,” emphasizes Badiga. Thanks to UC, Wipro has been able to save close to 100 trips per year for piloted projects, with approximate savings of USD 2.5 million. Apart from the cost savings, Wipro has succeeded in paving the way for a new delivery model which demonstrates the truly transformative power of UC.
Similarly, Infosys, India’s number two software services company in terms of revenue, is using the power of UC to increase employee productivity. The firm uses IP telephony extensively, sees clear benefits through ease in communications between co-workers across locations.
 “A unified interface for multiple channels of communication and collaboration has helped us to signicantly improve employee productivity significantly as co-workers can be reached at the first try. The virtual team concept is a reality today, since based on the presence information, we are able to initiate collaboration from any application or device” says Muralikrishna K, VP and Head, Computers & Communication Division, Infosys Technologies. Depending on the location of the user, intelligent cost-based routing techniques can be used to initiate collaboration. For example, if a person is traveling abroad, he can be reached through calls routed through the public Internet, instead of using the normal route of the mobile phone.
With multiple teams spread across the globe, software services firms are natural adopters of UC tools, since it gives them the capability to cut down unnecessary conversation. While cost savings from telecom and travel are certain, the most important benefit is the reduction in time taken to effectively communicate with colleagues. Besides reducing costs, since employees can easily connect with each other, there is an improvement in employee productivity. “Knowledge workers with access to information and collaboration tools can have a direct impact on organizational performance: from reduced time-to-market for new products, to faster decision-making and reactions to market changes,” says Benjamin Green, UC&C Solutions Manager, Asia Pacific, Verizon Business.
The presence indicator is a huge plus, as employees can be contacted depending on the presence status they have set. “Our UC systems have been connected to the employees’ Outlook Calendar. An individual can therefore check into the calendar about the availability of the person he needs to contact and thereby the decision-making process is eased,” says N Nataraj, CIO, Hexaware Technologies.
 For organizations with a global presence, an effective collaboration tool is a must and this is where UC systems can make a big impact. Says Arvind Tawde, Senior VP and CIO, Mahindra & Mahindra, “Though e-mail is a good communication tool, it falls short because of its lack of ability to facilitate real-time collaboration. Hence a lot of decisions invariably get delayed. Enabling real-time collaboration by deploying Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS) has aided faster decision making and resulted in increased employee productivity.” Tawde says that post deployment of Microsoft OCS, there has been a significant reduction in e-mail trails, follow-up mails and reminder mails. Going through fewer e-mails daily has also enabled employees to tackle important issues appropriately, thus increasing an employee’s productive output. Today, Microsoft OCS has been deployed for more than 6,000 employees who can now collaborate using any medium (computer, laptop, PDA, IP phone, fax, e-mail, voice, video or chat).
Besides using IM, employees in the Mahindra & Mahindra Group today conduct group chats for opinions or approvals. As the OCS is tightly integrated with the mailing system and the Intranet platform, the presence indicator is seen throughout in Outlook, Word and Intranet sites of Mahindra & Mahindra. This has drastically reduced the time taken for tasks—especially tasks where multiple levels of approvals are needed.
Online presence is a killer feature in Unified Communication tools, and when applied correctly, can significantly impact the productivity of employees. “As communication technologies are combined with productivity applications such as Microsoft Word, enterprises can expect a surge in their productivity levels,” says Amit Mehta, Director - Unified Communications, Microsoft India. Mehta cites the example of an employee working in the R&D lab of a pharmaceutical company, who can reach out to other colleagues while collaborating on a document. As the status or presence information of an employee is continuously updated within Microsoft Word, Excel or other applications – enterprise workers can reach fellow colleagues via voice, video, or IM.
Transforming business functions >>
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