Visual Communications Consulting ServicesAre you getting the most out of your video and telepresence investment?

Visual Communications Consulting Services

Most forward-thinking organisations today know that, on paper, an investment in visual communications infrastructure makes perfect business sense. It has the potential to improve efficiency and collaboration, reduce travel costs and help shrink your organisation’s carbon footprint. It may even facilitate and accelerate expansion into new international territories by bringing geographically dispersed employees into virtual ‘face-to-face’ contact. However, all of these potential benefits are dependent on a number of factors of which some organisations lose sight. The unfortunate result is that expensive visual communications equipment often gathers dust, its potential benefits remain unrealised, while the business stays in the dark as to what causes the investment to fail in delivering the expected returns.

Some of the following challenges may already have begun to arise in your organisation:

• Users have become disillusioned with video communications, stopped using it because of difficulties, and lost faith in the reliability of the technology

• Users complain about the difficulty of controls or the quality of the call once they finally succeed in initiating a video conferencing session

• Training co-ordinators are pushing you to provide them with better ways to deliver educational services

• The CFO is asking you to justify your next collaborative video budget, because it’s being eyed for reductions. You’re having difficulty showing the true value of video and telepresence to the organisation

• You’re expected to help reduce greenhouse emissions and reduce travel budgets

• You’re under pressure from your users to provide desktop video conferencing. They’re also asking why they can use collaborative video at home, but not at work, and some are already trying to install Skype and using it at the office

• Executives have expressed interest in a telepresence or high-end video conferencing solution and you’ve been asked to identify the right one

If you’re experiencing any, or all, of these challenges, Dimension Data can help. We provide expert video communications consultants, who can help you assess your current situation, develop a customised strategy, build a business case and assist in driving usage and adoption.

Video Communications Consulting ServicesDimension Data’s Consulting Services provide answers by enabling you to explore your options, helping you think them through and arrive at the right decision. Our portfolio of Video Communications Consulting Services covers four service lines, allowing you to:

• Assess and remedy problems with your current video communications solutions;

• Develop a video communications strategy that will guide new investments and plan the development of your existing solutions on desktops, in conference rooms and in immersive telepresence rooms;

• Develop a strong business case to support your video conferencing vision; and

• Drive the adoption of video communications throughout your organisation

Assessment ServicesOur assessment services cover all aspects of how video communications is planned implemented and operated within your organisation. Each assessment is a short engagement covering an aspect of your video communications solution. Wherever relevant, we outline best practices and compare these with how your business handles video communications. This helps you identify gaps in your approach where improvement would deliver immediate results. The assessments cover the following areas, which we’re able to investigate in any combination:

• End-point Audit – Uncovers any issues with the collaborative video rooms and equipment in those rooms

• Video Communications Infrastructure Assessment – Uncovers any issues with the infrastructure that connects the end points to each other and to other systems

• Video Communications Experience Assessment – Looks at the end users’ experience of collaborative video and their attitudes toward collaborative video

• Video Communications Business Performance Assessment – Looks at how well the current collaborative video solutions are meeting business needs

• Video Communications Operations and Management Assessment – Uncovers any faults or weaknesses in the way in which collaborative video is run and managed

Video Communications StrategyOur Video Communications Strategy service uses a set of tools to understand your business drivers for video communications and builds a vision for how the video communications should look to support your business needs. From that vision, we develop a video communications architecture. That future-state architecture is compared with the current state, and gaps are identified. We also consider the people and process factors that are important in making any future solution work to meet your organisational goals. Then we identify a roadmap of projects that will fill the gaps and lead to a successful implementation of your visual communications vision. The projects are documented, priced and dependencies traced.

Video Communications Business CaseWe understand that every organisation has different ways of developing and refining business cases. Our team will work with your processes and your templates to help you build a business case for an investment in video communications. We bring to the table a set of modeling tools, as well as experience in having worked with organisations around the world to provide justification for their business cases.

Visual Communications Consulting Services

CS / DDMS-0821 / 11/11 © Copyright Dimension Data 2011 For further information visit: www.dimensiondata.com

Why Dimension Data?Dimension Data is positioned well to help you develop the insights you need to make video communications a true enabler of your business goals. Our team of experts has more than 30 years of experience in designing and delivering video communications solutions and services. We have installed over 350 immersive telepresence solutions and more than 10,000 video end points, as well as designing and deploying thousands of video communication infrastructure solutions. Our team builds on this practical experience to deliver video communications planning and consulting services that are based on real-world implementations.

Dimension Data’s Consulting projects are delivered by a blended team of technology and services experts who use tried and tested methodologies, yet always tailor them to your organisation’s specific requirements. Whether you need quick, targeted assessments, detailed advisory services, or assistance in delivering a complex programme of work, we’ll craft an appropriate consulting engagement.

The members of our consulting teams have years of experience with video communications. While many small, local firms can make that claim, very few can provide a single, global vision that has been proven to work within an IT infrastructure and from an IT service management perspective.

How can we help?We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can assist your organisation to harness the power of technology and further its business vision. To set up an appointment, please contact your nearest Dimension Data office.

Video Communications Adoption ProgrammeThis service helps you promote the adoption and usage of the video communications and telepresence solutions you’re deploying, or have deployed. It involves our experts working with various parts of your organisation, including marketing, corporate communications, training and general IT groups. If you don’t have access to such teams, we can provide all the necessary collateral and fill the role ourselves. (This service may not be available in all regions – please check with your account manager.)

Our Consulting MethodologyAt Dimension Data, we have a strong commitment to methodology. We adopt a structured and comprehensive approach, aligned with industry best practices, to provide maximum value to each engagement. Our Consulting Services lifecycle comprises six key stages: Engage, Initiate, Discover, Construct, Recommend and Implement. Leveraging this framework, our consulting teams work collaboratively with you to:

• Understand the current situation;

• Define the most effective solution;

• Identify priority areas for action; and

• If desired, assist you in implementing and managing the solution

Engage RecommendDiscoverInitiate Construct Execute

Sales Engagement DeploymentDefinitionInception Build Transition

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Level 4 – Primer methodology

Technology consulting

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IT strategy and governance consulting

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ICT business consulting

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Enterprise Architecture consulting

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IT optimisation

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Dimension Data Consulting Services – offering specific approach

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Most forward-thinking organisations today know that, on paper, an investment in visual communications infrastructure makes perfect business sense. It has the potential to improve efficiency and collaboration, reduce travel costs and help shrink your organisation’s carbon footprint.

MIDDLE EAST & AfRICA

ALGERIA · ANGOLA

BOTSWANA · CONGO · BURUNDI

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Of THE CONGO

GABON · GHANA · KENYA

MALAWI · MAURITIUS · MOROCCO

MOZAMBIQUE · NAMIBIA · NIGERIA

RWANDA · SAUDI ARABIA

SOUTH AfRICA

TANZANIA · UGANDA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES · ZAMBIA

ASIA

CHINA · HONG KONG

INDIA · INDONESIA · JAPAN

KOREA · MALAYSIA

NEW ZEALAND · PHILIPPINES

SINGAPORE · TAIWAN

THAILAND · VIETNAM

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

NEW SOUTH WALES · QUEENSLAND

SOUTH AUSTRALIA · VICTORIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

EUROPE

BELGIUM · CZECH REPUBLIC

fRANCE · GERMANY

ITALY · LUXEMBOURG

NETHERLANDS · SPAIN

SWITZERLAND · UNITED KINGDOM

AMERICAS

BRAZIL · CANADA · CHILE

MEXICO · UNITED STATES

For contact details in your region please visit www.dimensiondata.com/globalpresence