Best practices guide
Modernizing unified
communications with
Skype for Business
Best practices for the modern data center
Best practices guide
Page 2
Collaboration has evolved significantly over the past five
years from sliding your chair over to the next desk to
consult with a co-worker to setting up a virtual conference
call with your colleagues located in multiple countries
across the world. Few things affect your productivity,
customer relationships, and bottom line more than being
able to connect to the right people at the right time with
the right tools. In today’s digital, mobile, and geographically
dispersed workplace, interactions with co-workers and
customers must be delivered across multiple locations
and devices.
Are your current communication and collaboration tools
up to the task of bringing together workgroups in today’s
mobile, digital age?
Empowering collaboration
89%
of corporate executives believe mobile
technologies in the office improve
collaboration.1
40%
of businesses see increased remote worker
productivity following a UCC deployment.2
Office technology changes rapidly, often reflecting the changes in personal technology that
have transformed the way people interact in their personal lives. Employees bring their mobile
devices to work and use those devices to facilitate work outside the office and outside normal
working hours. Twenty-two year old college students enter the workforce with the expectation
that collaboration tools like instant messaging and video chat will be universally available, and
they almost instinctively know how to leverage those tools to drive productivity.
Today’s workgroups are often virtual, with workers distributed around the world and business
running 24x7. The need for collaboration in this environment creates a challenge for the
enterprise: while travel for face-to-face meetings can be prohibitively expensive, team members
still need to be able to conduct business “side by side” and “face to face.”
Enterprises increasingly find that yesterday’s communications technologies (standalone data,
telephony, and video solutions) don’t meet the needs of today’s workplace or the demands
of today’s workforce. There is a need for a modern, integrated communications platform that
connects employees more effectively, but all too often, the reality is a patchwork of tools built
around an aging private branch exchange (PBX) platform that is nearing end of life.
To address this need, many organizations are turning to unified communications and collaboration
(UCC) solutions, which bring together disparate communication methods (instant messaging,
voice, application sharing, etc.) in a single integrated toolset.
1
ntethered employees: The evolution of a wireless
U
workplace, The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014,
eiuperspectives.economist.com/sites/default/files/
Untethered%20employees%20July%202014_1.pdf
2
est-in-Class Unified Communications Deployments
B
Get Results, Aberdeen Group, April 2015.
Best practices guide
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Skype for Business
Microsoft Skype for Business, supported by HPE, has a long history with enterprise customers.
It originates from a Microsoft® Office Live Communications Server (LCS) that was launched in
December 2003. The LCS was then replaced with the Office Communication Server (OCS) in
2007, and followed shortly by the Office Communication Server R2 (OCS R2) in October 2008.
Microsoft continued to add capabilities and features, leading to the release of Microsoft Lync®
Server 2010 and then Lync Server 2013. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, the name was
changed and the next version of Lync Server became Skype for Business Server 2015. Skype
for Business today is a robust UCC suite, featuring enterprise-class capabilities including:
•Instant messaging and presence (IM&P)
•VoIP services
•Online meetings for up to 250 people with audio, high-definition video, and Web conferencing
•Integration with Microsoft Office 365 tools like Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint
•Skype for Business Mobile Client which includes support for iPhone®, iPad®, Android, and
Windows® Phone
•IP Desk Phones “optimized for Skype for Business” and supporting full PBX functionalities
•Enterprise-grade security
Expanding UCC capabilities
Many enterprises have adopted Skype for Business IM&P to support employee communication,
but have been reluctant to integrate additional services like voice and video conferencing.
This has often been due to concerns that legacy networks won’t support the addition of video
and voice traffic, and that these networks can’t provide the quality of service (QoS), support,
scalability, or security that an efficient UCC deployment requires.
As existing PBX systems approach end of life and as the need grows to provide video and
other services as an alternative to travel for “face-to-face” meetings, many organizations are
reassessing their UCC needs.
Best practices guide
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A recent Gartner report advised: the digital workplace requires IT planners to reimagine how
they provide users with voice services. An increased focus on integrating contextual data,
multimedia, and multi-device support will help boost employee agility and effectiveness.3
The first step in moving forward is an assessment of current capabilities and future needs.
Needs assessment
With UCC solutions, there is no one-size-fits-all template; each organization starts from a
different place with its own unique set of requirements. A needs assessment will help you
understand where you’re starting from, where you’re trying to go, and what the roadmap looks
like to get from point A to point B.
A needs assessment should identify:
•What are the business objectives?
•What network resources will be required to reach those objectives and how does that
compare to current capabilities? Where are the gaps?
•What level of mobile enablement will be needed for workforce devices?
•What compute infrastructure will be necessary to support those objectives?
Business objectives
There are many possible business objectives that could drive a UCC initiative. Some of the most
common include:
•Responding quickly to customer needs in order to increase satisfaction and ensure loyalty by
improving communication
•Improving collaboration by providing functionality like live meetings, video chat, and
application sharing
•Reducing communications costs by replacing an aging PBX system that is too costly
to maintain
It could be one or more of these, or something else entirely. Defining and understanding
business objectives lays the foundation for examining the infrastructure capabilities necessary
for a successful deployment.
Network readiness
The single most important factor in determining success or failure will be the network. If
network requirements are not properly addressed, it’s likely that the day one user experience
will not meet expectations and you’ll lose user confidence.
The single most important factor in
determining success or failure will be
the network.
Infrastructure requirements will depend on the capabilities and resilience of network
components already in place and how resilient networks are between remote sites and the
central data center. In most cases, a Skype for Business deployment will not require anything
close to a full refresh of the network. Instead, it will likely require strategic upgrades of specific
network components.
The most common question about networking for UCC is bandwidth. It’s not the only question,
but it’s a good starting point in assessing network readiness.
3
artner Inc., Digital workplace employees
G
need an enriched voice to collaborate more
effectively, G00273577, March 2015
Best practices guide
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Network bandwidth
If you’re migrating from a PBX to Skype for Business, you’re switching to a new paradigm where
voice, video, and other UCC traffic will move over your IP along with your existing network
traffic. This will likely require the addition of new network capacity.
Your solution partner should use a bandwidth-planning tool to determine how much bandwidth
will be taken up by new Skype for Business traffic once all services are fully rolled out. They’ll
then look at existing site links to determine if there is enough headroom on those links or where
additional headroom will be required.
Raw bandwidth is not the only issue. In some cases, additional traffic requirements can be
at least partially resolved by throttling existing data traffic to free up bandwidth for higher
priority voice and video traffic, reducing the cost of upgrading the network.
Quality of service (QoS)
Digital data is transmitted over the network in packets. Voice or video transmission creates a
continuous stream of packets, spaced evenly apart and reassembled at the receiving end. Data,
on the other hand, tends to transmit in bursts, creating points of congestion that can effect
streaming data in two ways: by changing the spacing and timing between packets (jitter), or
by causing packets to be lost or received out of sequence (packet loss). Either effect degrades
audio or video quality.
QoS can remediate these issues by throttling data traffic to provide a guaranteed throughput
level for audio and video streaming that preserves voice and video quality. QoS can actually
reduce total bandwidth requirements by moving all data across the network at the right speed
and priority.
“Once we upgraded our network infrastructure to
HPE Networking, we could begin to offer Lync services to
our staff and the effect has been amazing. Now everyone
can instantly see each other’s availability, communicate via
instant messaging, and share desktops. Usage has
snowballed now that our clinicians, doctors, and case
managers see how easy it is to communicate with
each other.”
– Steve Buffenstein, Director of Information Technology, Richmond Behavioral Health
Authority
Best practices guide
Page 6
Mobile access
Businesses in some industries are reducing or limiting hard-wired office connections in favor
of Wi-Fi network access, both in new office construction and in existing workspaces. This is
especially true where highly mobile workers are involved and in “hot-desk” environments.
HPE and Aruba offer a full solution for
wireless environments that prioritizes
Skype for Business network traffic to
ensure fewer dropped calls and higher
quality video: HPE and Aruba Networks
Skype for Business offering.
It’s simple to install a mobile client to run voice and video on a smartphone. Since today’s
workforce tends to prefer the freedom and collaboration of mobile communications, this could
be a win-win scenario, but there’s a caveat: the system needs to work anywhere in the building.
It needs to work not only in conference rooms and cubicles but also in places where people
might walk while taking calls like hallways, break rooms, or even stairwells. Many campuses and
remote offices still have black spots that Wi-Fi signals do not reach.
So it’s not just a question of bandwidth and QoS, but also whether or not you have the right
coverage in place to support mobility.
Microsoft Skype for Business Services
“Every month, Lync (Skype for Business) gives 1.5 million
minutes of productivity back to HPE just from single-click
access to conference calls instead of dialing phone numbers
and passcodes.”
– HPE Unified Communications program manager
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has implemented a Skype for Business solution with our own global
workforce. This reflects our 30-year HPE and Microsoft Frontline Partnership, delivering the full
complement of Skype for Business services including IM&P, enterprise voice, dial-in, and Web
conferencing with voice, video, and application sharing. The solution is designed to support
thousands of corporate users spread across multiple sites. Business benefits include:
•Enhanced workforce collaboration and productivity—users gain anywhere/anytime
desktop and mobile access to a collection of tools like IM&P, voice, Web conferencing, video,
and application sharing to support real-time collaboration
•Reduce communication costs—provide audio conferencing and long distance service at a
fraction of the cost of traditional plans
•Reduced total cost-of-ownership—centralize communications architecture and reduce
operations and management costs with a high-speed, scalable solution that leverages lower
cost technology
•Improved security, flexibility, and growth—mitigate risk by consolidating control and
security for sensitive data and intellectual property in the data center
Best practices guide
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“HPE has helped us reduce operating costs while increasing
workplace connectivity. HPE consultants designed a reliable
distributed data center approach and successfully migrated
Subsea 7 to Microsoft Skype for Business in over 25
locations worldwide.”
– Adele Leport, IT Engagement and Operations Director, Subsea 7
User adoption is critical to realizing these benefits. The system has to be functional on day one,
and HPE Education Services can help with change management and increase the adoption
rate. These services can target staff that face new roles and responsibilities or teams that need
to make cultural changes in interacting with other departments. For both aspects, we have
delivery elements for:
•Preparation: Inspire a shared vision to encourage employees to participate in the change
initiative
•During the change: Instill new skills and knowledge to ensure that employees feel ready to
use the new technology effectively
HPE Services can design a solution that
supports hundreds of thousands of users
and deploys globally.
•After the change, to grow: Provide live support so that new work practices are fully adopted
and embedded
Hewlett Packard Enterprise offers an accelerated Skype for Business deployment with a tested
high-performance reference architecture that includes:
•The right compute: HPE ProLiant DL380 or DL360 Gen9 servers or BL460 Gen9 blades,
configured to provide the enterprise-grade availability needed for Skype environments
•The right networking: Multiple networking and infrastructure choices, including HPE switch
and router options, Aruba Wireless Infrastructure, and software-defined networking, to fit your
environment and objectives
•A full software suite: Including Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 and network
management options to meet specific requirements and objectives
•The right services: Hewlett Packard Enterprise can provide end-to-end technology services,
from an upfront UCC assessment to design and deployment, end user education, and
data center care, using best practices derived from hundreds of successful engagements
Best practices guide
“As a Skype for Business elite launch partner, HPE has
demonstrated the highest level of experience, training, and
commitment to the Skype for Business platform and is able
to deliver on a global scale.”
– Giovanni Mezgec, General Manager, Skype for Business, Microsoft
Leverage our experienced experts who can help you assess your needs, identify your
infrastructure requirements, and make a plan to achieve your business outcomes.
Learn more at
hpe.com/info/dcm
hpe.com/services/mobility
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© Copyright 2016 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change
without notice. The only warranties for Hewlett Packard Enterprise products and services are set forth in the express warranty
statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Lync are
either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
4AA6-5339ENW, July 2016, Rev. 1