WriteImage CSB Open University Saves £2 million...
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“We believe that the saving by deploying Microsoft Lync 2010 instead of buying a new PABX will be around £2 million over five years.” Adrian Wells, Assistant Director of IT Infrastructure, The Open University The Open University (OU)—which specialises in distance learning —is the biggest university in the United Kingdom (U.K.). It needed to reduce costs and improve communication among its 5,000 office-based academic and administrative staff, giving them access to features such as instant messaging and presence awareness. The OU is deploying Microsoft Lync 2010, which will save the University around £2 million over the next five years, as well as helping to cut travel and subsistence costs. Business Needs The OU is a global pioneer in modern distance learning, having served the educational needs of 1.78 million people since its foundation in 1969. Based in Milton Keynes, the University employs 3,500 academic and administrative staff at its headquarters, with another 1,500 at national and regional centres across the U.K. Clear and efficient communication is critical for the University to maintain high- quality services to its 250,000 students. But with its existing private automatic branch exchange (PABX) scheduled for renewal or replacement at the end of 2012, the OU wanted to explore options that had the potential to offer benefits to staff, at the same time as reducing costs and the University’s carbon footprint. Adrian Wells, Assistant Director of IT Infrastructure at The Open University, says: “The OU wanted to move towards an IP- based system for telephony rather than an upgraded version of what was already in place. However, some products required a Power-over-Ethernet system, but with the OU green agenda this wasn’t a realistic choice because of energy consumption. Another option was to look at an integrated unified communications system.” A unified communications platform was potentially a valuable tool for a distributed workforce spread across different regions in cross-functional teams, and with many individuals working from home. Wells says: “Geography is less relevant in the digital age, and a unified communications solution would reduce communications barriers, help fulfil the OU’s commitment to environmental sustainability, and reduce costs. We were interested in functions such as instant messaging, desktop sharing, presence awareness, and integrated email.” Solution The OU uses a lot of Microsoft technology, and with unified communications included in the Microsoft Campus Agreement for low-cost volume licensing of software, choosing Microsoft was a cost-effective decision. In 2009, the OU tested Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, but decided to wait until 2011 to deploy Microsoft Lync 2010. The rollout of Lync 2010 began with instant messaging and presence awareness, moving on to full enterprise telephony for the whole campus, and national and regional centres. Its aim is to replace the existing system completely. Wells says: “The additional features in Lync 2010 closed the gaps in our communications system, especially with Customer: The Open University Web Site: www.open.ac.uk Customer Size: 5,000 Country or Region: United Kingdom Industry: Education—Higher education institutions Customer Profile With more than 250,000 students currently enrolled, The Open University— founded in 1969 and based in Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom—is recognised as a world leader in modern distance learning. Software and Services Microsoft Office − Microsoft Lync 2010 − Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011 − Microsoft Office 2010 − Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies Microsoft Lync Customer Solution Case Study Open University Makes Major Saving over Five Years with Unified Communications
Transcript of WriteImage CSB Open University Saves £2 million...
“We believe that the saving by deploying Microsoft Lync 2010 instead of buying a new PABX will be around £2 million over five years.”
Adrian Wells, Assistant Director of IT Infrastructure, The Open University
The Open University (OU)—which specialises in distance learning—is the biggest university in the United Kingdom (U.K.). It needed to reduce costs and improve communication among its 5,000 office-based academic and administrative staff, giving them access to features such as instant messaging and presence awareness. The OU is deploying Microsoft Lync 2010, which will save the University around £2 million over the next five years, as well as helping to cut travel and subsistence costs.
Business NeedsThe OU is a global pioneer in modern distance learning, having served the educational needs of 1.78 million people since its foundation in 1969. Based in Milton Keynes, the University employs 3,500 academic and administrative staff at its headquarters, with another 1,500 at national and regional centres across the U.K. Clear and efficient communication is critical for the University to maintain high-quality services to its 250,000 students. But with its existing private automatic branch exchange (PABX) scheduled for renewal or replacement at the end of 2012, the OU wanted to explore options that had the
potential to offer benefits to staff, at the same time as reducing costs and the University’s carbon footprint.
Adrian Wells, Assistant Director of IT Infrastructure at The Open University, says: “The OU wanted to move towards an IP-based system for telephony rather than an upgraded version of what was already in place. However, some products required a Power-over-Ethernet system, but with the OU green agenda this wasn’t a realistic choice because of energy consumption. Another option was to look at an integrated unified communications system.”
A unified communications platform was potentially a valuable tool for a distributed workforce spread across different regions in cross-functional teams, and with many individuals working from home. Wells says: “Geography is less relevant in the digital age, and a unified communications solution would reduce communications barriers, help fulfil the OU’s commitment to environmental sustainability, and reduce costs. We were interested in functions such as instant messaging, desktop sharing, presence awareness, and integrated email.”
SolutionThe OU uses a lot of Microsoft technology, and with unified communications included in the Microsoft Campus Agreement for low-cost volume licensing of software, choosing Microsoft was a cost-effective decision. In 2009, the OU tested Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, but decided to wait until 2011 to deploy Microsoft Lync 2010.
The rollout of Lync 2010 began with instant messaging and presence awareness, moving on to full enterprise telephony for the whole campus, and national and regional centres. Its aim is to replace the existing system completely. Wells says: “The additional features in Lync 2010 closed the gaps in our communications system, especially with
Customer: The Open UniversityWeb Site: www.open.ac.ukCustomer Size: 5,000Country or Region: United KingdomIndustry: Education—Higher education institutions
Customer ProfileWith more than 250,000 students currently enrolled, The Open University—founded in 1969 and based in Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom—is recognised as a world leader in modern distance learning.
Software and Services Microsoft Office− Microsoft Lync 2010− Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011− Microsoft Office 2010− Microsoft Office Communications
Server 2007
For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies
Microsoft LyncCustomer Solution Case Study
Open University Makes Major Saving over Five Years with Unified Communications
the provision of resilient services to our 14 national and regional offices.”
Describing his approach to the deployment of Lync 2010, Wells says: “We quickly gained 100 early adopters. We then had to manage requests from individuals and went into a systematic overnight rollout, building by building.” The next stage of the process started in the second quarter of 2011, with 35 handsets installed each night, four days a week. “Each handset was left with an A4 booklet with top tips and a list of features of the new system—with this, we aimed to get users up and running quickly,” says Wells. “The morning after the installation, the newly installed area was covered by a small team of trouble-shooting ‘floor walkers.’ Most users didn’t require any further training than this.”
The OU IT Infrastructure Team is also delivering a series of workshops on how to get the most out of Lync 2010, some aimed at mobile users. Wells adds: “We make frequent use of training videos. We find a lot of knowledge spreads by word of mouth as people learn how to interact with colleagues. Quite quickly you reach a critical mass of users.”
BenefitsThe OU is achieving significant savings with Lync 2010 because it will no longer need to replace hardware or pay for third-party maintenance of its PABX. Travel to and from Milton Keynes is expected to fall by up to 10 per cent, and remote workers now have improved communications tools and are better integrated with staff based in OU centres or on campus.
OU expects to save £2 million over five years with Microsoft Lync 2010. Deploying Lync 2010 was significantly more cost effective for the OU than upgrading its PABX system. “We believe that the saving by deploying Microsoft Lync 2010 instead of buying a new PABX will be around £2 million over five years,” says Wells.
Users value robust integration with Microsoft Office platform. Wells says: “Microsoft Lync 2010 offers strong integration with Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint technology, and Windows-based desktops in a way that other systems wouldn’t.”
OU reduces carbon footprint with less energy consumption and travel. The OU is committed to a low carbon footprint and environmental sustainability in all its operations. Wells says: “Through the pilot programme, we can estimate that travel for staff between OU centres and the main campus could fall by between 5 and 10 per cent.”
Integrated presence awareness and desktop sharing creates new ways of working. With presence awareness, users have reduced unnecessary phone calls and emails to ascertain the availability of colleagues for meetings or urgent conversations. Desktop sharing ensures that staff can collaborate in real time when editing documents for the first time. They can now work flexibly from anywhere.
OU plans enhanced services with Lync 2010. The OU plans to roll out the Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011 client for 200 Mac users, ensuring that they can benefit from the features of Lync 2010. “And our next project is to investigate whether deployment to smartphones would be beneficial for the OU,” says Wells.
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Document published February 2012
