Making the Business Case for Unified Communications

What’s Inside:  This PowerPoint template will walk you through putting together the numbers you need to make a business case for Unified Communications in your organization  The accompanying Excel Calculator is designed for simplicity:  It befits a feasibility-level study; more complex analyses would require a more robust model  It is based on cash flow, not P&L  It has no macros  All data and assumptions are to be entered on one tab, the other tabs are for display only

Difference Between a Project and a Program  There is nothing called “Unified Communications” that you can just take the shrink-wrap off of and use  UC comprises a dozen or so different components, including IM, telephony, speech recognition and so on, all of which might have different vendors competing for your business, but not all of which you will need  Financial analysts rarely have the expertise to select the precise suite of UC products ideal for your enterprise; you’ll need a lot of architect time

Show Current State 1. Input current state data  Simply enter in values in the green boxes  The fields in yellow will be calculated by the model

Missing Data? 1A: What if I you don’t have all the data?  You probably don’t, so the model will calculate the data you do have and, if you know the figure is wrong, you can correct it by entering an “override” value

Show Project Costs 2. Enter the project costs and discount rate  Estimate costs based on prior experience, market scan, or vendors’ indicative pricing  Discount rate can be usually obtained from CFO group

Show Target State 3. Enter in target state benefits by year  It is best to start with the last year, then back into how much of that benefit you’re likely to achieve by the end of each intervening year

Show Target State Costs 3A: Review the impact in dollar terms  The Excel spreadsheet will calculate these numbers automatically for you

Customize the Presentation 4. Customize the PowerPoint to fit your needs  Review the numbers in your completed Excel spreadsheet then cut and paste the exhibits into this PowerPoint presentation  Follow the format of presenting the current state, project costs, target state and investment analysis

Document Unquantified Benefits 5. Include Soft Benefits of Unified Communications  Shortened sales cycles  Increased user productivity  More collaborative decision making  Seamless communication experience  Improved call center navigation  Better work-life balance for remote employees  Simplified management processes

Make it Work 6. If you don’t like the answer, just change the assumptions  You can always go back and change:  Target state reduction projections and the forecast speed to attainment  Number of concurrent and enablement projects  The discount rate you’ll receive Created by William & Tom’s IT