BMC Software recently completed a Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) deployment across 50 locations worldwide.
The Tech Decision
BMC CIO Scott Crowder was charged with restructuring his company’s communications architecture.
Before 2013, BMC was spending $380,000 a month for 5-6 million minutes of conference calling with the previous conference provider. Associated expenses cost BMC an additional $2 million per year in SaaS and PBX provider services.
Mr. Crowder was tasked with changing a communication culture for a global software company. Increase communication, decrease spend.
Previously, the process to join a conference call was time-consuming and confusing. The attendee would have to find the link from the meeting invitation, locate the meeting ID and passcode, dial 1-800, enter first and last name and web ID…
The process took at least four minutes for each attendee to connect to every meeting. Four minutes per attendee per meeting adds up to a lot of wasted time.
The Solution
Crowder removed competitor desk phones altogether and revamped his company’s audio and video technology.
Now, 6,000 BMC employees are using Polycom and Microsoft Enterprise Voice and Skype for Business.
Not only does RealPresence Trio break through the sound barrier, but it also redefines the category by serving as the smart hub for group collaboration and bringing visual collaboration to spaces that were previously cost prohibitive.
RealPresence Centro changes the way people meet and collaborate as the industry’s first and only center of the room video conferencing solution.
Polycom Group Series drives video, voice and collaboration experiences, accelerating decision-making and fostering innovation.
RealConnect for Skype for Business is the first technology allows multiple video systems to work together in one Skype for Business environment.
The Impact
“People enjoy these workspaces and having the technology to collaborate around the world,” Crowder says. And BMC has the numbers to show it.
“We used to do 6 million minutes a month of audio conferencing. Now, we do more than 10 million minutes a month in audio and video conferencing collaboration,” Crowder says.
When Microsoft Skype for Business was implemented, costs dropped to $15,000 a month while collaboration minutes nearly doubled in a single month.
“Overall, we were able to eliminate $5 million a year in annualized operating expense while taking collaboration minutes through the roof,” Crowder says.
Though the main driver of implementing Polycom technology was cost reduction, there’s also been value in cost avoidance. More virtual business meetings happen as a result of reduced travel, and costs associated with increased minutes on pre-Polycom/Skype systems are avoided. Travel expenses were reduced by 13%, a result of Polycom, Skype, and internal travel policy.
Offices are now more open as well. Gone are the six-foot cubicle walls, replaced by a more open and collaborative atmosphere. In the Houston office alone, the work space was downsized from 45,000 square feet to 25,000 and a transition to a more open floor plan.
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