The Software & Technology Awards 2015 by AI Global Media

CorporateAmerica • The Software & Technology Awards 2015

In 2012, UC Point was elected as the first worldwide Microsoft “Global Premier Support Lync Partner“. Three years later, the company is still considered an elite Microsoft Gold Communications and Cloud-Partner recognized as High Potential Partner for Skype for Business. Today, UC Point has become a market leader for Skype for Business and Enterprise Voice with a customer base in over 50 countries. “Our mission is to help our customers advance their businesses to support modern communications and collaboration principles for workplace, workforce and processes,” explains Markus P. Keller, CEO and founder of UC Point. Recent projects and clients One of the most successful projects in 2014/2015 for UC Point has been unifying the Paul Hartmann Groups corporate communications via a cloud-based Lync solution says Keller. Additional companies have recently become a part of UC Point’s customer portfolio, including: IATA, Gruner + Jahr and Nanostone Water. IATA – the International Air Transport Association – is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing more than 260 airlines and 83% of total air traffic. In October 2015, UC Point began performing Gold Support Services for IATA. “Furthermore, we won Gruner + Jahr, one of the largest international publishers in the world. It reaches readers and users in more than 20 countries with over 500 media activities, magazines and digital offers.” G+J contracted UC Point for the migration to Skype for Business worldwide. The membrane solutions startup company, Nanostone Water, also became a new UC Point customer purchasing a Lync Health Check. Overview of the software and technology market Giving an overview of the software and technology market, what opportunities and challenges are there for firms operating in the industry? Keller answers, “UC Point’s core line of business is in the telecommunication industry, specializing in Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) services. Digital transformation is driving a fundamental change in ways of working – and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) is playing a vital part in providing the tools for employees to do their job.” According to the market research company Kable, the global unified communications and collaboration market will double over the next three years. In 2013 the market was worth about $25.1 billion, and the analyst expects this market to reach $50.1 billion by 2018. Kable expects mobility and new technologies such as WebRTC to be the key drivers for UCC. “However, challenges remain. There are four trends that will be influencing the UCC market over the next 12 months and beyond: Mobility, Interoperability, Cloud and Social Activities,” Keller continues. Company culture and staff Giving an insight into the organisation’s company culture, concerning their policy of enabling employees to work from home, Keller explains that “many managers today still prefer their employees to work in a local office, however, wrongfully so. We believe in the changing dynamics of modern communications and collaboration principles and we live what we preach.” As such, UC Point offers its employees a modern workplace that provides flexible work schedules, home office solutions and col-

laborative technology to successfully connect with remote teams and customers. In fact, 98 per cent of the team is spread out in various locations all over the world working either from a home office or travelling to and from customer sites. “Our company’s motto is: ‘We employ the best people we can get, regardless of where they live’”, he underlines. UC Point recently received a double recognition as a Top Employer from the European online employer platform Kununu. These awards particularly highlight the exceptional team spirit and people-oriented organization. “We believe that it is most important for both our staff and our clients to feel highly satisfied in working with UC Point. We look for specific characteristics, but more importantly we listen very carefully what our future employees and customers expect from us. In the end, it all comes down to good communication with each other!” Challenges and opportunities There are of course both challenges and opportunities in providing services to clients around the world. For example, in the worldwide deployment of Skype for Business companies are required to meet several stipulations as Keller points out. “India, for example, is a popular hub for Call Centers but IP-telephony is partially restricted in this country. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) dictates, that calls within a company network must be strictly separated from calls to/from the public PSTN. A violation against these regulations can result in considerable fines. As global UC specialists we are well-versed in country specific regulations and experienced to support our customer’s expansions with competent solutions,” he continues. “In contrast to our competitors, UC Point has taken a holistic approach to Unified Communications and Collaboration environments and has the expertise to be an integrated service provider for Enterprise Voice solutions. We offer the full range of global UCC services, including hardware, devices, network and software solutions as well as Managed UCC Services.” 2016 and beyond “Staying closely connected with Microsoft and their Unified Communications and Collaborations products, UC Point is consistently growing in customer base and experience” Keller underlines. “In the past two years alone we have expanded our business relationships and developed key business areas including services for Skype/ Lync Room Systems. Within the next five to ten years our goal is to become a leading global end-to-end solution provider for all Enterprise Voice scenarios - on premise, hybrid and cloud.” “The feedback we receive from our valued customers drives the continuous improvement of our services (CSI),” Keller adds. UC Point continues to enhance their product & service portfolio based on technological advancements and changing market requirements. Recent additions to the list of comprehensive offerings include solutions for monitoring & troubleshooting (UCP RAP), UCC management & analytics (UCP RAM), and network quality analysis (UCP DNA 365). “Our remote monitoring & maintenance tool, UCP Remote Appliance, UCP RAP, was honored with the IT Innovation Award. This placed our product amongst the best of Unified Communications solutions. We competed against more than 5,000 other applicants and convinced a jury of 80 subject matter experts.”