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Home > Cisco VoIP management guide |
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Table of contents
Cisco VoIP requires proactive management Most organizations are willing to tinker with VoIP or deploy it in one or two locations, but very few companies have installed it as their primary voice solution. As enterprises get closer to full deployment, the need for VoIP management will become increasingly more important. However, the majority of companies are unprepared for the complexities of a converged network. According to a recent Yankee Group Survey, less than 50% of enterprises that have deployed VoIP currently use a comprehensive management solution. At the same time, network managers often demonstrate a lack of confidence in the technology and its promised benefits. With the industry moving beyond VoIP and more toward unified communications, network managers must implement a comprehensive VoIP management strategy, as this will be the key to obtaining the value and minimizing the risk of enterprise wide scale deployment. Many network managers who are deploying Cisco IP telephony will continue to lack the confidence until they adopt a more complete VoIP management solution from a credible, experienced vendor. Fortunately, many vendors have emerged as trusted, viable partners that can offer an end-to-end management solution for Cisco VoIP environments. With the selection of vendors provided network managers should feel confident in successfully deploying and experiencing the value and benefits of IP telephony. The uncertainty and cautiousness generated from network managers is one of the things holding back enterprise-wide deployments. This insecurity stems from the perceived immaturity of VoIP management tools and the strategies to deploy them. Survey data and anecdotal interviews have shown that telecom and network managers tend to get more comfortable as they move to the production stage. However, the confidence during early stages of testing is a key and having the right management tools in place will help to alleviate some of the uncertainty. It will provide network managers with better insight into the environment and more predictable performance in production environments. A comprehensive management strategy based on a lifecycle approach is strongly recommended. The VoIP management lifecycle addresses each stage of an enterprise Cisco VoIP deployment and the required management tasks. Following this approach will give network managers the confidence needed during the early stages and will ultimately deploy VoIP faster and create a more manageable enterprise VoIP platform.
VoIP management: Required management tasks Comprehensive VoIP management includes the basic network management tasks, but also includes monitoring services such as dial tone delivery, call success rates, telephony delays and impairments, as well as call quality. IP telephony management is categorized as follows:
VoIP has matured to a point where enterprises need to adopt a formal approach to managing it. By adopting a lifecycle approach, enterprises can safely pursue large production deployments. The management lifecycle includes four elements:
The good thing is the market for IP telephony management has matured and network managers now have a number of choices. You can choose from either from a number of independent tools or a solution suite of integrated products. If you decide to choose independent tools, you should identify which phases of the lifecycle each vendor supports. If the vendor focuses on only one area, make sure it integrates with other tools or has partnerships to complete the solution. The market is clearly moving towards a more solution-focused offering and enterprises should evaluate vendors based on their ability to deliver a "whole of life" solution, whether it is their own solution or formed through partnerships. The following will give you an assessment of which vendors excel in the different phases of the IP telephony management lifecycle:
Enterprise VoIP management solutions Two considerations need to be made by IT and telecom managers before evaluating a solution: the scale of production environment and the need to extend support resources with a systems integrator or service provider. 500 or fewer IP phones For environments of fewer than 500 phones, network managers should opt for management provided by their equipment vendor, Cisco. Network assessments and pre-deployment testing should still be done but most equipment vendors and/or systems integrators offer this as a service. Cisco has historically been provided very little of its own management support; however Cisco is getting better in this area and customers should expect a much more full solution in 2007. 500-2500 IP phones For these midsize environments, network managers should expand their review of management tools beyond those of their equipment vendors and evaluate specialty vendors. Management tasks that become more important during this stage include pre-deployment testing and proactive quality measurement to provide service assurance. In this arena, the choice of management vendors depends on the vendor selected for VoIP. In a widely distributed organization, that is using Cisco's Call Manager Express and Unity Express, Cisco and Prognosis have specific monitoring and management offerings. For companies using a centralized Cisco call manager solution, Cisco has a superior solution, but Prognosis does provide a viable option. 2,500-10,000 IP phones For these environments, the real-time nature of voice demands that netwok managers get real-time visibility into performance issues. The vendors who excel in this space include Cisco, Prognosis and Infovista. To determine which is best for you, evaluate the intuitiveness of the GUI and put a priority on the management tasks are performed most often, but also be open to new features that can make life easier in a production environment. 10,000 or more IP phones In this environment, IT managers need a comprehensive, scalable management framework. The real-time nature of the traffic requires a real-time view into the environment and integration with existing management tools. The vendors for deployments this large are Prognosis and Infovista. These vendors offer comprehensive suites and can scale to very large environments. Prognosis has the most history in the high end of the market, but Infovista has been able to leverage its existing base of customers that use its IP performance management tools. Support requirements VoIP presents organizations with ability to increase user productivity and lower cost, but presents a significant challenge for network. VoIP also allows network managers the control of the voice platform and deployment flexibility. However, management requirements are much more demanding. There are channels that can be leveraged to provide the required resources. Network managers should identify which phases of the lifecycle they can manage and then look to a third party resource to help complete the lifecycle. When evaluating management solutions, the support that the VoIP vendors provide its channel partners should be considered. The goal should be a flexible VoIP management solution that can support the environment, regardless of which tasks are in-house managed and which ones are managed by a partner. For example, if the enterprise and its system integrator use the same management tools, then the SI becomes an extension of the support organization. Enterprises typically leverage partners for the first two phases of the VoIP deployment. Many SIs specialize in network audits, planning and pre-deployment testing. IT managers should eventually take over the production environment but bring in a partner to optimize and scale the environment.
Enterprises now have solid choices of management solutions for their Cisco VoIP deployment. The short list for any enterprise should include Prognosis, Infovista, or Cisco. I recommend mapping your plans to the right combination of software and services within the VoIP management cycle. Recommendations When evaluating VoIP management solutions for Cisco environments, network managers should keep in mind the following:
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