Without a core vision of business process improvement as the goal, you may end up with a narrow, vendor driven solution. Much of the "information" heard in the marketplace comes from a small group of giant companies seeking to persuade you to adopt their single vendor solutions. UC is seen as the ultimate lock in by data network or enterprise software leaders seeking to extend their reach into new areas. 

If your organization is not concerned about any legacy equipment, using best-of breed software (some of which you may already own), network readiness, or the ability of your users to handle radical change, there should be no problem. For the rest of us though, deploying UC while using as much of what you already have can be devilishly difficult.

Those that rush into deploying UC are headed for disaster. The technology is young. Hidden traps abound and include operating systems that cannot handle the applications required, scaling issues, networks that are not robust enough and most importantly, applications that contain all the new bells and whistles but cannot handle the traditional features that users are used to.

Some organizations are holding off deploying UC, UM or VoIP products because they believe rather than improving productivity, they will actually lower it. There are numerous cases throughout the industry. Most companies are too embarrassed to talk about their disasters and quietly live with their problems although occasionally a well publicized case appears in print.

These cases are probably more common than anyone realizes. The fact is that the road to deploying these solutions can be enormously complex and the variables that can have an adverse effect are usually outside the control of any single party that is providing a solution. An essential item for success is the cooperation of a number of vendors, all committed to the success of the project and their willingness to accept their role in the grand scheme. This means that all participants must respect and cooperate with each other. Individuals in charge of technology for the enterprise must insist on this level of cooperation and select vendors that not only have demonstrated expertise in their given area but demonstrated ability to function as a member of a team.

The ultimate success in deploying technology is measured by the degree to which it is accepted by the user community and actually delivers the expected benefits to the enterprise and the users.

This journey needs a leader and this leader has to be that person answering directly to the user community and not a sales manager. This is your journey, not your vendors.