Requirements gathering processes should be subject to a well-structured process. Typically, it all starts with commercial engagements, which, most likely, you will not be involved with, right from the start. However, Unified (or Universal) Communications are a vastly complex world that require considerable skills, and you should expect the sales overlays to involve technical resources in the discussion quite early. This is where you will step in and expect to become the enabler for several key aspects in the project's life cycle.
Collecting requirements and translating/correlating these into an infrastructural design and project plan will require considerable time and effort. It is best to stay organized and rely on resources and documents, which will help keep the information in good order.
If you are a Microsoft Partner, an invaluable resource to help organize your work is the Microsoft Lync Deployment Planning Services (available at http://planningservices.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/en/edps/pages/default.aspx). Here, you will find excellent material to manage your engagement, from design and Bill of Material questionnaires to planning the solution.
You will need to get a good understanding of your customer's requirements by organizing meetings and workshops with key stakeholders. Remember, do not just rely on technical people! Ensure you get attendance from every relevant business unit. Each will have unique requirements, which you should try to fit in your solution. Listen to everyone! A successful Lync project will ultimately depend on user acceptance and adoption (we will further expand this concept in a following recipe).
Among the key aspects, you will need to cover the following in your sessions:
- Understand customer project drivers: Why do they want to implement Lync? What benefits they aim to achieve?
- Are they currently undergoing an evaluation process with other competitors' solutions? Alternatively, are they considering Lync as a potential replacement for an existing UC solution that failed to meet their demands?
- Understand their business requirements: How do they currently communicate? Do they think their communication culture is open and efficient? How would they benefit from new ways of collaborating?
- Understand customer issues: Highlight how Lync might be an effective and simple solution to consolidate siloed and disjointed communications platforms, including traditional PSTN telephony, into a simpler and integrated ecosystem, ultimately enhancing effectiveness, administration, and return of investment.
- Introduce the customer to the features and functionality of Lync Server 2013 and map them to their issues and requirements.
- Understand and discuss technical requirements, assessing if a customer's underlying infrastructure is ready for deployment or may require upgrades.
- Help the organization to develop a deployment strategy for their organization, in the form of a solution concept, and envisage a staged roadmap to add more features and support more users in future phases. Although many sources state "pilot" phases as risky quicksand, if well conducted, they are an invaluable resource to prove the great benefits of Microsoft Lync "hands on".
- Provide the opportunity to leverage a Lync expert for their deployment planning activities and questions. Many technical customers, although most likely not entirely UC-knowledgeable, are aware of potential impacts associated with deploying real-time communications, and they will want to discuss it. This is especially key when Lync is not standalone but is integrated with PBX/PSTN, third-party products, alternative video-conferencing solution, and so on.