Shell digs into unified communications

Telecommunications equipment vendors must have been salivating when Royal Dutch Shell plc invited them to showcase their gear last year. Here was a chance to win a global unified communications contract with one of the world's largest oil, gas, petrochemical and biofuel operations. Big customers mean big profits. But inasmuch as the vendors were eager, they were probably also apprehensive. Shell had high hopes for its communication infrastructure.Speaking at VoiceCon in Orlando on March 6, Johann Krebbers outlined Shell's expectations. As the company's group IT architect based in Amsterdam, he played an important role in the competition and the selection.Shell has more than 100,000 employees stationed in various places around the world. They often need to share information - exploration details, architecture drawings and retail plans are shuttled between Texas, the Netherlands and India as the company ramps up new commercial and excavation endeavours. The firm stores petabytes of data, and it sometimes uses video conferencing to facilitate distributed teamwork.Not well integratedBut all was not well. "The problem is, it's not a very well-integrated environment," Krebbers said. Employees avoided using the video conferencing systems. The phones were orphaned from other communication services, such as instant messaging. The numerous PBXs across the enterprise were managed locally. And Shell faced the prospect of a massive employee turnover: in the next five to 10 years the firm expects many of its current workers to retire. New staffers will come in, but they'll want their work environment to mirror the home and school environment, where wikis, ‘blogs, and other Web 2.0 elements are prevalent.Shell wanted its voice network to interoperate more closely with the video and data streams. It wanted a better collaboration platform for its distributed teams. And it wanted a video conferencing system that employees would actually use. "We can't afford to fly people around the world," Krebbers said. "We need to bring the work to the people."A confounding factor: Shell was - and is - a heavy user of Microsoft Corp.'s software. The Windows 2000 operating system (soon to be upgraded to Vista), Office applications, Exchange email server, Live Communications Server, Office Communicator client and Active Directory were all important parts of the company's IT infrastructure. Shell wanted its new communication equipment to interoperate with the Microsoft applications.But that wasn't the worst of it. Since Shell has offices all over the globe, it sought an IP phone system capable of surviving inhospitable network conditions - shaky connections and low transfer rates. And the firm wanted as little equipment as possible - just a few data centres, not PBXs everywhere. It also wanted system resiliency. And a global dial plan. And analog support.Shell chose Nortel Networks to provide the voice infrastructure. Nortel is known - or notorious - for close collaboration with Microsoft on unified communications, so the Toronto telecom equipment maker provided the Microsoft support. Shell also selected Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Halo Video Collaboration Studio for a high-definition video conferencing experience. As well, Shell is installing video conferencing on PCs so coworkers can collaborate peer to peer without leaving their desks. Microsoft's SharePoint system for enterprise portals will give distributed teams a place to share information about project timelines and progress. The firm is even looking at integrating wikis and ‘blogs into the corporate culture in preparation for the next generation.Softphones soughtAccording to Krebbers, Shell wants most workers to use softphones, which integrate more smoothly with PC applications than desk phones do. But for now desk phones are the norm. Approximately 5,000 employees are on the Nortel IP network. Shell is migrating others onto the new infrastructure as the existing PBXs reach the end of their serviceable lives. All new buildings are automatically added to the Nortel platform.Noteworthy aspects of Krebbers' VoiceCon presentation were the slides depicting Shell's proposed path forward with unified communications. Over time, the company expects Microsoft's Office Communications Server (OCS) to become the primary connectivity platform. Nortel's equipment would disappear. "OCS will take over that role," Krebbers said.This was interesting because some of the buzz at the conference surrounded the Microsoft/ Nortel UC alliance. Industry insiders seem worried that the telecom equipment maker won't benefit from the venture - that Microsoft will essentially take what it needs (voice application expertise) and leave Nortel without a purpose. Shell's planned path suggests that at least one large Nortel customer fully expects Microsoft to take over.Krebbers had advice for other enterprises considering unified communications:Integrating telecom experts and IT professionals isn't easy. "They come from different environments....They have to realize they need each other to make a success of this." Training is critical.Conducting a detailed vendor showcase can help companies understand the capabilities and limitations of UC platforms. Companies shouldn't assume that phone system vendors are as in-tune with the IT environment as they need to be. Some contestants had trouble integrating their wares into certain Microsoft components.

Shell digs into unified communications

News | March 26, 2007

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