Dimension Data, the US$5.8 billion global ICT solutions and services provider, today announced that it is extending its portfolio of cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) services to include Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS). Dimension Data’s strategy is designed to utilize its expertise in UC and cloud to empower enterprises to realize the full benefits of the cloud, regardless of their stage of cloud UC adoption.

Enhance productivity and collaboration

Dimension Data’s UC services for cloud enable customers to enhance productivity and collaboration while reducing the on-going complexity, costs and management of UC deployment and maintenance. Dimension Data’s cloud services utilize the Group’s deep systems integration expertise and enterprise-class public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and managed private cloud platform.

Dimension Data will deliver its Cisco HCS-based services globally as a part of its portfolio of public, private and hybrid cloud services with multiple consumption models to support both dedicated and multi-tenant, usage-based environments.

Dimension Data’s UC services for cloud will complement its existing UC services for voice, pervasive video, contact center, instant messaging and presence. Dimension Data’s portfolio of cloud services and managed services will increase the ROI benefits associated with UC, such as increased productivity and collaboration both for clients who have already invested in UC and for companies at any stage of their UC and cloud evolution.

Strategy and efficiency

“As a trusted advisor to our clients, we know that implementing and maintaining UC can be a complex and costly undertaking, said Adam Foster, Dimension Data’s Group Executive, Communications. Expanding our existing cloud services powered by Cisco with HCS enables us to offer UC via a utility-based cloud delivery model, allowing clients to focus their IT resources more efficiently and strategically.”

“Cisco has had a longstanding relationship of over 20 years with Dimension Data, and they represent one of our largest global partners, said Eric Schoch, General Manager of Cisco’s Hosted Collaboration Business Unit. With Dimension Data adding Cisco’s HCS solution as part of their UC cloud offerings, our global client base will ultimately benefit from the utility cloud UC delivery model, while also offloading the complexities of ongoing UC management.”

Leverage the cloud with certified services

“Our clients are looking to leverage the cloud for more than just simple, temporary workloads, said Steve Nola, Group Executive of Dimension Data’s IT-as-a-Service group (en photo). Dimension Data is committed to providing enterprise-class cloud services with our integration expertise to help clients accelerate their migration of production applications, such as Unified Communications, to the cloud.”

Dimension Data’s Managed Cloud Platform (MCP) has achieved the Global Cisco® Cloud and Managed Services Advanced Certification, providing assurance that the architecture fully supports the deployment of cloud services across public and private cloud environments. Dimension Data’s next-generation HCS-based offering will be available later in 2014.