Thanks to everyone who participated in part two of this blog series: “And now you can’t sleep at night”.
Open standards was polled as the most important factor concerning your organization’s new communications system. This response mirrors feedback we’ve received from many organizations.
You know about the various open standards and the benefits they bring — i.e. choice in procurement options, multi-vendor solution designs, and getting the most out of your available budget. You probably also already know about the formal testing programs in place, which provide documented proof of standards compliance and multi-vendor compatibility. However, these tests only go so far and don’t cover everything, which is frustrating for many organizations.
While the standards and their generic test programs may not extend to the particular feature you need or the scenario you face, they do provide a crucial foundation to build your solution upon. In addition to this, we strongly recommend investing in proof-of-concept testing and pilot projects to achieve true interoperability in your operational environment.
Proof-of-concept testing and pilot projects
Investing in proof-of-concept testing and pilot projects will reduce risk to the project and improve satisfaction with the end result. This can be used as part of your technology selection and evaluation to decide which standard provides the right benefits for you.
This is especially important if you require product customizations. Customization doesn’t mean the end of interoperability, and organizations such as Tait, who have deep understanding of the standards and genuine support for interoperability, can maintain the integrity of the solution for you. A customized solution to meet your unique organizational requirements will be more cost effective if done early in the piece. Fore thought is better than after thought, and we get that.
Proof-of-concept testing shows that the equipment will work together in a controlled environment and pilot projects confirm it works in the real world. Prospective vendors can be invited to participate in your test and evaluation programs. Organizations in the Asia-Pacific region can utilize the P25 Solution Centre, which is available to use as a test-bed for multi-vendor proof of concepts.
With the information gathered during these stages, your migration plan is now based on certainty and will help you avoid unexpected customization costs late in your upgrade project, when your options may have narrowed.
