1. Competitive Battle Card: Skype for Business Online
A quick reference guide to help you sell against SfB Online (December 8, 2016)
SfB Online – Solution Overview
Hosted UC Service from Microsoft Azure Cloud, part of Office 365 portfolio, successor product to Lync Online.
Microsoft has been targeting on-premise feature parity for ‘17, but they have been running behind and now it is expected for ‘18.
Second step in Microsoft’s push to migrate Lync / SfB customers from channels to own cloud, following Office 365.
Provides IM, presence, audio/video calling and Web conferencing functionalities. As of Dec’15, MSFT also started rolling out PSTN calling, only in US and UK today. Spain and France to follow next. PSTN conferencing available in 90 countries worldwide.
In addition to the Microsoft Cloud, Channels can also host a Microsoft SfB Server within their data center and provide SfB Online service. For this service, please refer to SfB Server Battle Card, this delivery method is less favored by Microsoft, as Microsoft will be looking to gradually migrate customers over to Cloud and there will be minimal improvements to SfB server moving forward.
SfB Online – Strength & Weaknesses
Strengths:
Ease of use, familiar interface, IM&P preference
Ability to integrate with Exchange, Office and other Microsoft applications. Application sharing.
Federation capabilities with other UC / telephony products and Skype for non-SfB users
Among the first users to leverage iOS CallKit
Weaknesses:
PSTN connectivity features very nascent and field deployments very unsuccessful following launch. Still not field-proven
Only 13% of SMB SfB deployments are voice, according to Nemertes. Lower in larger segment, much lower in SfB Online
Limited interop. with telecon. systems, no WebRTC, limited enterprise voice functionality
Complicated and a very high TCO. Microsoft charges significantly higher than the market for an immature offering.
Positioning & Objection handling against SfB Online:
PSTN & Enterprise Voice
Issue: Very nascent, immature & unreliable PSTN features.
What MSFT currently has causes significant end-user complaints and long (e.g 15hr) downtimes.
Impact: Customers do not trust SfB for voice. Ones who trust are taking a leap of faith everyday.
Nascent Offering:
Issue 1: SfB lacks many crucial UC&C features such as persistent dial-in rooms, analytics and advanced call control features like call park/pull, multilines & remote call control.
Issue 2: No CC or TC offering that can be a BroadCloud competitor.
Impact: SfBOL is only viable for customers with very basic needs. For any real UC/CC/TC requirement, customers will need to seek a solution on their own, but integrating with Microsoft’s cloud service will be very effort- centric.
High TCO & Complex Licensing Structure
Issue: Microsoft’s current pricing is substantially higher than the market. Core features including PSTN calling are not included in plans. Very complex licensing structure.
Issue: Enterprises need to subscribe to Azure Express Routes, which adds on to the TCO. $55/mo for 10Mbps and $54k / mo for 10Gbps.
Impact: Difficult to understand actual costs and ultimately, customers are charged premium prices for an immature offering.
Partner Ecosystem
Issue: Very limited integration options & Microsoft puts all burdens to partners and customers.
Impact: Customers are locked within MSFT’s ‘walled garden.’ Outside communication and collaboration requires purchase of additional services, software and equipment, deteriorating the Microsoft Azure Cloud messaging.