Cern picks Microsoft Lync to boost staff collaboration

Mobile working benefits touted as key benefit

Science agency Cern has announced it has picked Microsoft's Lync collaboration tool to help staff at the organisation work more closely together, across its numerous locations.

The deal was announced to staff by Pawel Grzywaczewski, service manager of the IT Operating systems and Infrastructure Services group at Cern, who explained it would bring many benefits, including better collaboration on the go.

"Having Lync on a smartphone or on a laptop means having the Cern work number with me. I find a WiFi spot and I'm avoiding the roaming charges while abroad," he said.

He also touted ease of use as a key benefit that would help staff place video calls quickly and easily. "It has really simplified the way I work. In a few clicks I can talk to people, get an answer and take decisions much quicker than before," added Grzywaczewski.

All Cern staff now have access to a Lync account, which works across all managed Windows machines and is also available on Mac and Pidgin in Linux, Cern said.

Cern employs around 2,250 full-time employees at Cern and as many as 13,000 visiting professors, so the deal could be for as many as 15,000 seats. V3 asked Cern for clarification on this number but had received no reply at the time of publication.

The deal is a notable win for Microsoft over rivals such as Google and Cisco, which both offer collaboration tools, with Google in particular often boasting about when it wins business at Microsoft's expense.

It is not clear if Cern was considering any rival services from Lync before selecting the tool. V3 asked for more information on this, but had received no reply at the time of publication.